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New York Yankees May Have a Way to Fix Masahiro Tanaka

By Jason Burke

Apr 14, 2017; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (19) talks with Yankees catcher Austin Romine (27) against the St. Louis Cardinals during the seventh inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 14, 2017; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (19) talks with Yankees catcher Austin Romine (27) against the St. Louis Cardinals during the seventh inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports /
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Masahiro Tanaka has had a rocky start to the 2017 season, but there is one factor that could play a big role in his turnaround.

Heading into last night’s game against the Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees starter/ace Masahiro Tanaka was 5-3 on the year with a 6.56 ERA following two starts in which he combined for 4 2/3 innings pitched and gave up 14 earned runs. The A’s helped him get back on track as he piled up the strikeouts early and often, eventually taking the loss after allowing one run over seven and one-third.

While Tanaka still got the “L” you can’t expect him to be perfect every time out there, no matter the competition. Just last weekend the A’s took three of four from the Boston Red Sox, showing that they can hang with some of the better teams in the league, and now they are out to prove that they can win on the road. Friday night’s victory was just their seventh away from the Coliseum all season.

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Facing a team looking to reverse their fortunes, Tanaka did an about face of his own, striking out 13 batters, including seven of the first nine outs he recorded.

The reason for his strong performance could have been that the A’s came into the game near the very bottom of baseball in runs scored, ahead of just the Padres, Giants and Royals, or because the A’s rank fourth in overall strikeout percentage. But I’m willing to bet that last night’s outing was more about the man behind the plate than the opposing team.

Instead of starting Gary Sanchez last night, manager Joe Girardi went with backup Austin Romine, who has had success with Tanaka this season. Don’t believe me? They each have five starts behind the dish with Tanaka on the mound and here is how the righty has performed with each calling pitches:

Sanchez: 19.1 IP, 27 ER, 12.72 ERA, 1-3 record

Romine: 36 IP, 9 ER, 2.25 ERA, 4-1 record

In other words, Tanaka has allowed nine runs in five starts with Romine as his catcher, while in three of his five starts with Sanchez has given up seven, eight and six, and two of those starts were against the Tampa Bay Rays, who lead baseball in strikeout percentage. Yes they’re a division rival and a top-ten offense, but in the three years from 2014-2016, Tanaka held a 2.82 ERA against the Rays in eight starts, allowing a total of 18 earned in that span. He has allowed 13 runs this season against that same squad.

What’s more is that Tanaka tends to not only pitch better with Romine behind the plate, but he also hasn’t gone less than 6 1/3 innings in any of those five starts. With Sanchez, Tanaka has gone over five frames just once, which came in his win against the Reds.

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With last night’s lineup, it seems as though the New York Yankees are thinking along these same lines when it comes to their best pitcher. The bigger question now will be whether they will use every fifth day as an off day for Sanchez, or if they will start plugging him in at designated hitter at times, which could have an effect on the rest of the lineup down the line.

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