Saturday, April 23, 2016

Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Rays 4/23


The New York Yankees signed Masahiro Tanaka out of Japan to be their future, their ace, their present and their stopper. The New York Yankees need a stopper and they need a defining win today in the Bronx and Tanaka just so happens to be on the mound. Tanaka had his best start of the season last time out in another “stopper” situation against the Seattle Mariners and will once again look to get the Yankees back in the win column today against the Rays. This is why we got the guy and today he needs to make good on the investment. Opposing Tanaka on the mound will be Blake Snell for the Tampa Bay Rays.

Tanaka is getting stronger and stronger with each start he makes this season and he looked especially sharp in his last start against the Seattle Mariners. Tanaka allowed three runs but only two of them were of the earned variety while scattering six hits in seven innings of work beating his former teammate Hisashi Iwakuma. Tanaka will be making his fourth career start against the Rays this afternoon looking to push his career 2-0 record and 2.70 ERA in three career starts up a bit.

Snell is the Rays top prospect overall and top pitching prospect by a mile and he makes his MLB debut inside Yankee Stadium against the New York Yankees. That's usually rough for a kid but New York has shown an ability to make a pitcher they are seeing for the first time look like Cy Young as well so there are a ton of unknowns in this start. 


The game will be played at 1:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB Network and MLB TV. The Yankees need a win as they try to claw back to .500 and try to claw back into relevancy this season. It’s not all on Tanaka though as the offense needs to wake up, the defense needs to do their part and everyone needs to keep their head in the game. If you can’t get the big hit with runners in scoring position you don’t need to give out free outs on the basepaths. Get it together and get a victory.


Go Yankees!!

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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)