Zero to Masahiro

 This is the last year of Masahiro Tanaka's contract in New York. In seven seasons, he's won 77 games, has a career 3.73 ERA, has 981 strikeouts, which could become a thousand within his next 3 starts, has made two All Star teams, and has averaged 12 wins per season in every season not shortened by a global pandemic.

Not bad for one of Brian Cashman's fabled free-agent gambles.

Tanaka, while not the most standy-outy pitcher in the Bronx, has become its most durable one. Even in his lower-tier seasons, Tanaka delivers solid starts, wins games, and is one of the most respected players on the team. Even after getting a line-drive to the head in spring training, Tanaka finished the session before ducking out to the paramedic's. Tanaka is all class, all power, and all talent. I don't know if we're going to re-sign him, but it's a nice thought.

Tanaka's start the other day was the latest in a series of much-needed wins for the New York Yankees. After a deadly lull of division games, as well as a few embarrassing losses to the Mets, the playoff chances of the team plummeted further than they had all season, with many papers and pundits declaring the season over with a month left to go. It's the sort of late-act-2 conflict that most sports movies bank on.

And yet, the wheels started turning again a few nights ago. Luke Voit's bat has caught fire and it hasn't cooled down since. Deivi Garcia and Jordan Montgomery have had potent starts, and Gerrit Cole is finally finding his control without the use of home runs. Erik Kratz and Kyle Higashioka have been hitting even if Gary Sanchez won't. Clint Frazier and Mike Tauchman have been excellent replacement outfield options. And Zack Britton, Jonathan Holder, Chad Green and Luis Cessa have been sharp in relief. Aaron Judge and, reportedly, Giancarlo Stanton are set to return soon, and if they stay healthy for the stretch, this team could be dangerous.

The immediate challenge will be to take down the Blue Jays for a few games, and seeing as the Blue Jays just got throttled by the Mets recently, the momentum may be shifting in favor of the Yankees. At least I hope it is, cause that would be kinda nice.

Coming Tonight: Even in last place, the Nationals still can cough up an MVP candidate or two.

Championship Series Update: I Like the Sound of This Edition

I had to make this one, because I kind of love that I can make current Expos customs with accurate uniforms. Hell, if the Nats do well enough in the postseason, maybe this can get some people to consider bringing the Expos back!

Anyway, yesterday was a day of pitching battles. Scherzer v. Wainwright was the first one, and while both performances were steady, it was Scherzer's that won out because...well, he's Max Scherzer. I mean, come on. You try going against that kind of power. Scherzer, as well as the bullpen, allowed only one run from the Cardinals (thanks Doo), while Daniel Hudson got the save after returning from paternity leave. It was also a nice day for Adam Eaton, Matt Adams and Michael Taylor, who shined in some moments of hitting and RBIs. I sincerely hope the Nats keep this up as they head back to Washington.

This one was also a pitching battle, and while you'd think Greinke-Tanaka would be a lot more lopsided...you have to remember how impressive of a postseason pitcher Masahiro Tanaka is. He set some sort of record about allowing 2 or less runs in each of his first 7 postseason starts, which is pretty damn insane, and should shut up some of the Tanaka haters, because even in the Bronx there are some.

Tanaka kept stymying the Astros, which is impressive enough, but GLEYBER TORRES may have had the flashier night, taking 5 RBIs, which was 71% of the Yankees' offensive output last night, which means everything other than solo homers from Gio Urshela and Giancarlo Stanton was thanks to him. Which is pretty awesome for a second-year player.

Tonight is Verlander vs. Paxton. Another tricky one, but...you never know.

Masahiro Worship

Well...look who's back to his old tricks.

I was worried that Masahiro Tanaka would never amount to anything past his first season, but he's finally performing positively again, after a slow start. He's got a 9 and 2 record, a 3.76 ERA, over 100 strikeouts, and has been a steady #2 to Luis Severino who has wrapped up ace duties. He's also helping the trend of Yankees Pitchers Who Actually do WELL!

Along with Tanaka, Sevvy and CC, there's also LANCE LYNN, who's been lights out in every Yankee appearance so far, JA Happ, who's back to good health after coming down with Syndergaard syndrome, and Sonny Gray, who...actually pitched really well in long relief the other night. The starting rotation is in much better condition right now, especially considering that Domingo German has been demoted, and Gray is rethinking his mechanics.

