Yankees’ Masahiro Tanaka gives uplifting update after getting hit in head - NJ.com

New York Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka is tended to by team medical personnel after being hit by a ball off the bat of Yankees Giancarlo Stanton during a baseball a workout at Yankee Stadium in New York, Saturday, July 4, 2020.

Nobody has ever accused Masahiro Tanaka of being soft.

The Yankees starting pitcher said that he wants to pitch “ASAP” shortly after getting released from the hospital following Giancarlo Stanton’s line drive hit him in the head.

Stanton’s line drive struck Tanaka during a simulated game at Yankee Stadium on Saturday.

“I would say right now he’s doing well,” manager Aaron Boone said.

Tanaka was pitching without a screen in front of him — the norm for simulated games, but a questionable move considering Tanaka hadn’t needed to field his position since March and because he was facing Stanton, one of the game’s strongest sluggers.

Boone said Tanaka didn’t want a screen.