'MYSTERY' TINKERING WITH TANAKA? COME ON MAN!

There's an important piece out today from George King III from the New York Post about Masahiro Tanaka and his dip in velocity.  Should Yankee fans be concerned? Maybe. There's 1 nugget in there that made my eyebrows go up. It's definitely "mysterious" as King says.

His headline freaks me out, I'm not gonna lie: Yankees making mystery adjustments with Tanaka as velocity dips. What the hell does that mean? I dove right in.

"...based on Tanaka’s last outing against the Braves on March 18, there is room for improved arm strength because one fastball was clocked at 91 mph, another at 90 and the rest at 88 and 89.

Before the injury, Tanaka’s four-seam fastball sat between 94 and 96 mph. In two September starts it was between 93 and 94.

'We were working on a couple of things that I don’t want to get into,’ pitching coach Larry Rothschild said of the Braves outing. 'I don’t think there is any difference in the average [from last spring]. When he is ready to go, when it matters the average will be higher. But you aren’t going to see that until he airs it out.’"

It sounds like Rothschild is downplaying it.  Doesn't it? And what are they doing to this guy? Are they gonna mess him up? I don't feel like the Yanks have the best track record with their pitchers the past several years.

Stay tuned. Masahiro's scheduled to pitch today against the Mets. Let's keep an eye on him.

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