<span class="mw-page-title-main">Masahiro Tanaka</span>

Masahiro Tanaka

<p><b>Masahiro Tanaka</b><span style="font-weight: normal"> (<span><span>田中 将大</span></span>, <span><i lang="ja-Latn">Tanaka Masahiro</i></span>, born November 1, 1988)</span> is a Japanese professional baseball player for the <a href="/en/Tohoku_Rakuten_Golden_Eagles" title="Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles" class="wl">Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles</a> of the <a href="/en/Nippon_Professional_Baseball" title="Nippon Professional Baseball" class="wl">Nippon Professional Baseball</a> (NPB). From 2007 through 2013, he played for the Eagles in NPB. Tanaka was posted by the Eagles after the 2013 season to be signed with the <a href="/en/New_York_Yankees" title="New York Yankees" class="wl">New York Yankees</a> in <a href="/en/Major_League_Baseball" title="Major League Baseball" class="wl">Major League Baseball</a> (MLB) and signed a seven-year, $155 million contract, the fifth-largest deal ever given to a pitcher at the time.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-1"><a href="#cite_note-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[1]</span></a></span> He made his major league debut in 2014 and played for the Yankees through the 2020 season, before deciding to return to Japan.</p>

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Japanese baseball player</div>
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<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt7">Baseball player</div><span>
</span><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1066479718" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-header,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-subheader,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-above,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-title,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-image,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-below{text-align:center}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1049629729" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles">.mw-parser-output .ib-baseball-bio{border-collapse:collapse}.mw-parser-output .ib-baseball-bio td,.mw-parser-output .ib-baseball-bio th{border:1px solid #a2a9b1}.mw-parser-output .ib-baseball-bio .borderless td,.mw-parser-output .ib-baseball-bio .borderless th{border:0}.mw-parser-output .ib-baseball-bio .infobox-below{background-color:#eee}.mw-parser-output .ib-baseball-bio-batsthrows{display:flex;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ib-baseball-bio-batsthrows>div{width:50%}.mw-parser-output .ib-baseball-bio-batsthrows div:first-child{border-right:1px solid #a2a9b1}.mw-parser-output .ib-baseball-bio-member-header{background-color:#9A1C1F}.mw-parser-output .ib-baseball-bio-member-header a,.mw-parser-output .ib-baseball-bio-member>th>a{color:white}.mw-parser-output .ib-baseball-bio-former .infobox-full-data,.mw-parser-output .ib-baseball-bio-teams .infobox-full-data,.mw-parser-output .ib-baseball-bio-highlights .infobox-full-data{text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .ib-baseball-bio-module{width:100%;background-color:#f9f9f9}</style><div class='mobile-collapse'><header class="mobile-collapse-header mobile-collapse-btn"><b>Quick facts: Masahiro Tanaka 田中 将大, Tohoku Rakuten Golden ...</b> <span class='arrow'>▼</span></header> <table class="infobox ib-baseball-bio vcard mobile-collapse-element"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above fn notheme" style="background-color: #870010; color: #FFFFFF;"><span class="note">Masahiro Tanaka<br><span class="t_nihongo_kanji"><span><span>田中 将大</span></span></span></span></th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><span><a href="/en/File:RE-Masahiro-Tanaka20210417.jpg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:RE-Masahiro-Tanaka20210417.jpg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/RE-Masahiro-Tanaka20210417.jpg/240px-RE-Masahiro-Tanaka20210417.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="2141" data-file-height="3595" data-file-type="bitmap" height="403" width="240" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/RE-Masahiro-Tanaka20210417.jpg/360px-RE-Masahiro-Tanaka20210417.