What The Heck's Going On With Tanaka?

That question is being asked from us, the fans and goes all the way up to Hal Steinbrenner. The Yankee ace has looked anywhere from a starter for Appalachian League Pulaski to a bonafide ace in Major League Baseball.  Tanaka is better than that, and many fans are truly frustrated by the whole thing.

The New York Post wrote about Tanaka in detail, and states that Tanaka’s struggles can be traced to one simple ingredient.

“Those who believe Masahiro Tanaka, in the worst skid of his Yankees career, can be fixed by overhauling every aspect of the struggling right-hander’s game should save their thinking cells. the man with the most knowledge of the former Yankees ace says not to expect massive changes in what Tanaka does on the mound and in bullpen sessions in between starts.

Tanaka isn’t going to adjust his feet differently on the mound. He isn’t going to start throwing sidearm. Nor is he going to alter his upper body during the windup.

‘This is no rebuild, it’s consistency and it’s going to be a process to get him back to being consistent,’ pitching coach Larry Rothschild…”

And in the end, it was evident last night.  Nothing happened. No adjustments, just him trying to work out of his funk. And guess what? It didn’t work. Tanaka gave up 5 hits and 5 runs and 3 homers and the Yankee Universe groaned.

Whether it’s the much talked about partial tear of his UCL or just some minor tweak, they need to figure out something pretty soon. With an ERA of 6.55, only Tommy Layne and Giovanny Gallegos have a higher ERA.

Tanaka insists it has nothing to do with injury and sure Larry Rothschild’s insist it’s merely consistency. But I insist they need to come to a conclusion and figure it out fast.

Boston’s 1 game out, folks.  It’s no joke now.

–Michael Carnesi
BYB Writer
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