Masahiro Tanaka bummed about being weak link in Yankees’ juggernaut

Masahiro Tanaka was in the dumps on Monday, May 21, 2018 (5/21/18) even though he was the winning pitcher in a 10-5 Yankees victory over the Texas Rangers.

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ARLINGTON, Texas — Aaron Boone, the Yankees‘ Mr. Glass-Half-Full rookie manager through and through, pointed out the positives that he noticed watching Masahiro Tanaka’s rough four-run, five-inning start Monday night at Globe Life Park.

“I saw some good cutters,” Boone offered during a post-game presser that followed a 10-5 Yankees win over the Texas Rangers. “I saw some four-seam fastballs that I actually thought were better. I saw some encouraging signs.”

Tanaka was credited with the win, too … one that improved his record to an impressive 5-2.

He’ll take that.

His newly calculated 4.95 ERA?

That’s pretty darned high … way too high for someone with Tanaka’s talent.

Why Rangers’ Cole Hamels is sure Yankees fans like him

Last season was Tanaka’s worst since he left Japan for the big leagues in 2014 – he was 13-12 with a 4.74 ERA and 41 homers allowed in 178.1innings – and his first two months this year have been just as disappointing.

He’s discouraged. That was clear during his post-game interview, as the often-emotionless righty looked depressed explaining what went wrong this time.

Boone mentioned that Tanaka’s splitter, which often is one of the nastiest pitches in baseball, “wasn’t as good as we’re used to seeing.”

“He’s right,” Tanaka said through his interpreter. “I did not have my split. Very inconsistent. I just didn’t have it.”

It seems like it’s always something nowadays for Tanaka, who allowed two more homers to the Rangers to run his season total to a team-high 11 in 56.1 innings.

Asked to sum up his season so far, Tanaka answered softly with a deer-in-the-headlights look.

“There’s a lot of frustration there, mostly because of how good we’re playing,” he said. “Not being able to pitch effectively …”

Along with No. 4 starter Sonny Gray, No. 2 Tanaka hasn’t given the Yankees anything close to what they expected, yet the club’s record is a best-in-baseball 31-13.

The Yankees’ deadly offense has been bailing out Tanaka all season and it did so again on Monday, this time with a five-homer, five-double onslaught that produced 10 runs.

Tanaka appreciated the support and he’s happy about the team win.

He’s not pleased about letting his club down yet again.

“Obviously it helps a lot when the offense is performing the way they are, but as a pitcher you’ve got to go out there and do your job,” Tanaka said.

Randy Miller may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.