Yankees Birthday of the Day: Masahiro Tanaka

Pinstripe Alley celebrated former New York Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka on his birthday, looking back at his career across Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball. After arriving in New York on a seven-year, $155 million deal ahead of the 2014 season, Tanaka quickly established himself as a frontline starter. Despite a partially torn UCL in his debut season, he opted for rehab and avoided major surgery, anchoring the rotation through 2020.

Tanaka built a reputation as a dominant postseason performer, maintaining a 1.76 playoff ERA through 2019. Following the 2020 campaign, he returned to Japan to pitch for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles and later joined the Yomiuri Giants. By 2025, Tanaka earned his 200th professional win combined between MLB and NPB, joining a select group of Japanese pitchers.