Masahiro Tanaka threw 25 pitches off a bullpen mound on Saturday, giving the New York Yankees hope that he could return by the end of the season.

It was Tanaka's first session since he went on the disabled list July 9 with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament.

Tanaka is still likely a month or more away, barring setbacks, from a return to pitching in a real game.

"I felt very good," said Tanaka, who acknowledged he was not throwing with the kind of intensity he would use in a game.

"I'm not going to go 100 percent on the first day of bullpens," he said. "But I felt that I was able to throw the way I wanted to. Just the fact that I was able to get through it without any pain."