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/RE-Masahiro-Tanaka20210417.jpg/480px-RE-Masahiro-Tanaka20210417.jpg 2x" alt="RE-Masahiro-Tanaka20210417.jpg"></a></span><div class="infobox-caption">Tanaka with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles</div></td></tr><tr style="background-color: #ECAC00; color: #000000;" class="notheme"><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header"><span class="note" style="font-weight:bold">Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles – No. 18</span></th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><b><a href="/en/Pitcher" title="Pitcher" class="wl">Pitcher</a></b></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><b>Born:</b> <span style="display:none"> (<span class="bday">1988-11-01</span>) </span>November 1, 1988<span class="noprint ForceAgeToShow"> (age<span>&nbsp;</span>34)</span><br><a href="/en/Itami,_Hyōgo" title="Itami, Hyōgo" class="mw-redirect wl">Itami, Hyōgo</a>, <a href="/en/Japan" title="Japan" class="wl">Japan</a></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><div class="ib-baseball-bio-batsthrows"><div><b>Bats:</b> Right</div><div><b>Throws:</b> Right</div></div></td></tr><tr style="background-color: #870010; color: #FFFFFF;" class="notheme"><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header">Professional debut</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><b>NPB:</b> March 29,<span>&nbsp;</span>2007,<span>&nbsp;</span>for the<span>&nbsp;</span>Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><b>MLB:</b> April 4,<span>&nbsp;</span>2014,<span>&nbsp;</span>for the<span>&nbsp;</span>New York Yankees</td><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1066479718" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles"></style></tr><tr style="background-color: #ECAC00; color: #000000;" class="notheme"><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header">NPB statistics <br>(through April 5, 2022)</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="text-align:right; width:50%; padding-right:0.5em;"><a href="/en/Win–loss_record_(pitching)" title="Win–loss record (pitching)" class="wl">Win–loss record</a></th><td class="infobox-data" style="width:50%; padding-left:0.5em;">105-44</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="text-align:right; width:50%; padding-right:0.5em;"><a href="/en/Earned_run_average" title="Earned run average" class="wl">Earned run average</a></th><td class="infobox-data" style="width:50%; padding-left:0.5em;">2.37</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="text-align:right; width:50%; padding-right:0.5em;"><a href="/en/Strikeout" title="Strikeout" class="wl">Strikeouts</a></th><td class="infobox-data" style="width:50%; padding-left:0.5em;">1,374</td></tr><tr style="background-color: #ECAC00; color: #000000;" class="notheme"><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header">MLB statistics <br>(through 2020 season)</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="text-align:right; width:50%; padding-right:0.5em;">Win–loss record</th><td class="infobox-data" style="width:50%; padding-left:0.5em;">78–46</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="text-align:right; width:50%; padding-right:0.5em;">Earned run average</th><td class="infobox-data" style="width:50%; padding-left:0.5em;">3.74</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="text-align:right; width:50%; padding-right:0.5em;">Strikeouts</th><td class="infobox-data" style="width:50%; padding-left:0.5em;">991</td></tr><tr style="display:none"><th colspan="2">
</th></tr><tr style="background-color: #870010; color: #FFFFFF;" class="notheme"><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header">Teams</th></tr><tr class="ib-baseball-bio-teams"><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data">