The problem is that the Yanks are about 10 games behind Boston, and the lead is so great that the Yankees may not even have a chance to catch them. They may just want to shoot for the Wild Card spot, which is fine, but...the fact is that the Red Sox are honestly just much better than they are. All they can do is build up September momentum, so that maybe they'll have a chance to absolutely dominate October from there. This is a team that can roll if everything clicks, and...I have a feeling things could go well for them if handed the right luck.

Coming Tonight: His team may not be as strong as usual, but he's still one of the most formidable infielders in the game.

ALCS Preview: Heavy Favorites vs Eternal Heavy Favorites

Yankees-Astros ALCS. You know, as vain as I am, I would have never called that in April. I would have said something silly like Astros-Indians.

I remember the Yanks-Astros matchups during the season being pretty evenly matched, and I imagine this one's gonna be no exception. I'm expecting Hinch to reach into the rotation and use Collin McHugh and Lance McCullers in addition to the surprisingly awesome blockade of Keuchel-Verlander-Peacock-Morton. They have depth, and they'll use it. The Yankees, meanwhile, are gonna batter these guys done with their core four starters (Tanaka, Gray, Severino and Sabathia), with maaaayyyybe an appearance from Jordan Montgomery?

Either way, I'm excited, and, like the Indians-Yanks series, I'm perfectly fine with either team winning, though, of course, I'd prefer it to be the Yankees.

Also excited to see how the NLCS rolls out, though I'm guessing the winner will be the team that didn't have an airborne sickness go around their club airplane.

ALDS Update: Revenge of the AL East

[deeply exhales]

Alright, boys. We're still alive.

That was an incredible performance by Masahiro Tanaka, and another reason why Greg Bird is finally here to stay. And while it got a bit scary with Aroldis Chapman giving up some scarily bad-timed balls, we finished strong, and live to fight in the Bronx for at least one more day. I didn't think we could do it, but we're fighting for our lives, and we're finally playing well...though I would have appreciated more than one run...

On the other side...

I tend to forget how dangerous this guy can be in the playoffs, and once again he rose to the occasion, hitting like hell and powering his thought-dead team past the Astros in a win nobody saw coming, especially after the Astros chased Doug Fister in the first. The Sox were scoring less than the Yankees, getting beaten by more...and yet now they might have more of a chance than the Yankees to stay in the race. If they have a game like they did today, they might be alright.

Tomorrow, we get two more win-or-die games from this conference, plus another win-or-die game, and a 'let's see who's gonna take the lead' game. Sure to be a fun, eventful day.

Masahiro at Large

(Yeah, that one was a bit of a stretch)

It's weird. The Yankees have been lacking in the wins category, mainly because most of the lineup hasn't been hitting, but I look at the pitching staff, and, with the exception of wins ratios, the majority of these pitchers aren't doing so bad, especially Masahiro Tanaka, who still has a low enough ERA, and actually has the best WAR on the team.

Look, I understand that Masahiro Tanaka hasn't done something as insane as winning 30 games in a season, or being as absolutely dominant as he's been in Japan. But Tanaka has been a pretty damn dominant pitcher for the Yankees, and I don't have too many problems with his reign in the Bronx. He definitely needs some improvement as a #1 starter, but as a pitcher, he's still doing some damage. He doesn't have the most strikeouts on the team, which is surprising (especially since that goes to Michael Pineda this year), but he definitely knows how to keep people down.

Between Tanaka, Eovaldi, a SURPRISINGLY AWESOME PERFORMANCE by CC Sabathia, and Ivan Nova, the Yankees pitching has been surprisingly on this season, even amidst the losing games. Heck, the bullpen has been on fire this season- not just the Betances-Miller-Chapman stranglehold, but also people like Kirby Yates, who only have to do some middle-relief work to be relevant in New York.

Still, as much improvement as this team needs, the pitching seems to have it in the bag, and are probably going to get even better with the year going on.

Coming Tonight (?)- Oh hey, another Mets pitcher that's killing it right now, what a shock...

AL Wild Card: Showdown at the Okay Team Corral

In one corner, one of the best pitchers in baseball, and a shoo-in for the AL Cy Young award.

In the other, a fast-wielding Japanese strikeout artist.

Two will enter. One will leave victorious. It could go either way. Again, it's not looking great for the Yankees, but I'm still pretty optimistic. Sure as hell could be a really cool and competitive game...or a blowout. And with these two, it could be either one.

Custom Card of the Night: Tanaka Edition

I'm more than overjoyed that the Yankees are doing well this year. It took a little while, but not only have they started hitting, but their bullpen has also exceeded expectations. Hell, they even took control of the Miracle-for-a-Week Mets last week, taking the best 2 of 3 in their series.

