Are Tanaka’s two consecutive bad outings an omen of another stint on the DL?

Yesterday Masahiro Tanaka lasted five innings in which he gave up six runs on seven hits. Thanks to some pretty good run support he didn’t take the loss but got a no-decision. The previous outing vs the Tigers wasn’t much better. He allowed five runs on ten hits in five innings of work.
In the start before the one vs the Tigers, he showed the stuff that we know him for. In seven innings he gave up only two runs but thanks to the lack of run support he took the loss.

Last season Tanaka had a great start, winning twelve before the All Star Break. But after a 5-3 loss vs the Indians on July 8, he started to feel discomfort in his pitching arm. He was placed on the DL and an MRI scan revealed that he had a partially torn UCL. When Tanaka returned to the Yankees’ roster he pitched his final start vs the Red Sox and gave up five earned runs in just 1.2 innings. That was a sign for the Yankees to take him from the roster and let him sit out the season instead of aggravating the injury.

So in three cases, bad outings preceded the news that Tanaka was taken from the roster because of the injury.

Can the Yankees continue with resting him every two months? After his last period of rest he performed well. Or should they decide to let their priced acquisition undergo Tommy John surgery, knowing that he will be lost for at least twelve months? Hard choice, but I would opt for the latter. With Ivan Nova activated from the DL, the Yankees now have a six-man rotation. So if Tanaka drops out, it is not the end of the world; they can easily return to a five-man rotation. Even with the chance that a Tommy John surgery will not be successful, the chance is bigger that he will be his old self. I rather take that option than needing to rest him every two months to have a couple of good starts before he is hit by discomfort again.