Thursday, January 16, 2014

Tanaka Not Your Ordinary Import

Masahiro Tanaka, who went 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA, 2.26 FIP, 7.8 K/9, 1.36 BB/9 and 0.25 HR/9 with Rakuten Golden Eagles in 2013, is indisputably the biggest pitcher in Japan since Daisuke Matsuzaka and Yu Darvish. Over seven seasons in NPB, Tanaka compiled a 99-35 record and a 2.30 ERA with 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings. According to David Golebiewski of Baseball Analytics, Tanaka has managed to post a 236 ERA+ in previous three seasons. Below is a comparison of Tanaka and other NPB pitchers: