New York Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka has started his offseason training camp, and the Japanese pitcher experienced no setback during his first workout on Tuesday in Tampa, Florida.

Tanaka, who missed a bulk of games last season after sustaining a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow in July, played long toss at the Yankees' Minor League complex, and the results were impressive.

Yankees pitcher Ivan Nova, who witnessed the training as he is also working out as part of his recovery from a Tommy John surgery, was impressed with what he saw from Tanaka on Tuesday. Nova said he did not expect that Tanaka will manage to throw the way he did after deciding to delay surgery last season.

"That's unbelievable," Nova told MLB.com, referring to Tanaka's recovery. "I didn't know that he would be able to do it like he did it. At the end of the season, to be able to pitch two more games and then come here like nothing happened, it's awesome."

The Japanese star pitcher was supposed to undergo Tommy John surgery but opted to rehab the injury, which worked well as he managed to make two more starts before the end of the 2014 MLB season.

Tanaka, who signed a lucrative seven-year deal worth $155 million with the Yankees last summer, underwent a training program in Japan and also experienced no setback in his rehabilitation.

But while Tanaka has been showing positive signs as of late, Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild said that they will continue taking a cautious approach, knowing that there is no guarantee that the 26-year-old pitcher will be able to avoid surgery in his right elbow in the future.

"You have to be aware of it, but we'll be aware to put schedules together and things like that to try to keep him healthy," Rothschild said. "So far, everything has been good. That doesn't mean that it will be going forward, but we're going to do everything we can to make sure that hopefully it is."

Tanaka, who was a strong candidate for the 2014 American League Rookie of the Year before hurting his elbow, went 13-5 last season with a 2.77 ERA with 141 strikeouts. The former Rakuten Golden Eagles pitcher went 11-1 in his first 14 starts in the major league before experiencing pain in his right elbow.

For the latest sports news, follow Latin Post Sports on Twitter.

FOR MORE MLB UPDATES, TRADE AND FREE AGENCY NEWS, CLICK ON THIS LINK TO VISIT LATIN POST.COM'S SPORTS PAGE.

Related