FORT MYERS, Fla. — After Masahiro Tanaka’s final major test before the end of spring training, the Japanese right-hander said he was satisfied with how his spring has gone.
Even after Tanaka surrendered three runs in 5 ²/₃ innings to the Twins in a 5-4 Yankees win, manager Joe Girardi said he feels comfortable that Tanaka has done what he’s needed to do to be ready for the season.
“I sure do,” Girardi said following Tanaka’s 92-pitch performance Saturday at Hammond Stadium. “He’s pretty much what I thought he was from watching video of him in October. … He knows how to pitch.”
That’s something Trey Hillman has known for a while.
The former Royals manager, who also managed in Japan for five years, first saw Tanaka during his rookie season and managed him in his first All-Star game in that
“I had him start the game, since we were in his hometown,” Hillman said at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. “It wasn’t a good outing. He barely made it out of the two innings he was scheduled to throw. There were a lot of well-struck balls against him.”
Tanaka was just 18 at the time and pitched effectively against Hillman’s Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters the rest of the season.
Hillman spent the previous three seasons on Don Mattingly’s staff with the Dodgers and after being let go following the 2013 season, came to the Yankees as a special assistant for major and minor league operations during their pursuit of Tanaka.
He was part of the contingent that met with Tanaka in Los Angeles and referred to himself as the “least important part of the group we had there. I was just a familiar face for him.”
Perhaps, but he understands the transition Tanaka is making better than most.
“He’s got the stuff to pitch here and the demeanor,” Hillman said. “I don’t think anything has been overwhelming for him since he’s been here.”
That’s a common refrain around Yankees camp, though it didn’t result in a dominant performance against Minnesota.
Tanaka, making his fourth appearance and third start of the spring, surrendered a leadoff double to Brian Dozier, who later scored, in the bottom of the first and ran into trouble again the third. He surrendered two more runs in the sixth before being removed.
Before the game, pitching coach Larry Rothschild called Tanaka “pretty much as advertised” and said he was particularly impressed by how he commanded his splitter.
“He has the ability to throw it for strikes and still have movement on it,” Rothschild said. “A lot of guys can’t do that. They usually throw it out of the strike zone.”
That command wasn’t as sharp Saturday, as Tanaka had to pitch from behind more frequently. Afterward, he declined to go into much detail.
Tanaka, who also had six strikeouts and a walk Saturday, will get one more start before the end of spring training, but won’t be pushed nearly as hard.
So Saturday figured to be Girardi’s last lengthy look at Tanaka before he pitches for real.
“I’ve seen him sharper,” Girardi said. “Overall, I was pleased because I didn’t think he had his great stuff today, but he held them down. … That’s what you want to see because you’re not going to have your great stuff every time you go out there.”