New York Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka has been released from NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital after being struck in the head by a line drive off the bat of Giancarlo Stanton on Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.
It was the team’s first official workouts since coronavirus canceled spring training in mid-March and pushed back Opening Day to July 23. The Yankees are expected to face the defending-champion Washington Nationals in the nation’s capital.
Tanaka was on the mound throwing a simulated game when Stanton’s line drive hit the veteran hurler on the right side of the head. The force of the impact saw Tanaka fall immediately to the dirt while the ball ricocheted to the screen behind home plate:
Masahiro Tanaka was hit in the head with a line drive from the bat of Giancarlo Stanton during a simulated game.pic.twitter.com/biProHbgeK
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) July 4, 2020
Despite the apparent severity of the incident, a Yankees spokesperson told amNewYork Metro shortly after that Tanaka was “alert, responsive, and walking under his own power.”
The 31-year-old is preparing for his seventh season in the majors, all with the Yankees, and is poised to be the rotation’s No. 3 starter behind Gerrit Cole and James Paxton.
Last year he went 11-9 with a 4.45 ERA and 149 strikeouts in 182.0 innings.
