New York Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka insists his pitching elbow feels healthy following offseason surgery to remove a bone spur, but he still needs to throw off a mound before declaring his status for Opening Day.
''Can't really say,'' Tanaka said through a translator Friday after his first workout at the Yankees' minor league complex. ''We'll take it day by day. I feel that I can't really talk about that at this point. I just want to see myself go into the bullpen, get the innings in and see how I feel.''
Tanaka underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove a bone spur from his right elbow in October, and had his first throwing session since the procedure last week. On Friday, Tanaka clarified previous comments made by Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild that the right-hander had already thrown off a mound, saying he plans to do so for the first time this weekend at George Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.
''I'm still at the stage of building myself up toward the season, but I feel it's going to be a better season,'' Tanaka said.
Tanaka said he's looking to bounce back from an injury-plagued season in which he pitched with a partially torn elbow ligament and spent close to six weeks on the disabled list with wrist tendinitis and a forearm strain. He also missed a start in September due to a strained hamstring, and then lost to Houston in the AL wild-card game.
Tanaka's hoping by having the spur removed, he's able to pitch with more confidence.
''I didn't feel it overly when I was pitching, it was more so after pitching,'' Tanaka said. ''Felt there was a little more inflammation in that area and my thought process was if we're able to take that bone spur off then we might be able to get that inflammation (taken care of).''
- With files from The Associated Press