Masahiro Tanaka dazzles over two perfect innings in first spring start

Despite an exceptional rookie season, New York Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka remains a huge question mark in 2015.

Most of that concern is due to Tanaka missing 74 days last year due to a partially torn Ulnar Collateral Ligament. Tanaka opted to rehab the injury, and wound up making two starts, one good and one bad, before the end of 2014. 

If his first spring start was any indication, Tanaka hasn’t lost an ounce of ability this offseason. 

Here’s Tanaka dropping in a strike to get things started:

He would notch his first strikeout of the spring just a few batters later:

Those two pitches highlight just a small taste of Tanaka’s dominance during the start. Tanaka tossed two perfect innings, striking out two hitters. He managed to hit 94 mph with his fastball, and threw 15 of his 19 pitches for strikes. Tanaka even worked in his breaking pitches, tossing plenty of splitters, and at least one curveball during the contest. Since he only threw 19 pitches, Tanaka finished up his outing in the team’s bullpen. 

While it was only one start, this is pretty encouraging for Tanaka. His velocity appeared normal, and his stuff was still incredibly effective. We’ve already seen Yu Darvish and Cliff Lee succumb to elbow pain this spring after trying to rehab their injuries, so the fact that Tanaka made it through his first start unscathed is a great sign. 

Tanaka still has a long way to go, but this was about the best result he, and the Yankees, could have hoped to achieve the first time out. 

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik