"We need to see something." Girardi said Tuesday when asked about Masahiro Tanaka's next start. Tanaka, who has a 7.36 ERA in four starts this spring, must show manager Joe Girardi he's worthy of an opening day start. After having a bone spur removed from his right elbow in the offseason, Yankees fans are wondering if they can get consistent production out of Tanaka. Manager Joe Girardi has described Tanaka's spring as "inconsistent," and says that that his start Tuesday is "the last before the season starts, and he would like to see some results."
Tanaka is scheduled to start today, against the Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater, Fla at 1:05 PM. The team will be playing a split-squad Tuesday afternoon, and CC Sabathia will be taking the mound against the Pirates at 1:05 as well. Girardi has his hands full today and a lot of decisions lie in the balance of today's games.
If Tanaka has a quality outing today against the Phillies, it would be hard to envision him not being the starter April 4th against the Astros. However, if he disappoints yet again, expect to see Girardi give Severino or Pineda the nod on Opening Day.
As for Sabathia's duel with Ivan Nova for the 5th spot in the rotation, Girardi said they are, "weighing a number of different aspects" when deciding who is worthy of the last remaining spot.
There's a lot on the line today with the season now a mere six days away... It would be nice to see both Tanaka and CC have quality starts today to springboard themselves into what is a long season ahead.
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