Yankees/ Red Sox I: Pitching, Power, And The Coming Pun-Pocalypse

Did Tanaka Just go from An Ace to The Ace?

And then there was Masahiro Tanaka. We only need one number to understand his performance: zero. As in zero home runs, zero walks, zero runs allowed and zero relievers needed. He didn’t just give the bullpen a day off; he gave the whole team a day off. Well, Aaron Judge helped but we are still getting to him. He did give up three hits, but that was over his complete nine-inning start.

Try to savor what he and Severino did. On Wednesday, Severino out dueled Rick Porcello, last year’s Cy Young award winner. And, on Thursday, Tanaka out-dueled this year’s Cy Young award winner, Chris Sale. He now anchors a Yankees staff that is better, right now, than any other in the division. It’s even better than the Mets (right now). No one thought that was possible just three weeks ago.

And Tanaka is not just along for the ride. He has led by example, even with the highest ERA of all the starters (4.20). His first start was a disaster. He could not get out of the third inning because he already gave up two homers and seven earned runs. At the end of his first start of the season, his WHIP was 4.55, and his ERA was 23.63. How do you say OMG in Japanese?

But then he did what a real professional does, what CC would have done, or Pettitte. He didn’t sulk or let that career-worst start of his bleed into his next start. Not in confidence and not in concentration. No, he forgot about that one and got ready for a better day. That is the most valuable lesson for young pitchers such as Severino and Pineda. They all had rough first starts and have all rebounded into excellence.

That might be because they have followed Tanaka’s lead. This time out, he showed his fellow young pitchers that any pitcher can be beaten, even the consensus best pitcher in baseball (Chris Sale). Or at least he was considered that before Thursday’s game.

Now it might be time to take a new poll. That’s how good Tanaka was.