But, here’s the real question. How is this happening? The Yankees right-hander entered his August 11 start against the Blue Jays with a 7-6 record and an ERA of 4.93. What’s changed since then?
The answer? He’s finally found his splitter.
Tanaka’s spent a good portion of the 2019 season working his splitter. Ordinarily, it’s been the best pitch of his career. From the start of the 2014 season—his first in the majors—thru the end of 2018, opposing batters were hitting just .196 against the pitch. He threw 3,450 splitters during that span, which was by far the most in Major League Baseball.