So look, this theory given life by startling numbers that Austin Romine should replace Gary Sanchez behind the plate whenever Masahiro Tanaka gets the ball may be nothing but nonsense, but chances are the putative ace of the Adid... Alec Martinez Jersey staff may just have a personal catcher for the next little while.
Because after consecutive starts tossing to Sanchez in which Tanaka could not get through three innings without yielding at least six runs, he looked like himself Friday with a blistering 13-strikeout performance over 7 1/? innings in which he surrendered one run on five hits throwing to Romine.
“I’m not going to say [Romine] won’t catch him the next time,” manager Joe Girardi said after the Yankees’ 4-1 loss to the Athletics at the Stadium. “But I’m also not going to say that Gary Sanchez doesn’t know how to catch him.”
Steve Carlton had Tim McCarver, Jon Lester had David Ross, Clayton Kershaw had A.J. Ellis and now, at least for a spell, Tanaka has Romine. Why wouldn’t he?
Because even as it is just as impossible to disprove a negative on the diamond as it is in life, it is folly to attempt to disprove numbers that reveal Tanaka with an ERA of 12.27 with 10 home runs allowed in 18 1/? innings pitching http... Sanchez as opposed to his ERA of 2.21 with two homers surrendered in 36 2/? innings with Romine behind the plate.
Romine, of course, disavowed any knowledge or interest in the numbers. Tanaka brushed aside the implication that the identity of his catcher had any impact on the location of his killer sliders and cutters that yielded 24 swings and misses on the night. And reason suggests this was simply Tanaka being Tanaka after a couple of outings in which an imposter slipped through security to don No. 19 and following a week in which he worked studiously on his mechanics with pitching coach Larry Rothschild.
“It was more or less getting back to where he had a direct route to the plate,” Rothschild said. “He’d been kind of drifting both ways, opening up a little too quickly and accelerating too fast off the rubber. It’s a matter of having him stay in line, so we had him watching a lot of video from 2014 and having him get a visual on it.”
Girardi, before the game, stressed the importance of Tanaka getting swings and misses on his signature pitches. And he did, repeatedly, in fanning eight of the first 11 batters he faced in the game. He looked strong and confident in [url=http://www.authenticnewyorkislanders.com/]Adidas New Yorkis Landers Jersey snapping off a succession of pitches that broke low in the zone.
“I could feel right away that my pitches were working better,” said Tanaka, who took the loss when Tyler Clippard allowed the baserunner on first he inherited with one out in the eighth to score and break what had been a 0-0 game. “I could see the way the ball was moving and the batters were reacting.
“I made some adjustments [during the week] but I’d rather keep those to myself, if I may.”
The defeat was the Yankees’ ninth in the past 15 games, but the small-picture result was obscured by Tanaka’s big-picture revival.
For while the 27-18 Yankees are one of baseball’s most pleasant spring surprises, they will need Tanaka at the top of his game and at the top of the rotation in order to have a chance of remaining in the playoff race through the [url=http://www.authenticnewyorkislanders.com/]http://www.authenticnewyorkisland... summer. That is a given.
“Even when he was struggling, I had confidence,” Girardi said. “I believed he’d iron things out and figure it out, and he did that. He hasn’t had his slider and consistent splitter. When he does, he’s a different guy.”
No, when he does, he is the same guy who finished second in the AL ERA race last year. He is the same guy who has compiled a 44-20 career record.
“He didn’t give in; not once,” Romine said. “He attacked the zone. That’s the way he pitches.”
Tanaka, who departed after surrendering five hits on 111 pitches, said the next time out will be critical for him.
“I think the most important is the next game,” he said. “I’ll try to go out strong and see what happens.”
When he no doubt will be throwing to Romine.