Masahiro Tanaka’s spring with the New York Yankees reminds me of his 2017 season—good solid pitching with flashes of brilliance, followed by glaring mistakes. It was a season that spiked high and low, as Tanaka lacked consistency and command of his pitches.
Prior to Saturday’s game against the Detroit Tigers, manager Aaron Boone named Luis Severino as the Opening Day starter, a nod to the new ace of the Yankee staff, who had a breakout season in 2017 and finished third in the American League Cy Young Award voting.
As Mike Mazzeo of the New York Daily News reminds us, that decision ends Tanaka’s streak of Opening Day starts:
“…had started the last three Opening Days, but the 29 year old righty was shelled in his last one against Tampa in 2017.