page_title: Masahiro Tanaka
section_title: 2017
hierarchical_section_title: Masahiro Tanaka / Professional career / New York Yankees / 2017
caption_attribution_description: Masahiro Tanaka of the New York Yankees pitches in a game against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on April 8, 2017 in Baltimore, Maryland.
context_page_description: Masahiro Tanaka is a Japanese professional baseball starting pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball. From 2007 through 2013, he played for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League. Tanaka was posted by the Eagles after the 2013 season to be signed by an American team; he agreed to terms with the New York Yankees and signed a seven-year, $155 million contract, the fifth-largest deal ever given to a pitcher at the time. He made his major league debut in 2014. Tanaka is known for being an exceptional pitcher in the postseason, currently sporting the 3rd-lowest postseason ERA in MLB history at 1.32.
  Tanaka was the Eagles' first-round pick in the 2006 NPB amateur player draft. From 2012 to 2013, he won 26 consecutive decisions, which set a new NPB record. In the MLB, Tanaka has earned selections to two Major League Baseball All-Star Games.
context_section_description: On February 14, 2017, Girardi named Tanaka the Opening Day starter for the third season in a row. Tanaka was dominant in Spring Training, allowing only one earned run in ​23 ²⁄₃ innings for a 0.38 ERA. Making the Opening Day start against the Tampa Bay Rays on April 2, Tanaka lasted only ​2 ²⁄₃ innings, allowing a career-high seven earned runs as the Yankees lost by a score of 7–3. Tanaka's season started slowly until pitching a complete game shutout against the Red Sox on April 27, the second of his career. Tanaka's shutout was notable in that he only threw 97 pitches, pitching what is colloquially referred to as a "Maddux" (a complete-game shutout with fewer than 100 pitches), the first by any pitcher in the 2017 season. Tanaka allowed more than three earned runs only once in the six starts after his Opening Day debacle, lowering his ERA to 4.36 by May 8.
  Tanaka was scheduled to start in Game 2 of the May 14 doubleheader against the Houston Astros, notable for being the same game in which Derek Jeter would have his number retired in a pregame ceremony. Tanaka would give up a career-high eight earned runs in ​1 ²⁄₃ innings, allowing four home runs. Critics blasted Tanaka for "ruining" what was supposed to be a special night for Jeter and the Yankees. In his next start, he allowed six runs in three innings against the Tampa Bay Rays, giving up three home runs in the process. Tanaka appeared to improve in a May 25 start against the Oakland Athletics, as he struck out a career-high 13 batters. However, he would allow seven runs to the Baltimore Orioles and five runs to the Boston Red Sox in his next two starts, both losses, leaving his record at 5–7 and his ERA at 6.55 by June 6. Tanaka rebounded against the Los Angeles Angels in a no-decision but then faltered again versus the Oakland Athletics, as he gave up three more home runs en route to his sixth consecutive loss.
  Baseball analysts attempted to uncover the root cause of Tanaka's sudden struggles, which were surprising given his excellent 2016 and his reputation as the Yankees' ace since 2014. Critics pointed to a "flat" slider, missing badly on several pitches and getting buried in favorable hitters' counts. Some raised concerns that he was playing injured and needed Tommy John surgery; however, the Yankees (and Tanaka himself) insisted that Tanaka was at full health. Key to Tanaka's struggles was the home run ball, as he allowed 21 home runs in the first ​76 ²⁄₃ innings of the season, compared to allowing only 22 home runs in the entire 2016 season. On June 23, Tanaka started against fellow Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish for the first time in the United States, outdueling him by throwing eight shutout innings and striking out nine in a no-decision.
  Against the Rays on July 28, Tanaka set a new career-high by striking out 14 batters. Tanaka took a perfect game into the sixth inning and allowed only one run on two hits in eight innings pitched. On August 12, Tanaka was placed on the 10-day disabled list due to right shoulder inflammation. He missed only one start. On August 27, Tanaka earned his tenth win of the season against the Seattle Mariners, making him the first Japanese pitcher in MLB history to have double-digit wins in all of his first four seasons. On September 29 against the Blue Jays, his final start of the regular season, Tanaka again set a new career-high by striking out 15 batters, tied with Stephen Strasburg for the most single-game strikeouts in 2017. In 30 starts of 2017, he finished the year with a 13–12 record, a 4.74 ERA, 194 strikeouts, and 35 home runs allowed in ​178 ¹⁄₃ innings pitched.
  In the postseason, Tanaka earned the win in Game 3 of the 2017 American League Division Series against the Indians after throwing seven shutout innings. He started Game 1 of the 2017 American League Championship Series against Dallas Keuchel and the Astros in a rematch of the 2015 AL Wild Card Game, taking the loss after allowing two runs in six innings. However, he faced Keuchel again in Game 5, this time earning the win as he pitched seven shutout innings, stri
caption: Tanaka pitching in April, 2017
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