New York Yankees fans can get do a little advance scouting of the club's free-agent acquisition Masahiro Tanaka on Feb. 10, when YES Network airs one of the right-hander’s games from Japan last season.
The regional sports network will air the June 9, 2013 Nippon Professional League game between the Yomiuri Giants and Rakuten Golden Eagles for whom Tanaka was 24-0 last season.
YES’s telecast on Monday at 7 p.m. is being provided in partnership with global sports network, One World Sports, the U.S TV home of the Yomiuri Giants. One World has already encored the Golden Eagles-Giants in which Tanaka threw seven shutout innings.
The RSN will also air Tanaka's introductory press conference with the Yankees on Feb. 11 live at 1 p.m.
Before forming your own initial opinion, here’s what YES analyst and former Major League Baseball pitcher Al Leiter has to say about the Tanaka performance:
“I think Masahiro Tanaka's repertoire and "stuff" plays very well. His fastball velocity will sit at the 91-93mph mark and occasional touch 95. He has a very good split that has great late action with good velocity. His split finger is his main secondary pitch and his slider is better than his curveball.
I really like his mound presence and disposition. He pitches with a fire in his belly and is emotionally involved. I think Tanaka can be a front-end starter once he gets acclimated to the routine of American baseball.”
