KND Report: Tazawa stays cool, blanks Yanks

August 23, 5:52 PMAsian-American Sports ExaminerMichael Street

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Tazawa has it going on where it's important for an MLB pitcher—
between the ears (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Junichi Tazawa once again showed his superior mental strength by shutting down a New York team that had scored 20 runs the night before, picking up his second win by throwing six scoreless innings in his longest and most impressive outing to date.

Tazawa's stuff on the mound is good, but what really sets him apart from any other pitcher with his limited MLB experience is how composed he is in pressure-packed situations.

His debut came in hostile Yankee Stadium, in an extra-inning loss where he gave up a homer to A-Rod to give New York the win and a 4.5 game lead in the AL East.

Tazawa's first start came at home against Detroit, where his accidental beaning of Miguel Cabrera led to a bases-clearing brawl.

In spite of the excitement and a narrowing Wild Card race against the Rangers, Tazawa recovered from a 3-run first partly caused by defensive miscues to shut down the Rangers for the next four innings to collect his first major-league win.

In his second start, Tazawa faced the mighty Rangers at Arlington Field, a hot and hitter-friendly park in the heat of summer, with the Rangers just a half-game behind in the Wild Card chase.

He left pitches up in the zone to the wrong hitters and gave up 4 ER on 10 H and 3 BB in 5 IP, taking his second loss, and first as a starter, and giving the Rangers the lead in the Wild Card.

Looking to rebound, Tazawa returned home, only to face the Yankees, who had brutalized the Boston pitching staff the night before, tagging starter Brad Penny with 10 ER in 4 IP and reliever Michael Bowden for 7 ER in 2 IP.

New York ended up winning the game 20-11, the score only close because of Boston's 4-run ninth, a win that widened their lead in the AL East to 7.5 games and narrowed the Wild Card race—in which Boston had regained the lead—to a single game.

Facing Tazawa would be A.J. Burnett, one of two big free-agent signings by the Yanks in the offseason. In his three previous outings, Burnett had logged a 2.49 ERA, striking out 18 in 21.2 IP and holding opposing hitters to a .227 BA.

Kattobase Nihonjin Dairiigaa!

Not the best atmosphere to bounce back from a rocky start.

But in what is becoming a trademark for him, Tazawa didn't seem to care about the distractions, stifling the Yanks with a six shutout innings that saw him baffle the Yankees with his curve and changeup while cutting up the corners of the strike zone with his fastball.

Consistently, he pitched his way out of trouble, bearing down each time the Yankees got a man on second or third, not allowing a hit in eight plate appearances with runners in scoring position.

In the first inning, Nick Swisher hit a one-out double to give the Yanks their first scoring threat. After nicking Teixiera on the elbow with an inside fastball, Tazawa would face Alex Rodriguez, the same hitter who took him deep on a low curve to give Tazawa a loss in that extra-inning game.

Undaunted by facing his nemesis, Tazawa retired him with a low 2-1 fastball, inducing a fly ball to center that would move Swisher to third. Next up was HIdeki Matsui, whose 7 RBI the night before had powered the New York attack.

Tazawa worked him into a 1-2 count with two inside fastballs and a split-fingered fastball, then got him to fly out to left center, retiring the side.

In the second, a leadoff walk to Jorge Posada turned into another scoring chance for New York when Robinson Cano ripped an outside fastball off the Green Monster. Posada moved to third, but Cano was cut down trying to take second on an excellent defensive play by Jason Bay.

But Eric Hinske lined out to first base on a low inside fastball and Melky Cabrera, fouling off the first to pitches to quickly put himself in an 0-2 hole, battled back to 2-2 before flying out to center on a low four-seamer.

Swisher got another one-out hit in the third, but couldn't advance past first, and Boston added to its lead, so that Tazawa had a 7-0 lead in the fourth inning.

Matsui, leading off, popped out behind second on another inside fastball, and Posada walked again. Cano got a fastball in the top half of the zone and again ripped a hit off the Monster, this time making it to second; he didn't hit it hard enough for the slow-footed Posada to score, but it still put two runners in scoring position with just one out.

Tazawa began using his breaking pitches at this point, getting ahead of Hinske with a fastball and sweeping curve, then bouncing a curve ball before striking him out with an outside heater. Melky Cabrera swung at the first pitch he saw, a slider, bouncing back to Tazawa for the third out.

In the fifth, Derek Jeter flew out to right on a high fastball and Swisher, falling behind after fouling off a fastball and swinging over a bouncing curve, lifted a low fastball to left for the second out.

But Tazawa faced trouble when Mark Teixiera, battling back from an 0-2 hole, squared up an outside splitter for a single to right center. A-Rod, 0-2 on the day, ripped a single to right on a high fastball, putting Teixiera in scoring position with two outs.

Though both pitches caught a lot of the plate, it's significant that Tazawa kept the Yankees' two best hitters off-balance enough that they couldn't hit the ball out of the park.

At the plate, Matsui swung over a low breaking ball and watched an inside fastball go past to get two quick strikes, then popped up an outside splitter to third to end the inning.

After retiring Posada on a foul pop-up for the first time of the day leading off the sixth inning, Tazawa gave up another hit to Cano, this time a single up the middle on a low fastball. Hinske watched three straight balls go past, then Tazawa fought back to fill the count before giving up a single that put runners at the corners with only one out.

Boston pitching coach John Farrell visited the mound and it was clear that, despite the nine-run lead, this would be Tazawa's last hitter if Melky Cabrera reached base. Getting two quick strikes, Tazawa dropped a curve on the outside half of the plate, and Cabrera bounced an easy grounder to Dustin Pedroia, who started the 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Just as he has in his previous outings, Tazawa showed excellent control of his pitches, and a willingness to work both sides of the plate with a variety of offerings.

In tough situations, he bore down and got the important outs. When he made mistakes, they weren't in the middle of the plate, and he didn't hurt himself with walks, only allowing 2.

Many pitchers climb through the minors to reach their majors based on outstanding ability, then crumble under the hot lights and high pressure of the big leagues.

Tazawa is still developing his repertoire—the splitter is a relatively recent addition, and we haven't seen his shuuto-like slider yet in any of his starts—but what he's shown is the remarkable ability to remain calm and not get overwhelmed in difficult or high-pressure situations/

There aren't many pitchers anywhere who could go from double-A to the middle of a pennant race baseball's biggest stage without missing a beat, but Tazawa has done this. He's looking like he's worth every penny of the three-year deal he signed with Boston and every moment of the controversy that surrounded his "defection" straight to the major leagues.

In a year when Japanese starting pitchers have had a poor showing, Tazawa is rescuing the import market for MLB teams. He should get 7-8 starts the rest of the way to the playoffs, at which point he may become a valuable bullpen arm. 

Keep reading the Asian-American Sports Examiner to see how he does!