Yankees: 3 players who were extremely affected by changing baseball

1. Masahiro Tanaka

Yes, the changing baseball may very much be a major reason behind Masahiro Tanaka’s departure from MLB at the age of 32.

After opening his career stateside with ERA+ of 138, 116, and 140 (in the Yankees’ forgotten 2016 season, Tanaka was brilliant), he hit a rough patch during the 2017 regular season, allowing 35 home runs in 178.1 innings pitched. In the postseason, though, he miraculously settled down, shutting out the Indians and allowing two earned runs in 13 innings against the Astros, creating the myth of “Playoff Tanaka.”

Could the many fluctuations of his last four seasons be due in large part to the changing baseball? It’s quite possible! Pitchers grew suspicious of the ball’s composition in 2017, and researchers eventually determined it was more aerodynamic, yet they couldn’t discern why. In 2018, Tanaka got his numbers back above league average (112 ERA+, 3.75 ERA), but then changes came again for the ball in 2019, when Tanaka had the second-worst season of his career, posting a 4.45 ERA and allowing a number of gopher balls, altering his reputation.

You can legitimately track Tanaka’s fluctuations and inability to tame his famous splitter with the introduction and removal of new baseballs. Famously, too, MLB took its live balls out of play during the 2019 postseason … when Tanaka shut the Astros out on the road in Game 1 of the ALCS, looking as good as he had all season. Who’s to say MLB didn’t make the same swap in the 2017 postseason?

Sad to say, but MLB’s constant experimenting with the baseballs deeply affected a feel pitcher like Tanaka, who is no longer stateside in part because the league determined he was regressing. Perhaps, but perhaps not. He might be dominating and soaking up innings with the new, dead baseballs. Probably would be.

Yankees: 4 trade options to replace consistently injured players

While the Yankees have brought in new conditioning staff, there is still a good chance that stints on the IL will likely continue for oft-injured players.