BALTIMORE — Matt Wieters does not pitch for a living, but from every other angle, he is an expert on the pitching arm. As the catcher for the Baltimore Orioles, Wieters works with pitchers and hits against them hundreds of times a year. He also had Tommy John surgery last June.
The threat of the operation, brought on by a tear of the ulnar collateral ligament, stalks the Yankees’ best starter and reliever. The ace, Masahiro Tanaka, is pitching with a partial tear, and closer Andrew Miller is on the disabled list with a flexor forearm muscle strain.