Rest for the weary produces greatness
CHICAGO — It’s time for the Yankees to take the fifth.
The fifth day of rest for Masahiro Tanaka. Every time.
OK, they can start him on four days’ rest Sunday in Cleveland because, as the final day before the All-Star break, it’ll be a bit of an “all hands on deck” affair. After that, however? Five or more days of rest for the Yankees’ ace. No more exceptions until September.
It’s for the sake of the 2016 Yankees. It’s for the sake of the 2017 Yankees. And it’s for the sake of common-sense enthusiasts all over the globe.
Did you see how Tanaka cruised over the White Sox Tuesday night at U.S. Cellular Field, throwing 7 2/3 shutout innings to lead the Yankees to a 9-0 blanking of their fellow fringe wild-card contenders? He did so on five days of rest. On five days’ rest this season, in seven starts, the right-hander is now 4-0 with a 1.05 ERA in 51 ¹/3 innings, striking out 38 and walking five.
On four days’ rest, in which he also has made seven starts, Tanaka has a 1-2 record and 5.28 ERA in 44 ¹/3 innings, striking out 33 and walking eight. (He’s also 1-0 with a 3.78 ERA in three starts on six days’ rest.)
This isn’t brain surgery. It’s baseball. In baseball, you maximize your assets by putting them in a position they’re most likely to succeed. That’s why Joe Girardi loaded his lineup Tuesday with eight guys who could hit right-handed against the White Sox’s vulnerable southpaw Carlos Rodon. The result was the Yankees’ most lopsided victory since their first win of the season, 16-6 over the Astros on April 6. At 41-42, they’ll try on Wednesday night to climb back, again to .500.
The best way to maximize Tanaka is to toss aside bromides about tradition and toughness and ensure he receives sufficient rest. Essentially, they’d have to go to a six-man rotation four times between the outset of the second half and Sept. 1 (which the Yankees have off ). If the Yankees are out of the race by the final month, then they should keep going. Get starts for the likes of Luis Cessa, Chad Green and Luis Severino, with the currently demoted Nathan Eovaldi also getting another opportunity to right himself.
Given their long odds of qualifying for the postseason, these Yankees should operate on parallel tracks, making decisions that definitively aid their big picture. They have done just that in many instances, and some of those — like playing Aaron Hicks so frequently to get a sense of what they have in him — arguably have hurt their small picture.
Yet, by converting Tanaka to a sixthday pitcher, there would be only upside. Given that we’re talking about a guy with a torn UCL in his right elbow, the more rest he can receive through the course of a season, the better. And would anyone the Yankees insert as a sixth starter be considerably worse than fourdays-of-rest Tanaka?
This has been Tanaka’s best Yankees season so far. If he hasn’t dominated like he did in his rookie campaign of 2014, just remember Tuesday marked the two-year anniversary of his initial trip to the disabled list with right elbow trouble. And he is serving up far fewer home runs (nine — all at home, interestingly — in 112 ¹ /3 innings) than he did last year (25 in 154 innings).
The best way to keep that going is to use him at his best. Tanaka can opt out of his contract after next season. The Yankees should hope Tanaka, 27, puts himself into position to do just that. And then the Yankees should aim to develop and/or acquire enough other talent so they don’t have to get caught in a bidding war to retain Tanaka.
The first step to that dream scenario is to instruct Tanaka to prepare for Sunday’s start like it’ll be his last one on four days’ rest for a while. This can work. It’s far better than the status quo.