The importance of Masahiro Tanaka for the Yankees cannot be overstated

With a healthy Masahiro Tanaka, the New York Yankees are a very dangerous team.

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A disappointing May somewhat erased what was a surprisingly fast start for the New York Yankees.

The Yankees went 13-16 during the month, including a stretch where they lost 10 out of 11 contests. That allowed every team in the AL East to climb back to within striking distance.

Part of the reason for New York’s struggles was that it went the entire month without staff ace Masahiro Tanaka. Tanaka missed almost six weeks with a forearm strain, leading to some concern that he would be forced to undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery to repair the partially torn UCL that caused him to miss much of 2014.

Fortunately for New York, Tanaka was able to return on Wednesday to help cap a three-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners. Not only was he effective in his first start since April 23, he resembled the pitcher that was one of the best in the majors during the first half of 2014.

Tanaka effortlessly blew away the Mariners. In seven innings he allowed one run on three hits, and recorded nine strikeouts with no walks – throwing just 78 pitches in the process. His velocity, a major concern in April, was even higher than it was before the initial UCL injury.

Other teams in the AL East should be worried if this is how Tanaka is going to perform moving forward. With a fully healthy, ace-level pitcher, the Yankees become clear favorites in the division and have the ability to challenge any team in the American League.

Every team has risk in its rotation entering the season, but no pitching staff had a wider range of outcomes than the Yankees. While it was easy to see how New York’s rotation could be very good, Tanaka was far from the only injury risk, and the back end was filled with uncertainty.

Apart from C.C. Sabathia, the pieces have fallen nicely into place. Michael Pineda is healthy so far and has been one of the best pitchers in the AL. Adam Warren has held his own as a mid-rotation guy. Nathan Eovaldi hasn’t been quite as good, but it still feels as though he has all sorts of untapped potential.

Having Sabathia as your worst starting pitcher is not a bad thing at all. Ivan Nova should also be returning from Tommy John surgery this month and could be an upgrade somewhere if he is indeed fully recovered.

While that rotation is good, it needs someone like Tanaka at the top. Not only does Tanaka give the Yankees a dominant 1-2 with Pineda, it allows them to take the struggling Chris Capuano out of the rotation.

Add in the fact that New York features an absolutely dominant bullpen duo in Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances, and that’s a pretty strong pitching staff. It’s success hinges on a pair of fragile arms, but nobody would want to see the Yankees in the postseason should Tanaka and Pineda continue to pitch well.

The postseason berth from the AL East is ripe for the taking for the Yankees. Boston is severely underperforming, Toronto has no pitching and Baltimore has a lot of holes to address. The Rays will likely hang around for a while behind their own great pitching staff, but the Yankees have a clear talent advantage on paper.

New York took a major risk in letting Tanaka rehab rather than undergo Tommy John last summer. The move seems to be paying off and could lead the Yankees to an AL East title and more.