<ul><li><a href="/en/Tohoku_Rakuten_Golden_Eagles" title="Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles" class="wl">Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles</a> (<a href="/en/2007_Nippon_Professional_Baseball_season" title="2007 Nippon Professional Baseball season" class="wl">2007</a>–<a href="/en/2013_Nippon_Professional_Baseball_season" title="2013 Nippon Professional Baseball season" class="wl">2013</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/en/New_York_Yankees" title="New York Yankees" class="wl">New York Yankees</a> (<a href="/en/2014_Major_League_Baseball_season" title="2014 Major League Baseball season" class="wl">2014</a>–<a href="/en/2020_Major_League_Baseball_season" title="2020 Major League Baseball season" class="wl">2020</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/en/Tohoku_Rakuten_Golden_Eagles" title="Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles" class="wl">Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles</a> (<a href="/en/2021_Nippon_Professional_Baseball_season" title="2021 Nippon Professional Baseball season" class="wl">2021</a>–present)</li></ul>
</td></tr><tr style="background-color: #870010; color: #FFFFFF;" class="notheme"><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header">Career highlights and awards</th></tr><tr class="ib-baseball-bio-highlights"><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><b>NPB</b>
<ul><li><a href="/en/Nippon_Professional_Baseball_Rookie_of_the_Year_Award" title="Nippon Professional Baseball Rookie of the Year Award" class="wl">Pacific League Rookie of the Year</a> (2007)</li>
<li><a href="/en/Nippon_Professional_Baseball_Most_Valuable_Player_Award" title="Nippon Professional Baseball Most Valuable Player Award" class="wl">Pacific League MVP</a> (2013)</li>
<li><a href="/en/2013_Pacific_League_Climax_Series" title="2013 Pacific League Climax Series" class="wl">2013 PLCS MVP</a></li>
<li>7× <a href="/en/Nippon_Professional_Baseball_All-Star_Game" title="Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star Game" class="mw-redirect wl">NPB All-Star</a> (2007–2009, 2011–2013, <a href="/en/2021_Nippon_Professional_Baseball_season" title="2021 Nippon Professional Baseball season" class="wl">2021</a>)</li>
<li>2× <a href="/en/Eiji_Sawamura_Award" title="Eiji Sawamura Award" class="wl">Eiji Sawamura Award</a> (<a href="/en/2011_Nippon_Professional_Baseball_season" title="2011 Nippon Professional Baseball season" class="wl">2011</a>, <a href="/en/2013_Nippon_Professional_Baseball_season" title="2013 Nippon Professional Baseball season" class="wl">2013</a>)</li>
<li>2× NPB wins champion (2011, 2013)</li>
<li>2× <a href="/en/NPB_ERA_champion" title="NPB ERA champion" class="mw-redirect wl">NPB ERA champion</a> (2011, 2013)</li>
<li>NPB strikeout champion (2012)</li>
<li>2× <a href="/en/Best_Nine_Award" title="Best Nine Award" class="wl">Best Nine Award</a> (2011, 2013)</li>
<li>3× Golden Glove Award (2011–2013)</li>
<li><a href="/en/Japan_Series" title="Japan Series" class="wl">Japan Series champion</a> <a href="/en/2013_Japan_Series" title="2013 Japan Series" class="wl">(2013)</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Japan_Professional_Sports_Grand_Prize" title="Japan Professional Sports Grand Prize" class="wl">Japan Professional Sports Grand Prize</a> (2013)</li></ul>
<p><b>MLB</b></p>
<ul><li>2× <a href="/en/Major_League_Baseball_All-Star_Game" title="Major League Baseball All-Star Game" class="wl">All-Star</a> (<a href="/en/2014_Major_League_Baseball_All-Star_Game" title="2014 Major League Baseball All-Star Game" class="wl">2014</a>, <a href="/en/2019_Major_League_Baseball_All-Star_Game" title="2019 Major League Baseball All-Star Game" class="wl">2019</a>)</li></ul>
</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header borderless"><div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%">
    <div style="line-height:1.6em; font-weight:bold; background-color:#ccf; font-size:105%; background-color:transparent;" class="notheme"><div style="margin:0 4em;">Medals</div></div>
    <div class="mw-collapsible-content" style="font-size:105%;">
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<th colspan="3" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;background-color:#eeeeee;" class="notheme">Men's <a href="/en/Baseball" title="Baseball" class="wl">baseball</a></th></tr>

