Masahiro Tanaka

New York Yankees: Expect Luis Severino to make huge impact for the postseason

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New York Yankees, Luis Severino

New York Yankees’ right-hander Luis Severino has only made two starts in the 2019 season but has looked like his normal ace self. He hasn’t allowed a run in nine total innings pitched where he’s fanned 13 respectively in that time.

The Yankees are building up Severino’s pitch count and innings which could only mean they are intending on bringing him back as a starter or back-end starter.

“To me, he’s demonstrated enough to be an option (as a starter),” said manager Aaron Boone. “We have a lot at stake moving forward here and we want to make sure we do everything we can to optimize that he’s a part of things.”

Regardless of what role they put Severino, he’s a big piece of the puzzle. Especially with Dellin Betances out for believed to be the rest of the season, having Severino healthy and back pitching is monumental for the club.

“Our ace is back,” said Aaron Judge. “I’m excited about it; just at the right time. He’s coming back, he’s healthy and that’s the most important thing. I really don’t care what he’s doing right now on the mound but just as long as he’s healthy and we have him for the postseason, I think we’ll be in a good spot.”

Severino has been sidelined for the majority of the season with a right lat and rotator cuff strain.

Last season with the New York Yankees, Severino went 19-8 with a 3.39 ERA and 220 strikeouts over 191.1 innings pitched. After clutching up and delivering the win during the Wild Card game against the Oakland Athletics, Severino severely struggled against the Boston Red Sox in game three of the ALDS.

The expected rotation for the postseason consists of James Paxton, Luis Severino, and Masahiro Tanaka. J.A. Happ and C.C. Sabathia have both been moved to the bullpen since they haven’t proven a starting role for the playoffs.

 

New York Yankees: What the ideal postseason starting pitching rotation looks like

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New York Yankees, Luis Severino

The New York Yankees are getting closer to the playoffs with every passing day, and their starting pitching rotation will need to be situated before the first round commences. Another stout outing from Luis Severino has given the Yankees hope in regards to the quality they will feature in the rotation moving forward.

Going five scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and earning nine strikeouts, Severino gaining essential momentum.

“It’s really important for me to see him staying within his delivery,” Boone said, according to the NY Post. “I thought he did a great job of that his first time out. As well as having all of the electricity that we’re used to seeing with [Severino] on the mound, his fastball and his fastball command the last time out is something I was really impressed with.”

The New York Yankees will face adversity:

The postseason has a lot of questions in store for the Bombers, especially when it comes to their pitching. If they can manage with a three-person rotation, Boone could look to feature Severino, James Paxton, and Masahiro Tanaka. However, it could be too much to ask of Seve, the Yankees ace.

He has only pitched nine innings this season and hasn’t gone over five innings.

With Domingo German facing severe domestic violence allegations, it’s unlikely he features during the postseason, which hurts the Yankees significantly. This will force Boone to rely on Paxton, one of the team’s better pitching options this season.

Paxton has earned a 3.73 ERA this season with 185 strikeouts, the second-most in his seven-year career. He will be a seasoned veteran in the playoffs and offers a steady arm that can be relied on. Tanaka, on the other hand, is a stellar postseason pitcher and will once again be featured in the rotation.

Tanaka has had a rough season, though, as he’s sitting on a 4.47 ERA, the second-highest in his career. Despite his woes, he is expected to elevate his game and produce beyond the regular season.

It’s also possible the Yankees utilize J.A. Happ in the rotation as a precaution for Severino, but I anticipate them relying on the three mentioned above.

Judge Records His 100th Career Homer, Tanaka Goes 7 Scoreless Innings

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New York Yankees, Masahiro Tanaka

Sliders, sliders and wait for a second…more sliders from Masahiro Tanaka’s scorching-hot arsenal on Tuesday night. Tanaka performed phenomenally, utilizing his slider and split-finger fastball like a painter perfecting his craft on a canvas sheet. He pitched an extraordinary, 7 shutout innings, allowing only 3 hits and striking out 7 batters on 106 pitches. When Tanaka is locating his slider and split-finger fastball on a sufficient scale, as he did on Tuesday night, he is without a shadow of a doubt, one of the most ferocious pitchers to face in the league.

