Why Tanaka's Injury Won't Ruin the Yankees' Season

While Masahiro Tanaka's recent injury obviously doesn't improve the Yankees, in many ways I still don't see it ending their season. 

Yes, Tanaka's been great this year, but in the time he'll be gone Chase Whitley will likely take his spot, a move that does give us reason to feel confident after the latter dominated the Indians out of the bullpen Wednesday night. 

Add the facts that David Phelps has a 1.42 ERA in his last three starts, Shane Greene's been great everywhere he's thrown recently, and Brandon McCarthy showed a lot of potential in his recent team debut, the Yanks' rotation looks pretty good for the next 1 1/2 months, or at least decent enough to stay competitive in the Wild Card standings.

Speaking of those, after the Mariners fell to the Twins earlier tonight, the Bombers are just 2 1/2 games out of the second and final spot, something that shouldn't be too hard to get considering the only clubs in between them are the Royals and Blue Jays, a duo with practically no recent playoff experience.

So yeah Yankee fans, don't get too down on things right now. They may not look that great, but in the end, there is simply no reason to say anything's over.