TANAKA & HIS 35 PITCHES

Today's a big day if you're a Yankee fan.  Masahiro Tanaka will be pitching at some point in today's exhibition game against the Phillies.  It's big because we want to see what this guy has against American hitting.

Reading Dave D'Alessandro of the Star-Ledger about Tanaka today, I got chills:

"He will be given 35 pitches or two innings of daylight today — whichever comes first, nothing more... you get a sense that there is something historic about this day, if you can forgive the sunny optimism. But at the start of the fifth inning of an almost-meaningless preseason game against the Phillies, the Yankees Kingdom will experience perhaps the most anticipated spring moment since Hideki Matsui arrived in Tampa 11 years ago.

'It seems every debut we have is huge and important and widely anticipated,' GM Brian Cashman said.

'Like when CC (Sabathia) pitched the first time — that was big-time crazy.'"

But this is alittle different in my opinion.  This was a big fish the Yankees HAD to get because they learned from Yu Darvish that if they didn't score on Tanaka, they might not have a chance in 2014.  Sure, there have been Japanese duds in the Yankees past, like Kei Igawa, but if the Yankees stood on the sidelines and did nothing, then they may have missed out on something big.

Sure, we don't know what Tanaka has against American hitters... he could be a disaster for all we know, but the Yankees were willing to take that chance and I'm glad they did, because there is always a chance that he'll be spectacular and a huge part of the future of the New York Yankees!

Good luck today Masahiro!

You've made BYB the fastest growing Yankees fan site in history. Now shop at the Bleeding Yankee Blue store!  Follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and LIKE Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook!