Yankees seeking fix for Tanaka
Going back to basics might solve ace’s struggles, pitching coach says
ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. Masahiro Tanaka’s next between-starts bullpen session will be an important one, and New York Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild essentially says it’s back to the drawing board for the struggling right-handed ace.
“I think we need to go back to square one and go back to some of the basics,” Rothschild said after Tanaka’s latest clunker, Saturday’s three-homer, three-inning, six-run outing at the Tampa Bay Rays. “He likes to change some things occasionally. I think it’s easy when things are going well to make some adjustments than when things are going bad.
“(We want to) in his mind make the game a little easier and not try to complicate it.”
Tanaka moved to the thirdbase side of the rubber Saturday and might have improved the tilt on his slider against right-handed hitters. But it didn’t do much for his flat splitter or his fastballs that keep straying over the middle.
“It’s not something he just did out of nowhere,” Rothschild said of Tanaka’s move on the rubber. “But I think we just need to stabilize things and get back to the things he does really well and just repeat those. The consistency is what’s important.”
Again, the Yankees have no reason to think Tanaka’s command issues are caused by something physical, because his velocity hasn’t dipped and his arm actions aren’t those of a pitcher in distress.
“I just wasn’t able to do a good job,” Tanaka said through an interpreter, not providing much depth about his current mechanics. “(I’ll) try to be better next time out,” which will be Thursday against the Kansas City Royals at Yankee Stadium on normal rest.
“Maybe that will get him going,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.
Tanaka pitched on an extra day of rest Saturday after his 12⁄ 3- innings dud against the Houston Astros (eight runs, four homers) at Yankee Stadium on May 14. Tanaka’s next three starts are due to be made on normal rest, but Girardi said, “If we feel that our pitchers can use a substitute in there, where you give them an extra day in this long stretch, we’ll do it.”
For Tanaka for now, it’s back to the shop with Rothschild.
“They’re going to look at everything,” Girardi said, from pitching grips to stride lengths to arm angles, “and find out why isn’t it consistent like it used to be.”
It starts with rediscovering consistency in the splitter and the slider.
“If he has those two things, he’s going to be successful,” Girardi said. “It becomes frustrating for a player who is used to having a ton of success when (he) struggles. And you can really say this is the first time that he’s struggled here for a length of time.”
The fix, Girardi thinks, lies with Rothschild’s back-to-basics idea.
“Let’s get back to what made you successful,” Girardi said. “To me, that’s always square one.”