Yankees' Tanaka struggles, shows decreased velocity in 2nd rehab start

New York Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka insisted he feels fine after completing his second rehab start at Triple-A. The results of his outing suggest otherwise.

Tanaka, who's been sidelined since April 23 with forearm soreness and wrist tendinitis, was roughed up Wednesday against the Pawtucket Red Sox, surrendering three runs on four hits while walking two and striking out four.

Zach Braziller of the New York Post reports Tanaka's fastball sat mostly in the upper 80s during the 62-pitch outing - bottoming out at 86 in his final frame - recording all of his strikeouts with off-speed stuff and retiring the final four batters he faced. He was to throw no more than 65 pitches in what was tentatively scheduled to be his final major league tuneup.

The Yankees ace told reporters after the game that he feels healthy, but declined to say whether he's ready to return to the majors.

Tanaka's fastball velocity has remained a hot-button topic after he famously opted against surgery last summer in favor of resting his partially torn UCL. He did nothing to alleviate concerns over the health of his elbow when he told reporters that he anticipates diminished speed this season as a result of ditching his four-seam fastball.