Tanaka thinking much bigger picture than Opening Day

TAMPA — Masahiro Tanaka is due to start again on Wednesday, seemingly lined up to pitch on Opening Day, and the right-hander said he would "absolutely" consider it an honor to get the call against the Blue Jays for the Yankees' opener.

But for now, his focus remains largely elsewhere.

"It will be a great thing if a pitcher is able to pitch on Opening Day," Tanaka said through a translator after his 36-pitch bullpen session at Steinbrenner Field on Sunday morning. "But for me, obviously, I got hurt last season, so my main goal here is to have a healthy season throughout the year."

Manager Joe Girardi and pitching coach Larry Rothschild insist no decision has been made, since the two leading candidates to take the mound on April 6, Tanaka and CC Sabathia, are coming off of injuries from a year ago.

"We haven't decided," Rothschild said. "We have options. There's a bunch of possibilities. We'll see how things go."

Tanaka has impressed this spring, coming back from a partially torn UCL.

He hasn't started on Opening Day since 2012 while with Rakuten Golden Eagles in Japan.

"That was the one and only time I started for Opening Day," Tanaka said.

The following season was impacted by Tanaka's appearance in the WBC. And last year, Sabathia started the opener and Tanaka didn't take the mound until the fourth game, as the Yankees' tried to temper expectations.

Sabathia has taken the mound for each of the past six openers since signing with the Yankees — and is without a win in any of those outings — since Chien-Ming Wang started in 2008.

Lefty Gomez is the only other Yankees pitcher to start six straight openers.

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