Yankees: If I know what’s wrong with Tanaka, why doesn’t Girardi

The Yankees claim they have no idea what could be wrong with Tanaka if it’s not a physical ailment, which they say it isn’t. I’ve been telling them what’s wrong with Tanaka for weeks now, but they don’t seem to be listening. What’s up with that?

The Yankees insistence on pitching Masahiro Tanaka through this spell of whatever is bothering him is beyond me. And that’s because the Yankees are only exasperating the problem when they do that. Tanaka’s problem is simple – he’s tired.

And he needs some accommodation for that from the Yankees. Tanaka will never admit to it. Asian cultures are not like that. Tanaka will always take the ball. And to overstate the point just to make the point, it’s the same character that saw Japanese pilots jumping at the chance to Kamikaze their planes into American warships.

The Yankees should know that and yet they keep giving him the ball. And they act like we should be surprised when Tanaka can manage only five innings against the Red Sox, while giving up three home runs, five total runs, on just 62 pitches before he was mercifully taken out by Joe Girardi.

Girardi was noticeably absent from his normal post-game comments on that night’s starter. But Tanaka picked it up with this interview following his outing offering much of the same as we’ve heard before………..

Video courtesy of the YES Network

This is not a hiccup any longer, it’s a trend and the Yankees appear to be the ones waking up to the fact that Tanaka is no longer the ace of their staff, and he could be as low as the #4 starter in the rotation. And even that’s a stretch if Jordan Montgomery continues to pitch well.

The chickens come home to roost

The Yankees got off on the wrong foot with Tanaka from the get-go. They knew they were inheriting a top-flight pitcher, but they also knew that he was used to pitching every sixth day as opposed the American style of every fifth day.

They probably went to Tanaka asking him, is that okay with you. Tanaka, who again comes from a culture where authority is respected and obeyed, says sure, I’m good with that. Except he’s not and he has never been “good” with it.

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Masahiro Tanaka has pitched at a major league level for ten seasons. He began his career at the tender age of eighteen.

He is now 28 years old and has logged an average of 180 innings per season since then. The chickens are coming home to roost for the Yankees and they seem blind to it.

Tanaka has an opt-out at the end of this season in his contract. His decision will have a ripple effect on the entire Yankees organization when he makes his decision. The Yankees may be hoping that he says sayonara and their problem with him evaporates and they can go on from there.

But what if he doesn’t opt-out and Tanaka says I’m good where I am?

Make the move now, before it’s too late

The Yankees are not in a bind. They have options. The only trouble is that there is a timeline associated with these options and they don’t have all day to figure it out.

The first and most sensible option is to move immediately to a six-man rotation. This kills two birds with one stone by saving the arms of Luis Severino, Michael Pineda, and Jordan Montgomery who, in case the Yankees haven’t noticed, are building up the innings.

And with a playoff bound team like the Yankees have, the last thing we want is a repeat of what the New York Mets are enduring now, following their trip to the World Series in 2015 when they went “all-out”, only to be rewarded with a succession of career-threatening injuries to their starting staff.

The Yankees could make this move internally if they wanted to. Chad Green or Adam Warren could be moved in to be the sixth starter. Or, they could promote Chance Adams from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he has been nothing short of sensational.

Or, and there’s really no need to do this, but the Yankees could enter the trade market to pick up an experienced major league starter. This doesn’t have to be a Sonny Gray, Chris Archer, or the ever popular when this is talked about, Jose Quintana. And they don’t need to give away the farm to accomplish a deal for a mid-level starter.

 Keeping on with the charade

The worst thing the Yankees can do at this point, though, is nothing. Alarmingly, that’s all they’ve managed to do so far. And it’s not Monday morning quarterbacking to say “I told you so” about Tanaka’s performance last night.

The Yankees should have known better and they should have skipped him. A part of me says the Yankees rotation is good enough without Tanaka, and the team can survive, and possibly even thrive, in his absence as a contributor to the staff.

But if I were Brian Cashman right now, I wouldn’t think it wise to take that gamble. Because this is not a hiccup with Tanaka, it’s a trend that the Yankees have been ignoring for a number of years now.

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If clubs like the Royals, Pirates, Rays and even the Blue Jays find they need to be sellers, the Yankees will have plenty of players to trade.

Tanaka will produce for this team, but not at the rate the Yankees are handing him at the moment. Give Tanaka that extra day over three or four starts and see what happens then. I’ll almost guarantee the results will be amazing. Your move, Joe.