Bleeding Yankee Blue: PRAYERS FOR MASAHIRO TANAKA

Sunday, July 5, 2020

PRAYERS FOR MASAHIRO TANAKA

Source: Associated Press

Masahiro Tanaka is responsive after taking a hit to the head off the bat of Giancarlo Stanton in Yankee Stadium during spring training Saturday. It was grizzly. It was hard to watch. And it was quite frankly overplayed on social media channels throughout the day.

I realize I am sort of out of bounds here because we are technically social media too, but the posts and video about Tanaka going down were tough to watch, over and over again. Teammate Gleyber Torres had a lot to say to about the magnitude of posts, includes the phrase, "Prayers for Tanaka."

Can we stop blaming @Giancarlo818 and looping the vid of Tanaka getting hit? You all wanted baseball back, you got it and you’re still complaining bitching and moaning. Shut up and wish the dude well. That’s the only tweet that’s important. #Prayers. #BYB #yankees
— Robert Casey (@BleednYankeeBlu) July 4, 2020

"Afterward, an upbeat-sounding Tanaka posted in English to his verified Twitter account: "I appreciate all the support. I feel it a bit right now, but I'm all good," adding that he was "going to try to get back on the mound ASAP! "Thanks again for all the encouraging words!'' reported NJ.com.

Gratefully Tanaka is going to be okay, but there was a collective gasp when the pitcher went down and to Aaron Judge's point the cameras just kept rolling.

"I get that everyone has a job to do but continuing to film and zoom in on someone hurt and down in the stadium doesn’t sit well with me! Doesn’t matter who it is, teammate, coach, or fan! Praying for Tanaka," said Judge in a Tweet.

I know everyone is hungry for baseball coverage and we will take everything we can get, but we all need to realize that these are player's lives and they come before sensationalizing an event that could have gone in a very different direction. Prayers for Tanaka and hope he recovers soon.