Aaron Judge also achieved quite a milestone in his young career. In the top of the 1st, Judge hammered and I mean crushed a booming, 2-run moonshot to deep center field. This bad boy traveled a ridiculous 462 feet with an exit velocity of 114.1 MPH. Not a cheap shot by any means. Judge’s blast signified his 100th career home run, becoming the 3rd fastest player in MLB history to do so (371 games.)

As Tanaka continued to deal and pumped out quality pitches, the offensive firepower tacked on 3 runs in the top of the 3rd. With no outs and runners on the corners, Brett Gardner hooked a 3-run homer into right field, traveling 360 feet with an exit velocity of 90.2 MPH. In the top of the 5th, Austin Romine cashed in the 6th run of the game, trading an out for a run in the process. Romine also collected the last run of the game in the top of the 9th. With the bases loaded and 2 outs, Romine produced a quality at-bat that resulted in a walk, forcing a run to score.

Luis Cessa fulfilled the complete shutout in the bottom of the 9th, acquiring a strikeout in the process and granting the Yanks with a 7-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners. Overall, this game was next to flawless. The offense was explosive and disciplined, the pitching was remarkable and unmatched and the vibe from the organization itself was pure satisfaction. The Yanks are now in possession of an 87-47 (.649) record, which is the best in the American League and tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the best in the MLB.

 

New York Yankees: Who will be the postseason ace?

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New York Yankees, Masahiro Tanaka

With Luis Severino missing a majority of the regular season for the New York Yankees, starters like Masahiro Tanaka have been forced to pick up some of the load.

The Japanese born player has been one of the more consistent options for the Yankees in recent years, but this season he has struggled at times. That is why his performance against the Toronto Blue Jays was significant for his momentum heading towards the postseason.

Manager Aaron Boone stated:

“It was really big because if we were in any kind of leverage spot in the middle or late part of the game we were only going Britton, Chappy today. We wanted to stay away from [Luis] Cessa and Nestor [Cortes Jr.],’’ Boone said after the 1-0 Yankees victory. “It was just what the doctored ordered. Masa came out and was really pitch efficient, especially in the middle innings he was cruising, and we needed it.’’

Changing the narrative after allowing 48 hits, nine home runs, and 13 walks in 31 2/3 innings between July 29-August 5 was essential for the starter.

Tanaka is capable of being the ace for the Yankees, especially in the postseason where he has an average ERA of 1.50. In five playoff games, he has pitched 30 total innings allowing five runs and three homers. He has 25 strikeouts during that span.

The Yankees needed him to turn around his porous season, and blanking the Blue Jays over eight innings was the perfect way to turn the tables. While Tanaka is no longer viewed as the ace of the rotation, he has the potential to rise to the occasion and dominate once the post-season rolls around. If Severino is unable to return to his past form in the first half of the 2018 season, the Yankees will need to rely on options like Masahiro and Domingo German.

 

New York Yankees: Which Tanaka are we going to get in the Postseason?

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New York Yankees, Masahiro Tanaka

The New York Yankees’ starting rotation has been without a doubt the biggest question mark of the season for the team so far.

One of those question marks is Masahiro Tanaka. He has been a bit inconsistent this year with an 8-6 record, a 4.64 ERA, and a 1.26 WHIP (MLB At-Bat). However, he was elected to the All-Star game, in Cleveland this year, and earned a win in his one-inning appearance. In his outing on August 11th, 2019, Tanaka was able to give the Yankees the start they needed by posting 8 innings, 3 hits, no earned runs, and 4 strikeouts (MLB At-Bat). Unfortunately, this kind of start only happens about once a month, mixed in with his below-average starts.

One concern that has seemed to go unnoticed by the Yankees organization; Tanaka’s elbow stability. He suffered a slight UCL tear in his right elbow that did not require surgery in 2014 (Newsday). His fastball and splitter velocities have been declining every year since that tear. Tanaka cannot recall the last assessment with the team doctors and the injury does not seem to worry him.

Tanaka has been very reliable in the postseason for the Yankees

In his career, he has only given up 5 earned runs in 30 innings pitched, which equates to a 1.50 earned-run average. Last year, he made one appearance in the playoffs against the Boston Red Sox. He allowed one earned run, on 3 hits, in 5 innings (Baseball Reference). His performance was the only win the Yankees achieved in a 3-1 series loss to the defending World Series champions.

Tanaka seems to turn up to another level when he makes a start in the postseason. The Yankees expect him to continue his dominance against the competitive American League this postseason as well. To get to the World Series, the Yankees are going to have to defeat Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, and the newly acquired Zack Greinke of the Houston Astros. This is assuming the Yankees and Astros take care of business in the American League Division Series. All hands are going to be on deck to take down the familiar foe in the Astros. Especially, Tanaka, who has the potential to forever enshrine his legacy as one of the greatest postseason pitchers in New York Yankees history. As for the rest of the rotation, other than German, they will need to be on their “A-games” to hopefully bring the 28th crown back to the Bronx.

New York Yankees: Yanks Beat Jays Behind Tanaka’s Masterpiece

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New York Yankees, Masahiro Tanaka

The New York Yankees entered Sunday’s matchup having lost the two prior games of the series, after winning game one 12-6. Fueled by Masahiro Tanaka’s dominance on the mound, the Yankees beat the Blue Jays 1-0 where Brett Gardner knocked in Gio Urshela for the lone run of the game. The Yankees advanced to 77-41 win which sets the Blue Jays nine games behind first place.

Putting an end to his recent struggles, Masahiro Tanaka went eight innings pitched where he allowed three hits while fanning two. Tanaka pitched to contact where he got a ton of groundballs and pop flies. He limited the Blue Jay newcomer star, Bo Bichette, to only one hit on an infield single in the first inning.

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This isn’t the first time Tanaka has dominated the Blue Jay this season. On June 17th, he threw a complete-game two-hitter where he fanned ten. This June Blue Jays lineup was completely different than the current one with all the new callups, so for Tanaka to dominate again is pretty impressive.

The Yankees scored their lone run in the top of the fifth inning where Brett Gardner hit a ground-rule double to knock in Gio Urshela. Besides that, the Blue Jays pitching limited the slugging Yankees to five hits while striking out eight.

The Yankees head back home Monday where they continue their slugfest against the Baltimore Orioles. The Bombers are 13-2 against the Orioles where they haven’t lost to them since the first series of the season. They currently have an eleven game winning streak against the O’s.

New York Yankees getting closer to pulling up Deivi Garcia

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New York Yankees, Deivi Garcia

The New York Yankees received a gem of an outing from starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka on Sunday afternoon, as he went eight innings allowing three hits and zero runs.

The Bombers ended a two-game slide against the Toronto Blue Jays to right the ship once more, but they made several moves before the game to supplement injuries woes. Left handed-pitcher Stephen Tarpley was put on the 10-day injured list with an elbow, forcing the Yankees to pull up recent acquisition Joe Mantiply.

Mantiply, 28, earned a 3.72 ERA with 26 strikeouts over 29 innings with Triple-A Louisville. His minimal experience at the top level makes him a wild card but the Yanks will give him a chance to impress once more. The issue being, it’s a forced decision that could backfire.

Could the New York Yankees call up their young pitcher?

Alternatively, the Yanks could look to call up youngster Deivi Garcia, the youngest player in their minor league system to reach Triple-A. Garcia has struggled recently, earning a 6.26 ERA with Scranton Wilkes/Barre. He’s pitched 23.0 innings in Triple-A. While his struggles have been apparent, the change in grip this season has been his primary concern. Adapting to the change in the ball will take a bit of time as his breaking ball has lost dip.

However, the Bombers are edging closer to the reality of pulling up him as a relief option. If injuries continue to mount and Mantiply struggles for the Yankees in the bigs, Garcia will be a realistic option given their lack of depth at this point.

Garcia has been adapting and getting better gradually with Scranton, but he’s likely a few more starts away from being considered. Once he has fully adapted manager Aaron Boone might give him the green light as a bullpen arm.

 

New York Yankees Beat Blue Jays Behind Masahiro Tanaka’s Gem

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New York Yankees, Masahiro Tanaka

After a handful of poor starts, New York Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka rebounded and threw an absolute gem on Sunday against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The 30 year old lefty out of Hyogo, Japan had been very inconsistent of late, giving up twelve and five runs with a two run outing in between in his last three starts prior.

