Chase Whitley To Have Tommy John Surgery... Masahiro Tanaka Could Return Soon

As soon as we heard that Chase Whitley had injured his Ulnar Collateral Ligament Yankees fans braced for the words "Tommy John Surgery" to come next. And today it became official.

Whitley will undergo TJS tomorrow, which means his season is over with, and his rehab could last into next season.

Unlike the UCL tear that Masahiro Tanaka suffered last season, Chase's tear is too large for simple rehab.

Speaking of Masahiro...

Shortly before I learned that Chase Whitley would be having Tommy John Surgery, I found out that Masahiro Tanaka got through his latest bullpen session without any problems.

Tanaka threw 29 pitches at Nationals Park during today's off-day, and from what Joe Girardi said it sounds like the next step for Masahiro will be a rehab start as soon as Thursday.

Both Scranton and Trenton will be playing at home on Thursday, which means that if the Thursday rehab start holds true then Tanaka wil likely be pitching for one of them. After that he may rejoin the Yankees or make one more rehab start before returning.

“I think you have to see where he’s at and how many pitches he gets to (in the first start). The one thing you don’t want is to have to be in a situation where he can only give you three or four innings,” said Girardi.