Empire Writes Back
Fansided

New York Yankees need Masahiro Tanaka to get going

By John Franklin

May 20, 2017; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (19) walks back to the dugout at the end of the second inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
May 20, 2017; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (19) walks back to the dugout at the end of the second inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

New York Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka is continuing to disappoint in 2017. Can he find a way to get on track this season?

New York Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka is making the term “ace” a misnomer so far this season.

Tanaka merits a 5-3 record this season, but he has been abysmal in his last two starts. He posts a 6.53 ERA, and has a league worst 35 earned runs.

In his last two starts he posted a total of 7.2 innings, and 10 earned runs. That is the definition of horrible.

The Itami, Japan native came over in 2014, and had an All-Star season. Now, in 2017, he shows signs of dwindling down.

It’s way too early to call it quits on Tanaka, but it’s disheartening to watch him pitch so terribly. New York is a dog-eat-dog town, and if Tanaka doesn’t get it going, I don’t know how Joe Girardi will handle it.

Tanaka is lucky to have the staff around him pitching as well as it is. If they weren’t, his terrible outings would be even more amplified.

Tanaka has to get back on track by his next start otherwise there will be tons of questions surrounding the right hander.

He just hasn’t had the downward movement on his splitter that he usually has. He is also struggling pairing his pitches and finding location.

Tanaka is known to be a groundball pitcher, but when downward action doesn’t happen, he becomes a fly ball pitcher.

Next: New York Yankees: Aaron Judge does more than hit home runs

At Yankee Stadium, that is a recipe for disaster.

He is giving up homeruns left and right, and is prone to big innings. Whether it be mechanics or confidence, Tanaka has to fix it, and fix it fast.

A team can’t be successful if it’s so-called best pitcher is struggling. Tanaka is in dire need of a dominant performance, and it’ll be interesting to see if he delivers.

Home/New York Yankees