After winning the sweepstakes for Japanese star pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, the Yankees' newest addition is reportedly heading to the United States as early as this Sunday. According to ESPN.com, Tanaka has his work visa and looks to be able to join the Yankees when spring training opens up February 15th for pitchers and catchers.
The Yankees have high hopes for Tanaka, whom they handed a seven-year, $155 million contract to in addition to a $20 million posting fee for Rakuten just to talk to him. Statistically he looks to be worth that dough and then some; last season for the Golden Eagles Tanaka was 24-0, with an absurdly low 1.27 ERA and 0.943 WHIP.
For those who think those numbers look fluky, in 2012 Tanaka was 10-4 with a 1.87 ERA in six less games. From 2012 to 2013 his strikeouts leapt from 169 to 183, however his strikeouts per nine innings actually dropped during last season's mind-blowing campaign.
Tanaka will be taking the place of Yankees fan favorite Andy Pettitte, who was 11-11 in 2013 with a 3.74 ERA and 1.327 WHIP. The veteran left-hander was striking out 6.8 batters per nine innings, which Tanaka will be expected to improve upon greatly. At 25 years old, Tanaka also serves as an injection of youth to an aging roster that features no regular starters under the age of 30.
It's hard to predict how he will fare since he's never been in the big leagues before and he's joining the brutal American League East, but former Yankees legend David Cone thinks Tanaka's split-fingered fastball will work wonders.
"I don't know if it's the best split-fingered fastball in the world, but it's certainly among the top five right now," Cone said. "He has that kind of talent, in terms of velocity and movement.
"All indications are that he's a true professional and that he works extremely hard, and he comes prepared to pitch," Cone said. "He's really polished for a 25-year-old. When I was 25, I was still learning to throw a split-fingered fastball. He's 25 and he's got one of the best in the world. He's ready for this challenge, in my mind. It's going to be a lot of fun to watch him."
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