Masahiro Tanaka is thankfully back to his old tricks, striking out batters and being one of the nastiest, and most effective, pitchers in the league. I am so glad we got him, and I am so glad he's gotten back to what he was doing last season, before half the rotation decided altogether to get injured.

I feel like Tanaka is going to end up being the new Sabathia, top of the rotation, sheer power and speed, nasty stuff. Hopefully he'll be at his best for a little more than Sabathia is.

I have no idea if he's gonna top last season, how much he's gonna build over the next few months. I'd love to see him get a Cy Young, even if Yankees usually get beat by Felix Hernandez for those things (will never forgive him). I'd love to see him completely dominate a full season, rather than half a season. I'd love to see Tanaka do a lot of things, but I'm just gonna let him surprise me.

Coming Tomorrow- I've been posting a lot of Reds for some reason. Weird. Here's another one.

NNNOOOOOOOO!!!

An inflamed elbow?

...

AN INFLAMED ELBOW???

You mean to tell me that, after TWELVE WINS...TWELVE REALLY NICE WINS...an INFLAMED ELBOW is what brings the great Masahiro Tanaka down??? I mean, that's like Mike Tyson getting taken out by a strained pinky!

What does this mean for my team?? Well, it means that we're gonna need Tanaka back, unless there's a miraculous recovery by Brandon McCarthy (and I really hope this isn't a joke). So, hopefully this...inflamed elbow thing is a brief, quickie thing, that isn't going to take long at all.

Please.

Spring Training Custom of the Day: Tanaka Edition

All I can say is thank the heavens it was us for once.

For a nice block of ten years, all the big Japanese prospects were going to other teams and absolutely thriving there. Daisuke Matsuzaka landed in Boston first, and he brought the house down for a while over there. And then Kosuke Fukudome got to Chicago and was good for two seasons. After that Yu Darvish, Hisashi Iwakuma, Hyun-jin Ryu, Kyuji Fujikawa and Norichika Aoki all got to the States and became generally big deals for other teams. Darvish is still really good.

All the Yankees ever really got from Japan was Kei Igawa, who lasted a season of disappointing baseball. Having someone as lackluster as Kei Igawa the same time as Boston was making Daisuke into a star was pretty embarrassing. It was the equivalent of Jose Rijo flaming out during Doc Gooden's reign in New York. I don't really count Hiroki Kuroda, because he was in Los Angeles for a few years before he became a crowd favorite in New York.

And then, this year, we finally got someone good in Masahiro Tanaka. I am so glad that he's pitching well in Tampa, because I had a sinking feeling for a while. I thought he'd go the way of Kei Igawa. He still could, and I really, really, really do not want him to.

Then again, we're not gonna know for sure until after the season, or a few seasons down the line. But I hope we picked a good one. A really, really good one.

Coming Tomorrow- Hopefully somebody at my photo-sharing site will upload some more spring training photos so I can make more.

On Tanaka- Lighten Up.

I live in the Northeast, which means that, as you probably heard, I got a ton of snow last night. Needless to say I didn't have to go to school today, so I slept in. For a while.

By the time I got up, which was around 10:45, I called my dad, because I wanted to know about how people had been responding to his latest work, which I will probably go into detail on.

I instantly forgot that when he told me "we got Tanaka".

I double-taked. I asked him to repeat himself, clarify, and tell me he wasn't bluffing me. All three times gave me the same answer- Masahiro Tanaka was joining my New York Yankees.

The easiest thing the critics can say is that Tanaka has never pitched in the MLB before, and that may not have been worth the 155 million. And they have been saying that. Many times. They've brought up names like Masahide Kobayashi, Kyuji Fujikawa, Kazuhiro Sazaki and Kei Igawa to buttress their points.

Okay, fine. Those players didn't adjust to MLB systems. They failed. You're right. However, Tanaka is different from those, in that he's made far more news in Japan, been a potential MLB acquisition for far longer, and is being signed for a lot more money. Besides, Tanaka is being hailed as something really big.

Besides, the numbers can speak for themselves. He's 25, pitched a beautiful 24-0 season last year, and still has a lot left in him. It's not like he's 30 like the rest of our recent pickups. It's not like he's unreliable, because he certainly can pitch.

Maybe people are just fearing what happens if he does pitch as well as he did in Japan. Him, Nova, Kuroda, and newly-thin Sabathia could be really nice next year. He could have a spectacular season and go toe-to-toe with Yu Darvish. He could be excellent, and people are just refusing to believe it, because he's a Yankee.

Just wait until he actually pitches an MLB game. Then you can judge him all you want.