4. Masahiro Tanaka comes up big again
The results are mixed on Masahiro Tanaka’s first six years in Major League Baseball. The Japanese star has gone 75-43 and made two All-Star teams, but injuries have kept him from fully living up to the seven-year, $155-million contract he signed to join the Yankees. The 30-year-old has never gone over 200 innings and is just 36-27 with a 4.34 ERA the last three seasons as the 1300-plus innings he threw from age 18 to 24 in Japan begin to take their toll.
Where Tanaka has not been a disappointment, however, is in the postseason. He has made five starts for the Yankees in October and is 3-2 with a 1.50 ERA and 0.800 WHIP. He nearly delivered the team to the 2017 World Series after allowing only two earned runs in two strong starts against the eventual champion Houston Astros. Including the ALDS that year, he allowed only 10 hits in 20 inning and did not allow a run in two of his three starts.
Tanaka’s 2019 season was a story in three parts. He started the year 5-5 but had a 3.21 ERA over his first 16 starts and held opponents to a .679 OPS. His next seven starts were disastrous, as he had a 10.23 ERA and allowed a 1.051 OPS. Over that stretch, Tanaka allowed 48 hits in only 31.2 innings of work. He ended that skid with eight innings of shutout ball against Toronto before going on to post a 4-3 record down the stretch with a 3.27 ERA over 52.1 innings and a .669 opponent’s OPS.
That Tanaka is heading into the playoffs on a hot streak bodes well for the Yankees. He is their most established playoff option with CC Sabathia left off the ALDS roster and Luis Severino’s ability to pitch deep into games in question. Tanaka looks dialed in and set to deliver another strong postseason.