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<th colspan="3" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;background-color:#eeeeee;" class="adr notheme">Representing <span class="country-name"><span class="flagicon"><span class="mw-image-border"><span><img loading="lazy" alt="Flag_of_Japan.svg" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/9e/Flag_of_Japan.svg/23px-Flag_of_Japan.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="900" data-file-height="600" data-file-type="drawing" height="15" width="23" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/9e/Flag_of_Japan.svg/35px-Flag_of_Japan.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/9e/Flag_of_Japan.svg/45px-Flag_of_Japan.svg.png 2x"></span></span><span>&nbsp;</span></span><a href="/en/Japan" title="Japan" class="wl">Japan</a></span></th></tr>

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<th colspan="3" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;background-color:#cccccc;" class="notheme"><a href="/en/Olympic_Games" title="Olympic Games" class="wl">Summer Olympics</a></th></tr>

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<td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"><span><span><img loading="lazy"alt="Gold medal – first place" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Gold_medal_icon_%28G_initial%29.svg/16px-Gold_medal_icon_%28G_initial%29.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="16" data-file-height="16" data-file-type="drawing" height="16" width="16" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Gold_medal_icon_%28G_initial%29.svg/24px-Gold_medal_icon_%28G_initial%29.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Gold_medal_icon_%28G_initial%29.svg/32px-Gold_medal_icon_%28G_initial%29.svg.png 2x"></span></span></td><td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"><span class="nowrap"> <a href="/en/Baseball_at_the_2020_Summer_Olympics" title="Baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics" class="wl">2020 Tokyo</a> </span></td><td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"><a href="/en/Japan_national_baseball_team" title="Japan national baseball team" class="wl">Team</a></td></tr>

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<th colspan="3" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;background-color:#cccccc;" class="notheme"><a href="/en/World_Baseball_Classic" title="World Baseball Classic" class="wl">World Baseball Classic</a></th></tr>

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<td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"><span><span><img loading="lazy"alt="Gold medal – first place" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Gold_medal_icon_%28G_initial%29.svg/16px-Gold_medal_icon_%28G_initial%29.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="16" data-file-height="16" data-file-type="drawing" height="16" width="16" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Gold_medal_icon_%28G_initial%29.svg/24px-Gold_medal_icon_%28G_initial%29.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Gold_medal_icon_%28G_initial%29.svg/32px-Gold_medal_icon_%28G_initial%29.svg.png 2x"></span></span></td><td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"><span class="nowrap"> <a href="/en/2009_World_Baseball_Classic" title="2009 World Baseball Classic" class="wl">2009 Los Angeles</a> </span></td><td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"><a href="/en/Japan_national_baseball_team" title="Japan national baseball team" class="wl">Team</a></td></tr>
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<div class='mobile-collapse'><header class="mobile-collapse-header mobile-collapse-btn"><b>Quick facts: Masahiro Tanaka, Japanese name, Kanji, Hiraga...</b> <span class='arrow'>▼</span></header> <table class="infobox mobile-collapse-element"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above notheme" style="background-color:#b0c4de">Masahiro Tanaka</th></tr><tr style="display:none;"><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header notheme" style="background-color: #b0c4de;">Japanese name</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal;"><a href="/en/Kanji" title="Kanji" class="wl">Kanji</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><span><span>田中 将大</span></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal;"><a href="/en/Hiragana" title="Hiragana" class="wl">Hiragana</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><span><span>たなか まさひろ</span></span></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><table class="infobox-subbox collapsible collapsed" style="display:inline-table; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above notheme" style="font-size: 100%; text-align: left; background-color: #f9ffbc;">Transcriptions</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal;"><a href="/en/Romanization_of_Japanese" title="Romanization of Japanese" class="wl">Romanization</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><span><span style="font-style: normal">Tanaka Masahiro</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table></td><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1066479718" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles"></style></tr><tr style="display:none"><td colspan="2">
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<p>Tanaka was the Eagles' first-round pick in the <a href="/en/2006_Nippon_Professional_Baseball_season" title="2006 Nippon Professional Baseball season" class="wl">2006</a> NPB amateur player draft. From 2012 to 2013, he won 26 consecutive <a href="/en/Win–loss_record_(pitching)" title="Win–loss record (pitching)" class="wl">decisions</a>, which set a new NPB record.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-2"><a href="#cite_note-2" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 2;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[2]</span></a></span> In the MLB, Tanaka has earned selections to two <a href="/en/Major_League_Baseball_All-Star_Game" title="Major League Baseball All-Star Game" class="wl">Major League Baseball All-Star Games</a>.</p>



Masahiro Tanaka is a Japanese professional baseball player for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Nippon Professional Baseball . From 2007 through 2013, he played for the Eagles in NPB. Tanaka was posted by the Eagles after the 2013 season to be signed with the New York Yankees in Major League Baseball and signed a seven-year, $155 million contract, the fifth-largest deal ever given to a pitcher at the time. He made his major league debut in 2014 and played for the Yankees through the 2020 season, before deciding to return to Japan. Tanaka was the Eagles' first-round pick in the 2006 NPB amateur player draft. From 2012 to 2013, he won 26 consecutive decisions, which set a new NPB record. In the MLB, Tanaka has earned selections to two Major League Baseball All-Star Games. 