Masahiro Tanaka will pitch Sunday for New York Yankees

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
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The New York Yankees are going to need a small miracle if they are going to reach the 2014 postseason. That doesn’t mean that they are giving up hope, however.

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As a matter of fact, it appears that the Yankees are willing to take on fairly significant risk in pursuit of a playoff berth in Derek Jeter‘s final season. At least that appears to be the motivation in bringing back Masahiro Tanaka with such little time left in the season, though the team would have you believe it is a decision made with the long term in mind.

According to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, the Yankees will activate Tanaka and have him start on Sunday.

"Tanaka reported no issues after throwing 65 pitches in a simulated game on Monday against instructional league hitters, and the Yankees believe that making a turn or two at the big league level will offer Tanaka some peace of mind as he heads into the offseason."

For his part, Tanaka also points to his long-term health and peace of mind as the primary motivation for the decision.

"“More than anything, I want to see if my body is able to go fully on a Major League mound,” Tanaka said through an interpreter. “That’s by far most important to me. Also, to be able to contribute in the team’s win would be something important to me, too.”"

That is all fine and good if Tanaka is truly in position to return and not risk further injury. But while the Yankees certainly should not be paranoid about Tanaka’s elbow, it feels like this is not a decision they would make if they were not still on the fringes of the Wild Card race.

For the Yankees and just for baseball fans in general, here is hoping that Tanaka is truly healthy and ready to return this weekend.

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