Masahiro Tanaka is scheduled to pitch a rehab game Monday in Tampa after coming out of Tuesday’s bullpen session feeling fine.
The Yankees and the right-hander are trying to figure out whether Tanaka needs Tommy John surgery before the end of the season, and still hope to get him on a major league mound — perhaps as soon as the next start after Tampa.
Tanaka will pitch in an Instructional League game at the team’s minor league facility on Monday, since the rest of the minor league schedule has concluded. Conveniently, the Yankees will be playing the Rays in St. Petersburg, Fla., that night.
“He’ll throw a bullpen [session] Friday,” manager Joe Girardi said of Tanaka’s next step. “He felt pretty good today.”
That came after a 45-pitch session on Tuesday that left Tanaka encouraged. He said his elbow felt fine and the arm fatigue that set back his rehab had gone away.
Martin Prado was held out again with a strained left hamstring. He took batting practice and didn’t rule out playing Thursday, but was also wary of making the injury worse once again.
“I don’t want to take any risks,” Prado said. “We’re in the middle of deciding to play like this all way to the end [of the season] or take a couple of days. I don’t want to be hurt for four or five weeks when I can use that time to get ready for next season.”
The news was better on David Phelps (elbow), who could join the Yankees’ bullpen by the end of the week in Baltimore. Girardi said he would use Phelps as a one-inning pitcher.
Mark Teixeira already is trying to move on from this injury-plagued season.
“I’m really looking forward to getting stronger this offseason,” Teixeira said. “That’s going to keep me healthier. Obviously this year was not a year health-wise that I was happy about.”
“I couldn’t fully work out until Jan. 1 and usually I start Nov. 1, so it put me back a little bit. This offseason I’ll be able to go full speed as quickly as I want to.”
Girardi said Brandon McCarthy would start the first game of Friday’s doubleheader in Baltimore, and the manager would wait to see who he needed prior to the second game before determining a starter for the nightcap. Chris Capuano could be an option after his short outing Wednesday. … Derek Jeter played in his 2,731st career game, passing the Giants’ Mel Ott for sole possession of eighth place all-time among major leaguers who have played every game with one team.
— Additional reporting by Brian Lewis