Something has to be wrong with Tanaka.
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Something has to be wrong with Tanaka.
Japanese pitchers seem to follow a pattern of falling off a cliff after being dominant for a 2 or 3 years. Maybe it takes batters in the US longer to adjust to them and then they have a hard time of making counter adjustments after being dominant for an extended period. I don't know. There has not been any discussion or rumors of arm trouble with Tanaka in NY. None that I have heard or read.
I can't see any harm in him paying a little visit to Dr. Andrews.
We have lined up our top pitching prospect with Tanaka. Something is wrong, clearly. His velocity is there, but he cannot seem to locate his offspeed stuff anymore. That is his calling card. This isn't just him "sucking". It's his best pitch suddenly flattening out and sitting down the middle. He either needs a ten day breather or a few MRI's to see if there's damage that he's hiding. I really wonder about that elbow. Some guys lose velocity first, others lose location. And the splitter is the worst pitch for your elbow
needs another trip to the Miami clinic.......
He can do whatever he needs to. Thing is, a healed, previously torn ligament is not as strong as a TJS one. I wouldnt be surprised if they look and see a recurrent tear or a worse tear. I hope they look and if he is torn, I hope they fix it right this time. Chance Adams is lined up with Tanaka's start and that kid is a stud. It's crazy that we are still in first with next to nothing from our ace.
Judge is the best 6'7 outfielder in the world. No way we trade Pineda and Didi. Tanaka sucks. Until the next start where he has 14Ks, then he's the man. But then as soon as he gives up another 7 runs in 2 innings, he sucks again.
bkz, Tanaka has to be hurt. Either that or his mechanics, which previously had been flawless, need adjusting. His splitter has been awful. Beyond awful at that. And he has the best one in baseball. It's his out pitch. Without that, he is a FB/slider guy who doesnt throw hard enough to be good with just a FB-slider. Splitters are the worst for the elbow. He has a tear in the elbow that may have healed with scar tissue, but is not likely to be stronger than his original ligament. The likelihood that his elbow isnt right is pretty high
Well hopefully he fixes his mechanics by tomorrow. Big series at this point of the season, could put some distance or drop out of 1st in the division depending on how it goes. But being at home and seeing that we aren't facing Sale, I think we should take 2 outta 3. I'm sure the forum residents would disagree though.
Slider just spins. Splitter doesn't split. 2 seamer doesn't even sink. I think one of Terry Francona's patented 15 day phantom DL stints is in order. If he's hurt, fix it definitively. If he isn't, then give him a break.
All this was predictable when the Platelet injections were chosen over shut down and TJS.
If they had done that then he would be healthy now as the team returns to competitive play and is poised to make the playoffs.
I don't know all the details but I would have opted for surgery then when the Yankees sucked.
Doesn't make sense. If he's not hurt, then a mental break would help. The O's are gonna tee off if he doesn't fix it