CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Masahiro Tanaka still has one more tuneup before he can take the ball for his third consecutive Opening Day assignment, but it's difficult to imagine how the Yankees ace could be any more ready for the season to start.
Tanaka continued his scoreless spring Wednesday, keeping the Phillies off the board through 5 1/3 innings in a 7-3 Grapefruit League victory at Spectrum Field. The outing ran Tanaka's total to 18 2/3 scoreless frames over five starts.
"I'll take the results of how I did this spring thus far, but if you look at today's game, I felt like I was still all over the place," Tanaka said through an interpreter. "My command definitely could have been sharper. Adjustments need to be made, but the results, I'll take."
You could have fooled the Phillies, who managed three hits, a walk and a hit batsman in their first and only look at the 28-year-old Tanaka this spring. Tanaka has tallied 22 strikeouts, adding another three Wednesday. In Tanaka's past three starts, opponents are 3-for-41 (.073).
"Really good again today," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "The spring has been outstanding. He's got one more start to get ready. He's really in a good spot and we've got him built up some more today. He threw some really good splits again. He's been really good."
Coming off a Friday effort against the Tigers in Lakeland, Fla., when he recorded the first 13 outs of a combined no-hitter with Chasen Shreve and Jordan Montgomery, this marked Tanaka's longest outing of the spring, throwing 83 pitches (55 for strikes).
Tanaka's 18 2/3 scoreless innings are the second most in any spring since at least 2006; the Tigers' Justin Verlander ran off 20 scoreless innings in '14. Tanaka could overtake that in his final start, scheduled for Tuesday vs. the Tigers at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
"You see [a dominant spring] sometimes, but not very often," Girardi said. "He came in further along this spring than he has been in the past. I think it's really helped out."
Tanaka said that he planned to work on his mechanics before the next start, trying to address whatever command issues he may have, but he is the least of the Yankees' concerns as they attempt to iron out the back end of their rotation.
"I think all of my pitches have been gradually becoming better," Tanaka said. "There's not one pitch that I feel that I need to work on."