Yankees SP Masahiro Tanaka Suffers Head Injury in Practice

New York Yankees' Masahiro Tanaka in 2019. Photo by Albert Pena/CSM/Shutterstock (10435545as)

The New York Yankees suffered a big scare on Saturday after starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka was struck in the head by a line drive in a live batting practice simulation at Yankee Stadium.

The right-handed pitcher was throwing to Yankees outfielder Giancarlo Stanton, who hit a line drive up the middle that hit Tanaka in the side of the head, knocking him down the ground for several minutes.

While Tanaka was able to eventually leave the field on his own two feet, he was admitted to a New York hospital for testing and put under observation for a possible concussion.

While the Yankees have yet to release the official diagnosis of Tanaka’s injury, he was released from the hospital on Saturday night and posted a message on Twitter stating that he was not seriously hurt.

Tanaka, who is expected to be one of the pillars of New York’s starting rotation this season, was at the Yankees’ stadium on Sunday though he did not participate in workouts.

The 31-year-old righty, who posted an 11-9 record along with a 4.45 ERA in the 2020 season, could be forced to miss the season’s Opening Day later this month depending on the evolution of his injury.

At any rate, both Yankees fans and baseball fans can at least take solace in the fact that the pitcher avoided a major injury.

Gunner's favorite movies are Pulp Fiction, Iron Man (just the first one), and every James Bond film ever made. He's learning TV and cinema and hoping to always enjoy movies as he does now.