Cashman cautious after Tanaka throws again

Masahiro Tanaka played catch for a second straight day, but he still won’t be back before September, according to general manager Brian Cashman.

The right-hander, who is hoping a rehab program allows him to avoid Tommy John surgery, is in just the second day of a throwing program. He is scheduled to play catch again Thursday.

“I’m happy the early return on rest and two throwing days on Tanaka have gone well,” Cashman said following Tanaka’s session, which was increased from 25 to 50 throws at 60 feet.

But he’s not ready to announce when Tanaka could rejoin the team, although the team does have a time line.

“I’m not gonna say it,” Cashman said. “We’ll take this day-by-day. … He’s in one of those situations where every day you hold your breath, hoping it’s a good day. The more of those that come, the better it will be for us.”

Until Tanaka gets on the mound, though, no one will truly know how he’s doing.

“Hopefully he can get on the mound at some point and really let loose and start stretching out to prepare for starts and that’s when I’ll start worrying less about it,” Cashman said. “Right now, he’s still in that yellow flag mode of caution.”

The Yankees don’t know who is going to start for them on Friday, but Cashman all but ruled out Michael Pineda. Still, the righthander might be back soon.

“That has not come up,” Cashman said of the possibility of Pineda starting in place of the injured David Phelps. “I would say no. He needs one more [rehab] start.”

Pineda threw 58 pitches in a start with Triple-A Scranton /WilkesBarre on Sunday and said he felt fine after missing the past two months with a pine tar suspension and a shoulder muscle injury.

After being scratched before Monday’s game with light-headedness, Mark Teixeira was in Tuesday’s lineup, saying he felt fine.

Stephen Drew was held out of Tuesday’s lineup, with Joe Girardi saying it was just a day off against lefty David Price. Drew struck out as a pinch-hitter in the ninth against Joba Chamberlain.