MLB

Tanaka ‘honored’ by attention, gets Rivera’s locker

TAMPA — As if the hype surrounding Masahiro Tanaka weren’t cranked high enough, now the Japanese pitcher has been given Mariano Rivera’s old locker at Steinbrenner Field.

When a staff member informed him of the move, Tanaka said he wasn’t sure he belonged there.

More important than his spot in the clubhouse, though, will be Tanaka’s performance on the mound.

On Friday, he said he felt good after throwing his first bullpen session Thursday, with another one scheduled for Saturday.

“I’m very honored to get all the attention, but I need to go out and perform,” Tanaka said through a translator.

And unlike one of his Japanese predecessors in The Bronx, Kei Igawa, Tanaka said he was eager to adjust to pitching every fifth day instead of every seven as he has done in the past.

“I want to learn the way to do it over here,” Tanaka said. “And not go about it the Japanese way of doing it.”

Igawa, one of the cautionary tales against signing unproven Japanese pitchers to expensive deals, was resistant to changing anything in his preparation, which was just one way his Yankees career proved to be a high-priced failure.

While the jury will still be out on Tanaka until he establishes himself during the regular season, he has received some advice from countryman Hiroki Kuroda, who has had success in the majors, but never been under the scrutiny Tanaka has already endured.

“He told me to be myself,” Tanaka said.

In other clubhouse news, Alex Rodriguez’s old locker was left empty with the suspended third baseman banned for the year.


The Yankees shelled out a lot of money this offseason, but manager Joe Girardi admitted they don’t have a clear choice for the middle of the lineup.

“I think we have a collection of very good hitters this year,” Girardi said. “I think our lineup is much deeper than it was last year from top to bottom … [but] as far as having that one guy you center the lineup around, I would say no.”

And while Girardi is confident Mark Teixeira’s wrist will hold up after undergoing surgery last year, he knows he’ll need days off — which leaves Kelly Johnson as the backup first baseman. Girardi doesn’t expect Brian McCann to fill in there.

“It’s not something that we’ve talked about,” Girardi said. “I guess it could be, though.”


Although the Yankees remain cautiously optimistic Michael Pineda finally will be able to contribute, Girardi hasn’t declared a favorite to win the fifth starter’s spot.

“When we traded for him, we expected him to be in our rotation,” the manager said. “And he’s had some injury-plagued seasons the last couple of years. Obviously, you want someone to rise to the top.”

As for whether Pineda could be a candidate to be a long reliever, Girardi said, “I think anything is possible, but we envision him as a starter.”


David Robertson is ready to make the transition to closer and is trying to keep expectations realistic.

“I don’t expect to step in and be Mariano Rivera,” Robertson said. “I’m not. Everyone knows that.”

Still, he remains confident he can do the job.

“I think I have the abilities to be the closer,” Robertson said. “It’s not proven yet, but I know in my heart I can do it. I just have to go out there and prove it to myself.”