Baseball: Tanaka named Rakuten's Opening Day starter

Former New York Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka will be the Rakuten Eagles' Opening Day starter for the 2023 season, the Japanese club's manager Kazuhisa Ishii revealed Monday.

In his first Opening Day start for Rakuten since 2012, Tanaka will face the Nippon Ham Fighters on March 30 at their new ballpark, Es Con Field Hokkaido, in Kitahiroshima, just outside Sapporo.

"It's an honor," the 34-year-old right-hander said in Kin, Okinawa Prefecture, where the Eagles are holding a training camp. "I have a connection to Hokkaido. I'm ready to do it."

Tanaka had an impressive high school career at Hokkaido's Komadai Tomakomai before being picked by the Eagles in the first round of the 2006 Nippon Professional Baseball draft.

During his seven-year stint with the Yankees through 2020, Tanaka pitched on Opening Day four times.

"He said his physical condition is fine, so I asked him to get the team's first win of this year," said Ishii, who was also a major league pitcher himself. "As for this year, I had only one choice (Tanaka) in my mind."

© Kyodo News