SUPER HIRO POWERS UP
After stellar spring, Tanaka set to deliver opening salvo
ST. PETERSBURG — Masahiro Tanaka didn’t even wait for the first media inquiry to be translated on Saturday, responding emphatically in English to the opening question. “I’m ready,” he declared. Fresh off a strong spring in which Tanaka allowed only one earned run, the Japanese-born ace will get the ball for the Yankees’ and MLB’s first game of the 2017 season on Sunday afternoon against the Rays at Tropicana Field, his third consecutive Opening Day start. “It’s a special day for baseball, the very first game of the season. I think it’s an exciting day for the organization and the fans and for myself, as well,” Tanaka said through his translator after the Yanks’ workout at the Trop. “I think we have some good talent and the potential is there. “Maybe there would be some growing pains going through the season, including myself as well, but I think we have an energetic, young, good team.” Tanaka once again is slated to front Joe Girardi’s five-man starting rotation, a staff with several question marks behind the $155 million righty. Tanaka, who controls an opt-out clause in his contract at the end of this season, put previous injury concerns to rest in 2016 by making 31 starts and working just one out shy of 200 innings. He finished the year with a 14-4 record and a 3.07 ERA, good for third in the American League. But can he do again? “I think it’s really important,” Girardi said. “He’s been really consistent the three years we’ve had him and that’s all we are asking him to continue to be, not any more. Don’t feel like you have to do more. Just continue to go out and continue to pitch the way you’ve pitched. “If we give him good run support, he’s going to win a lot of games.” If his dominant spring numbers are any indication, the 28-year-old Tanaka could be primed for a big year. He made six starts and was reached for just two runs (one earned) in 23.2 innings (0.38 ERA), with a WHIP of 0.59 and an opponents’ batting average of just .115.
“Everything,” catcher Gary Sanchez said through his translator when asked what has impressed him about Tanaka during camp. “I would say that he’s a strike thrower and his command is pretty good. Simple.
“You guys got a chance to see him; they only scored two runs on him all spring. So he was very good, very effective. The same Tanaka I’m used to seeing.”
Added Tanaka: “I think the best part of spring training was to be able to play at a high level of baseball, compared to previous years.”
Tanaka similarly had pitched at a high level throughout most of 2016, although his final start on Sept. 21 at the Trop — in which he allowed four solo home runs in six innings — may have cost him the ERA title.
“I think I’m over it, the home runs, but I did study it,” he said. “You have to look back and study what you did wrong and what you did right. And obviously some of the things I did in that particular game were wrong. But I did study it and I understand the adjustments that need to be made. So I feel confident going into this game.”
With Sunday’s appearance, Tanaka will tie Hideo Nomo for the most Opening Day starts by a Japanese-born pitcher in MLB history. He also will become the 13th pitcher in Yankees history to make three or more in the initial game of the season.
Tanaka still is seeking his first Opening Day win (0-1), but the Yanks are hoping he picks up where he left off from a strong 2016 and a stellar spring training, in which the transitioning Bombers finished with an ML-best 24-9 record.
“It’d be nice. He had a really good spring,” Girardi said of Tanaka. “You hope the whole team does in a sense, just picks up where we left off. We scored runs, we pitched pretty well, we played defense pretty well, contributions up and down he lineup. We hit a lot of home runs this spring training, which is something we didn’t do last year ... So you hope that continues, too.”