Jonathan Loaisiga has a big Yankee audition on Friday night

Masahiro Tanaka’s injury gives Jonathan Loaisiga a huge opportunity to stake his claim to a long-term spot in the Yankees rotation.

If the Yankees are going to make a deep run in October they’re going to need better production from their starting pitchers. Masahiro Tanaka’s trip to the disabled list will give Jonathan Loaisiga a chance to show he can be a part of the solution. Time will tell whether or not the 23-year-old Nicaraguan can take advantage of his big opportunity.

Loaisiga will get the start against Tampa Bay on Friday night. In a perfect world, he would’ve been given more time to adjust to life in AA. His six starts in Trenton have been decent, but certainly nothing special. His ERA of 4.32 in those starts certainly doesn’t portend immediate success at the major league level.

On the flip side, his stuff was good enough to strike out 32 hitters in just 25 innings of AA ball. That quality of pitches will give him a chance to get some Rays’ hitters out on Friday night. He’ll still need to have one of the best outings of his life to notch a quality start against Tampa Bay.

Even if he struggles in his first outing, look for Aaron Boone to stick with him. The rookie manager was clearly impressed with what Loaisiga showed him during Spring Training. In particular, Boone compliments his young righty with the way he carries himself. He describes Loaisiga as having a confidence that’s “unaffected by anything going on around him.”

In terms of his physical gifts, Loaisiga sports a lively fastball that can get into the upper-90s. Expect that to be the pitch you see when he’s in a tough spot. He can flash a decent curveball and changeup as well but neither of those is anywhere near an out pitch at this point in his career. He’s going to need to use the fastball to set up his offspeed stuff for the foreseeable future.

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In the end, Yankees fans will need to exercise patience with Loaisiga. It’s highly unlikely he’s going to come up and dominate the Rays on Friday night. He just needs to pitch well enough to give his teammates a chance to win the game. If he can do that, he’ll earn himself at least one more start with the big league club. Taking it one day at a time is all Loaisiga and the Yankees can do at the moment.