Since Masahiro Tanaka's arrival in the Bronx prior to the 2014 season, the 32-year-old pitcher was as impressive as advertised following his move from the Rakuten Eagles in Japan.

Now, Tanaka will be taking his supreme talents back to the Eagles as the team recently announced his official return to Japan for the 2021 season.

In his seven years with the Bombers, Tanaka never posted a losing season, opening his MLB career with an All-Star selection in 2014 and following that up with another one in 2019.

Outside of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Tanaka earned at least 11 victories in every season he pitched in the Majors, and he’s only the second pitcher in Yankees history to reach double-digit wins in each of his first six Major League seasons, joining the great Andy Pettitte, who did it in each of his first nine (1995-2003).

It didn’t take long for Yankees fans to see what kind of force Tanaka would soon become in pinstripes as he twirled a dazzling seven-inning start in his MLB debut back on April 4, 2014 against the Blue Jays. In that game Tanaka struck out eight, walked nobody and allowed just two earned runs to notch his first MLB victory.

In 174 career appearances, Tanaka posted a 3.74 ERA and a lifetime 78-46 record, and his career 114 ERA+ signified just how far above average he was for the Yankees.

But no statistic can outweigh the simple measure of success that is a team’s win-loss record, and when Tanaka took the mound for the Yankees, they won 108 out of 173 starts in his career, the third-most team wins in a pitcher’s starts in the American League since 2014.

“I think all the technicality in baseball is important, but when you get to the end of the day where you need to perform I think what distinguishes from winning and not winning comes down to what you have inside,” Tanaka said via translator back in 2019 about his approach to pitching.

Masahiro’s command on the mound has been his best weapon. His 4.76 career K/BB ratio is the fourth-highest in the Modern Era among pitchers with at least 700 innings pitched, and after his debut in 2014, he recorded 40 career games with five-or-more strikeouts and zero walks, trailing only Clayton Kershaw (53) and Zack Greinke (44) for the Major League lead over that time.

Make no mistake -- Tanaka remains an elite strikeout producer as well, and one of the best the Yankees have ever seen. His 991 strikeouts are the 13th-most in Yankees history and the most by any Yankee through his first 174 career games.

In the postseason, Tanaka was a fearsome force. Prior to his scuffles in the 2020 postseason, Tanaka had posted a 1.76 ERA and held opponents to a batting average of .157 across eight outings for the Yankees from the 2015 Wild Card round through the 2019 ALCS, helping the Yankees to victory in five of those eight starts.

Another major component of Tanaka’s excellence in the Majors has been his toughness. In July 2014, Tanaka was found to have a partial tear of his ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his pitching elbow, but elected to rehabilitate it rather than undergo the widely used Tommy John surgery procedure. Since then, he remained a highly reliable and effective pitcher.

“I’m not conscious of it,” Tanaka told reporters in 2019. “I don’t do anything special specifically for the elbow… I’m following what the doctors told me and so far it’s been good.”

From teammates to coaches to members of the Yankees front office, Tanaka has earned widespread respect across the league during his time in the Bronx, and will no doubt receive a hero's welcome when he returns to the Rakuten Eagles.

“He’s the ultimate professional. I love watching him work, I love watching him prepare, I love watching him do press conferences, I love his sense of humor, who he is around our team, the way he’s just a part of the culture here,” Aaron Boone said of Tanaka after the 2020 season. “I’ve had the great privilege of getting to manage and watch Masa be who he is, as a player and a person.”

“Tanaka’s been fantastic for us,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said after the season. “He was a tremendous import from Japan, he’s had a seamless transition. He’s really impacted us in such a positive way, first and foremost with his performance, his commitment to excellence. He’s been fantastic every step of the way.”