If the New York Yankees are able to secure Masahiro Tanaka the headline might read Golden Eagle Has Landed. The RHP was nearly perfect in 2013 pitching for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in Japan. He was 24-0, 1.27 ERA, 183 K, 0.94 WHIP, 1 SV in 212.0 IP over 28 games. Having just turned 25 on November 1st the Yankees hope his rising star will continue to shine in the Big Apple.
Tanaka had another very impressive season in 2011. While the winning record wasn't as flawless he may have been more dominant. He was 19-5, 1.27 ERA, 241 K, 0.88 WHIP in 226.1 IP over 27 games. He had 6 shut outs and 14 complete games in 2011 compared to 2 shut outs and 8 complete games in 2013.
Comparisons will be made to Yu Darvish. Darvish was the last phenom to make the jump from Japan. They both pitched in the Pacific League and both would be making the jump in their age 25 season. Looking at his age 22 and 24 seasons Darvish was 15-5, 1.73 ERA, 167 K, 0.90 WHIP in 182.0 IP over 23 games in 2009 and was 18-6, 1.44 ERA, 276 K, 0.83 WHIP in 232.0 IP over 28 games in 2011. Darivish had 2 shut outs and 8 complete games in 2009 and had 6 shut outs and 10 complete games in 2011. While Darvish is an imposing 6 foot 5 and 235 pounds, Tanaka still represents well on the mound at 6 foot 2 and 205 pounds.
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