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New York Yankees: The lack of an ace is going to be a killer

By John Franklin

Jun 17, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (19) looks back the runner on fist base during the fourth inning against the Oakland Athletics at Oakland Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 17, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (19) looks back the runner on fist base during the fourth inning against the Oakland Athletics at Oakland Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports /
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The New York Yankees are at a tough spot in the 2017 season. With ace pitcher Masahiro Tanaka struggling, it leaves the rest of the staff to pick up slack.

The New York Yankees are starting to find out the consequences when your ace is underperforming throughout the season.

Masahiro Tanaka is having his worst year to date in the Major Leagues. It’s been a struggle for the one-time All-Star, and he hasn’t shown much sign of improving.

This leaves the Yankees in a pretty tough situation.

Now I’ve been on the bandwagon to get Tanaka out of the rotation, but last night I watched the movie Little Big League.

Before I continue… yes, I had an epiphany to the movie Little Big League.

The situation isn’t quite identical, but it’s similar. In the movie, pitcher Mike McGrevey isn’t pitching well, and 12-year-old manager Billy Haywood tells him he isn’t going to bench him. He’s going to pitch when it’s his time to pitch.

Simple, and cliché, but it applies to Tanaka’s struggling. He has to pitch his way out of it.

Until he finds his way out of this funk, it leaves the Yankees in a tough spot.

It’s hard to keep winning when a team doesn’t have an ace on its staff. Whether you’re a fan of Tanaka or not, we can all agree he isn’t pitching like an ace at the moment.

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As we’ve seen with past champions, pitching drives the team. It’s a long way from now, but if the Yanks can’t pitch a go-to-guy in the playoffs, then it’s subject for an early exit.

Tanaka’s struggling has to stop because a team simply can’t keep winning with B-rated pitchers. It showed on this trip to the west coast.

The Yanks will have to find some magic to win until Tanaka gets back on track.

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