Andy Van Slyke has seen Yu Darvish and Masahiro Tanaka pitch from the Mariners’ first-base coaching box, and when asked to compare the Japanese super arms, the always-candid Van Slyke didn’t hesitate to give the Yankees’ sensation the edge.
“This guy is in a league of his own,’’ Van Slyke told The Post Thursday, a day after Tanaka hurled a nine-inning gem against the Mariners in which he fanned 11 and allowed six hits in a 4-2 Yankees victory in Seattle. “Stuff-wise, he is better than Darvish. His control is better than Darvish’s. He holds runners better than Darvish. He fields his position better than Darvish. And his money is better than Darvish’s.’’
The Yankees gave Tanaka $155 million across seven seasons not knowing how the 25-year-old would adjust to leaving Japan. Ten weeks into the gig, the Yankees couldn’t be happier.
“He’s just amazing, he is even better than we all thought,’’ general manager Brian Cashman said Monday. “He has been exceptional. He hasn’t missed a beat. He continues to pitch at the same level that he did in Japan, and we are thankful for that.’’
With a 10-1 record, a 2.02 ERA and 103 strikeouts in 93 ²/₃ innings, Tanaka has entered conversations about being an All-Star, the AL Rookie of the Year and AL Cy Young winner.
When Tanaka signed, Cashman attempted to downplay where Tanaka fit into the Yankees’ rotation that was then headed by CC Sabathia.
Now, with Sabathia on the DL and Tanaka perhaps the best hurler in the big leagues, he is the Yankees’ ace. And games like Tuesday night’s against the AL East-leading Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium are what aces are about.
The Jays led the Yankees and Orioles by 4 ½ lengths going into the Orioles-Rays action Monday night.
The Yankees will ask Tanaka to halt their two-game losing streak and get a critical six-game homestand off to a solid start. Furthermore, when you look at the rest of the Yankees’ rotation, Tanaka’s starts have taken on a must-win feel.
Tanaka’s MLB debut was in Toronto on April 4 and he allowed three runs (two earned) and six hits in seven innings of a 7-3 victory.
“As far as the first game, I don’t have any thoughts,’’ Tanaka said through an interpreter. “Toronto is the team that’s the best in the league right now, obviously I will go out there and try to get the win.’’
According to A’s hitting coach Chili Davis, Tanaka’s biggest advantage over the Rangers’ Darvish, who turns 28 in August, doesn’t start with a filthy splitter or the ability to catch the corners with one seam of a baseball.
“If you compare them, Tanaka is a little more fearless than Darvish throwing strikes,’’ said Davis, a two-time World Series winner with the Yankees and in his third year as the A’s hitting coach. “Darvish relies more on his secondary pitches. Tanaka comes at you with the fastball. Tanaka uses the fastball more than Darvish, but both are very good pitchers.’’
While Tanaka’s numbers glow, Darvish is a very impressive 7-2 with a 2.11 ERA.
Davis has seen more of Darvish, who is 1-7 with a 4.73 ERA in nine games against the A’s in the past three seasons, than Tanaka, who has faced the A’s once. On June 5 at the Stadium, Tanaka carried the Yankees past the A’s by allowing a run and five hits in six innings of a 2-1 Yankees victory.
When Tanaka was a free agent this winter, scouts said he didn’t have Darvish’s fastball. However, according to Pitch FX, Darvish’s four-seam fastball is being thrown at 94 mph. That is just one tick above Tanaka’s 93 mph. Tanaka’s out pitch, the splitter, is being thrown at 87 mph, while Darvish’s slider is at 82. Since Darvish’s rookie year (2012), he hasn’t used the splitter that much.
First-year Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon gives the velocity edge to Darvish — who, like Tanaka, has faced Seattle once this season — but raved about Tanaka’s location ability.
“What impressed me was the command of his pitches,’’ McClendon said. “I didn’t think Tanaka was overpowering, but he put every pitch where he wanted to put it.’’
Additional reporting by Howie Kussoy