Can Larry Rothschild Fix Tanaka?

Masahiro Tanaka has some pitching problems. Tanaka is the Yankees undisputed ace, but he hasn’t been pitching like one. His last start against the Astros was pretty ugly and he said he didn’t know what went wrong. Lucky for us (hopefully), Larry Rothschild says that he knows what went wrong AND he knows how to fix it.

After his worst start of his major league career he couldn’t explain it but said “I have to kind of look at some stuff and sort of analyze what I did.” Well, Rothschild already did and he is ready to get to work and fix the problem. “His front leg is coming open and his arm drags, and then you just don’t catch up and that changes the angle of every pitch and the quickness to the plate of the pitches” read more HERE. It sounds like he has a plan…..we hope he has a plan.

It’s difficult to watch Tanaka be so inconsistent. His 5.80 ERA is not what is expected from an “ace” and if it weren’t for his complete game shut out against Boston last month that ERA would be even more bloated than it is. If the Yankees are going to be contenders this season Tanaka is going to have to figure it all out and fast. Despite the struggles, Rothschild doesn’t think it is time to panic. He has thrown some pitches that Rothschild called “clunkers” but says that is no indication of a downward spiral. “You keep your eye on it and try to correct it, but Tanaka’s been pretty good at bouncing back and correcting himself and making the adjustments that we try to make on the side.”

And even if you are skeptical of Rothschild, some baseball scouts agree that Tanaka is just rushing through his pitches or suffering from fatigue, read that HERE. But that word fatigue can be very scary especially when our ace has been pitching through a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow. For now, Tanaka insists that he is healthy. and until proven otherwise the Yankees are sticking with the idea that “Larry knows best” and this is nothing more than a mechanical issue that can be fixed.

Tanaka and Rothschild worked together on a scheduled bullpen Wednesday. Although Tanaka is said to be healthy, he will pitch again on Saturday against the Rays with an extra day rest. This isn’t the first multiple-game slide Tanaka has experienced in his Yankee career. Each time he has rebounded, and there’s no reason to believe he won’t again.

Trust in your ace.