But Sunday was different. Tanaka was completely dominant and fully in control. He punched out four over 8+ innings, allowing just three hits.

Over the first few innings, Tanaka went pretty splitter heavy, and relied on it to get his outs. As the game progressed on, he mixed in a lot more fastballs low in the zone. He rarely went high in the zone, often because batters weren’t biting at those pitches.

Through eight innings, Tanaka had only allowed an infield single to Bo Bichette and a clean single to Justin Smoak. At just 91 pitches, skipper Aaron Boone kept Tanaka in to start the ninth with Aroldis Chapman hot in the bullpen and ready as needed.

Ex-Yankee Brandon Drury singled to begin the bottom of the ninth, and that’s when Tanaka’s afternoon ended. Chapman came in to face Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who was pinch-hitting. That at-bat was absolute must-see TV. It took 13 pitches, but Chapman was able to induce him into a 6-4-3 double-play to clear the bases.

After a full-count single by Bichette on a slider that was way too high, Chapman struck out Cavan Biggio on a nasty slider that was probably a ball, and would of put the go-ahead runner on base if he didn’t swing.

All-in-all, it was good to see Tanaka have a good start and let’s just hope that he has more of these types of starts down the stretch.

 

 

New York Yankees: Should the Yankees Be Worried About Tanaka?

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New York Yankees, Masahiro Tanaka

The New York Yankees were turning to Masahiro Tanaka this season to take Luis Severino’s ace role. However, Yankee fans were let down as Tanaka has not been as dominant this season. He holds a 7-6 record, which doesn’t scream the dominance that he can have. His inflated ERA (4.93) is due to a couple poor outings where Tanaka didn’t survive past the first or second inning.

A big reason for Tanaka’s struggles this season is because his split-fingered fastball has not been as effective as years prior. According to FanGraphs, Tanaka has used his splitter 4.8% less than last year, dropping from 29.9% to 25.1%. He’s made a point about the seams of the baseball feeling different this year, where it could affect his grip which effects the movement of the pitch. New York Mets pitcher, Noah Syndergaard, has mentioned the same thing regarding the MLB baseballs this year.

Should Tanaka be on the postseason rotation?

New York Yankee fans remember Tanaka’s 2017 dominance in the postseason, where he shut down both Minnesota in the Wild Card and Cleveland in the ALDS. He also shut down the Oakland Athletics in the 2018 American League Wild Card game. Obviously, he has the grit to perform in the postseason, and it seems that he really locks in during October. I think Tanaka will be on the rotation because it doesn’t seem that the Yankees have lost trust in him. Just a few bumps this season, but I think he’ll really turn it on during the playoffs like he always does.

 

New York Yankees: Starting Pitching Fails Again To Open Weekend In Boston

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New York Yankees, Masahiro Tanaka

The starting pitching struggles did not end when the New York Yankees traveled to Boston to start a four game set with the Red Sox. Masahiro Tanaka was shellacked on Thursday, and James Paxton wasn’t much better on Friday.

Thursday

Masahiro Tanaka had no doubt the worst outing of his career on Thursday. He went just 3 and 1/3 innings, giving up 12 runs. Yes, you read that right. I have no idea what Aaron Boone was thinking leaving him in for so long. Tanaka gave up seven first inning runs but Boone kept trying to stretch him longer and longer.

Tanaka also walked three and gave up two home runs. He did strike out four and get seven swings-and-misses.

His ERA for the season is now up to almost five, and he was an all-star just weeks ago. Crazy how things can change.

Friday

James Paxton had a poor outing to follow Tanaka’s on Friday. He gave up seven runs in four innings, but nine of his twelve outs registered came from strikeouts.

Paxton gave up nine hits, and four of which came from the longball. J.D. Martinez had a two run home run, and Mookie Betts took Paxton deep three times, two of which were solo-shots.

Paxton’s ERA is also almost up to five, and the team now is in the bottom half of the MLB in starting pitching.

Brian Cashman needs to make a move to get a starter like Marcus Stroman, or this team won’t be winning their 28th world series here in 2019.