Masahiro Tanaka
Professional debut NPB: March 29, 2007 for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles MLB: April 4, 2014 for the New York Yankees NPB statistics Win–loss record 99–35 Earned run average 2.30 Strikeouts 1,238 MLB statistics (through 2014 season) Win–loss record 13–5 Earned run average 2.77 Strikeouts 141 Teams Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (2007–2013) New York Yankees (2014–present) Career highlights and awards NPB 2007 Pacific League Rookie of the Year 2013 Pacific League MVP 5× NPB All-Star (2007-2012) 2× Eiji Sawamura Award (2011 , 2013) 2× NPB Win Champion (2011, 2013) 2× NPB ERA Champion (2011, 2013) 2012 NPB Strikeout Champion 2× Best Nine Award (2011, 2013) 3× Golden Glove Award (2011-2013) 6× NPB All-Star (2007-2009, 2011-2013) Japan Series champion (2013) MLB All-Star (2014) AL Pitcher of the Month (May 2014) Masahiro Tanaka (田中 将大, Tanaka Masahiro?, born November 1, 1988) is a Japanese professional baseball starting pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). From 2007 through 2013, he played for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) Pacific League. Tanaka led his high school team to a championship in the National High School Baseball tournament as a junior for Komazawa University Tomakomai High School in 2005 and a runner-up berth in the same tournament as a senior in 2006. Tanaka was the Eagles' first-round pick in the 2006 NPB high school draft and was the team's ace until the end of the 2013 season. From 2012 to 2013, he won 26 consecutive decisions, which broke an NPB record.