THEN A HIRO COMES ALONG
Righty proves Yank pitching will be key
TORONTO — The Yankees can and should score enough runs, oftentimes in droves, whether the big boppers are bopping or are occasionally held in check. And they certainly should be able to shorten games with among the deepest and most overpowering relief corps ever assembled.
That much we’ve seen already, on both counts, and in full force, through two wins north of the border to open the 2018 season.
Starting pitching, as always, will be the absolute key to the Yankees reestablishing themselves to frontrunner and/ or juggernaut status in the American League this year. So far, so great, after Masahiro Tanaka piggybacked Luis Severino’s Opening Day gem with six more highly efficient and often dominant innings in Friday’s 4-2 win over the Blue Jays.
“I thought he was really impressive,” Aaron Boone said about his starting pitcher after the new manager remained undefeated as Joe Girardi’s replacement. “I don’t necessarily think (Tanaka) had the best split tonight or even his best stuff, for that matter.
“But to be able to go out there and still be in command, control the game, and really not drive his pitch count up and get us to the back end of the game where we obviously really like our guys, I thought it was really just a quality effort by a mature, real good pitcher.”
All through spring training, the 29-year-old Tanaka insisted that he felt sharper on the mound than he had one year earlier, when he barely was reached for any runs through an eye-popping exhibition slate.
Tanaka’s 2017 season, of course, then started with a thud in Tampa, and he never truly got himself righted throughout an unevenly frustrating year. At least until he fanned 15 Blue Jays on Sept. 30, his final start of the regular season.
Tanaka carried that late success into October, pitching to a sterling 0.90 ERA over three playoff outings, and suddenly no one was complaining when the Japanese import decided against exercising his opt-out right on the final three years of his $155 million contract.
Following all of that by posting few blemishes over six strong frames on Friday night, including the final 13 batters retired in succession, that still feels like money well spent.
“Absolutely, you always want to start out on a good note. So I feel a little bit relieved right now,” Tanaka said through his translator. “It just goes back to spring training and how I approached it. I went into all the games with a theme and feel like I stuck to it and did a pretty good job with it. So that’s why I felt confident with it going into this season.”
Tanaka and the rest of the Yanks’ returning quintet of starting pitchers will receive their respective chances to take their turns behind this deep and bruising lineup — and ahead of this locked and loaded pen — before GM Brian Cashman considers adding another proven arm before the summertime trade deadline.
“It’s all just about health for us, I feel like if we can stay healthy I think we have a chance as a staff of being really good,” said CC Sabathia, who will attempt to keep the line moving when he makes his season debut on Saturday. “But it’s all about staying on the field.”
As the Mets learned painfully one year ago, mass injuries can overwhelm any team. It happens all the time in every sport.
The Yanks certainly have not been immune to that bug over the past month, with starting centerfielder Aaron Hicks the latest to land on the disabled list Friday. He joins Greg Bird, Jacoby Ellsbury and Clint Frazier already on the shelf, necessitating prospect Billy McKinney to be summoned from Triple-A earlier in the day.
Wouldn’t you know it? McKinney smacked his first big-league hit in his first at-bat in Friday’s win.
“It’s a blow,” Boone said of losing Hicks, “but we feel like we can handle it.”
They can handle it as long as Brett Gardner never abandons his relentless ability to set the tone for the rest of the lineup.
They can handle it as long as Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton — who endured eight hitless at-bats on Friday, one day after an electrifying season debut — as well as Gary Sanchez and Didi Gregorius, provide the thunder now fully expected of them.
They can handle it if the bottom half of the lineup — featuring pro bats Neil Walker and Brandon Drury (two two-out RBI hits) and even Tyler Wade (two-run double) — continues to do its fair share.
But simply, the Yanks especially can handle it if the starting pitching holds up and offers more representative outings like Severino and Tanaka already have provided.
“I think if all of our starters just live up to their potential and we keep on doing our jobs,” Tanaka said, “I think good things are going to happen.”