This week in baseball, one former New York Yankees starting pitcher pulled level with a record set by another.
On Wednesday night, Masahiro Tanaka, a Yankees pitcher between 2014 and 2020, matched a career milestone on previously reached by Hideo Nomo with his latest performance in their shared homeland of Japan. Last night, Tanaka recorded his 201st combined victory across Japan’s Nippon Baseball League and Major League Baseball, which put him in a tie with Nomo for career wins accumulated between the two leagues, and which placed Tanaka among a small group of pitchers to have surpassed the 200 win mark.
Tanaka’s achievement came as part of his Indian Summer in Japan following his return from the MLB. Surpassing Nomo in particular is always going to be noted within Japanese baseball circles, given Nomoâs status as one of the first Japanese pitchers to have significant success in the major leagues. And the fact that both were high-profile and successful Yankees adds some cross-Pacific intrigue.
One Of The Best Japan Has Ever Produced
Tanakaâs career across both leagues has been both durable and consistent, adapting his pitching style and developing his stuff to achieve two decades of sustained effectiveness despite injuries. His repertoire – primarily built around a splitter and command-oriented approach – allowed him to thrive against both NPB and MLB hitters. And he continues to innovate, too. In last night’s game, in the process of recording his 201st victory, Tanaka demonstrated a new pitch – a 90 kilometer per hour (or 55mph) curve ball that sounds basically like an eephus.
Before his move to America, Tanaka had already established himself as one of Japanâs top pitchers with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. His 2013 season, in which he went 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA, remains one of the most dominant campaigns in NPB history, and indeed all of professional baseball around the globe.
Following his return to Japan after the 2020 season, Tanaka – now pitching for the Yomiuri Giants – has continued to accumulate wins. Aged 37, he is approaching the final fairway of his career, but is still a frontline starter to be feared.
Tanaka’s Time With The Yankees
Tanaka spent seven seasons in the majors with the Yankees from 2014 through 2020, after signing a seven-year, $155 million contract reflecting his 2013 heroics. Over that span, he developed into a regular member of the clubâs rotation and was frequently used in high-leverage postseason situations. Tanaka finished his major league career with a 78-46 record and a 3.74 earned run average across 174 regular season appearances, throwing 1,054.1 innings, allowing 983 hits and striking out 991 batters while issuing 208 walks.
Tanaka made an immediate impact as a rookie in 2014, posting a 13-5 record and a 2.77 ERA in 20 starts before his season was interrupted by an elbow injury. He recorded three complete games that year and established himself as a front-line starter despite not undergoing surgery for the injury. Although the second half of his Yankees career was not as potent as the first half following the injury, Tanaka’s highs were very high, and his most effective MLB season came in 2016, when he went 14-4 with a 3.07 ERA over 31 starts, striking out 165 batters in 199.2 innings. That year, he avoided the injured list for the first time in his MLB career and was among the top pitchers in the American League.
Across his majors tenure, Tanaka was named an All-Star twice and served as the Yankeesâ Opening Day starter on four occasions. He also built a reputation for postseason effectiveness, regularly delivering strong outings in playoff series despite limited run support in several appearances. The Yankees never made a World Series in his time with the team, during their uncharacteristic October drought from 2009 to 2024 – but it was not Tanaka’s fault. He was a stalwart. And he still is.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Former Yankees Pitcher Ties Hideo Nomo’s Record appeared first on Heavy Sports.