Joel Sherman

Joel Sherman

MLB

Tanaka era off to running start — for the most part

TAMPA — So much could have unnerved and derailed Masahiro Tanaka on Day 1 in a Yankees uniform. Strange team, language and baseball size plus scores of media following his every step and throw Saturday at Steinbrenner Field.

Yet, it was running one mile — four times around the back diamonds at the conclusion of the first workout for pitchers and catchers — that most flustered the right-hander. He grimaced as he approached the finish, looking more like a weekend warrior in need of a defibrillator than a fine-tuned athlete.

Tanaka would, in fact, say that when he reminisced five or six years from now at what he remembered most from his first day in his new life, it would be “the four laps at the end,” so ill-prepared was he for the endeavor.

As omens go, it hardly could be positive that a professional athlete would have that level of difficulty running a single mile. But mostly, I think, it was another reminder of the difficult acclimation process being undertaken by Tanaka.

Consider this: CC Sabathia had been a successful major league pitcher for eight years before accepting the responsibility of taking a seven-year, $161 million deal with the Yankees, and he admits now, “There really is nothing like coming here, nothing that fully prepares you for it.” And he knew the language, customs and American game, which Tanaka doesn’t as he embarks on his own seven-year deal.

Pitching coach Larry Rothschild offered a laundry list of hurdles, including leaving home for an extended period for the first time and simply integrating so quickly when not everything is understood and the faces around you are almost all unfamiliar.

This is, in part, why general manager Brian Cashman, in a now infamous comment, was trying to tamp down expectations — especially immediate expectations — by saying he sees Tanaka as a No. 3 starter. That remarks has been ridiculed — really, the Yankees paid $175 million (posting fee plus salary) for a No. 3 starter.

Well, salary always is reflective of supply, demand, timing and availability. When Zack Greinke signed his six-year, $147 million deal, it was the second-largest overall package ever awarded a pitcher — and no one confused Greinke for the second- or third- or fourth-best pitcher on the planet. But he was a free agent at a moment when the Dodgers were spending feverishly and the availability of quality starters was slim.

Now the Yankees were the desperate team with money when Tanaka became available and even good mid-rotation starters don’t become accessible for just money at 25 (Tanaka’s age). He came without draft-pick compensation. And with a nominal posting fee, he essentially was a free agent.

Had Daisuke Matsuzaka been a true free agent, he probably would have received in the $110 million-$120 million range, and Yu Darvish $130 million-plus, and the progressions to Tanaka would have felt more organic than it did.

But more to the point, saying someone is a No. 3 starter does not really define the pitcher. Anibal Sanchez (who led the AL in ERA) and Phil Hughes will both be No. 3 starters in the AL Central this year. If you are a Yankees fan would you be OK, in his seven pinstriped seasons, having Tanaka go 116-61 with a 3.92 ERA in 216 starts and 11-7 with a 3.84 ERA in 24 playoff starts? That was Andy Pettitte’s last seven seasons in his first Yankee go-around — ages 25-31, 1997-2003. In most of those years, Pettitte was the Yankees’ No. 3 starter.

What the Yankees need from Tanaka — whatever rotation designation — is the same qualities of durability and dependability. I would sum it up with the word “trust.” The Yankees, for example, fell in love with the stuff of Hideki Irabu, Jose Contreras, Javier Vazquez and A.J. Burnett, but never gained trust that they could handle this atmosphere like a Pettitte, Orlando Hernandez or Hiroki Kuroda.

The litmus test is believing Tanaka will be mentally and physically and emotionally ready to win on May 1 in Kansas City, Aug. 1 in Boston and Oct. 1 in the Division Series. Reliable. Resilient. Resolute.

“I am really not worried about my number in the rotation,” Tanaka said. “When I go on the mound, the one thing I am thinking about is winning the game.That is what I will have on my mind.”

The early read — beyond the problem with those four laps — has been positive. He handled the red-carpet-like attention of his press conference and Day 1 on the field with outward steadiness. His bullpen sessions have provided glimpses of his stuff. Rothschild mentioned that Tanaka already is working hard to learn English, picking up words and phrases quickly. He seems to be interacting with new teammates amiably.

But, as Rothschild admitted, “there’s obviously a lot of unknowns.” In other words, there’s a long way for a man in a strange environment to go and on Saturday we saw how difficult even the first mile could be.