MLB notebook: Tanaka to start Yanks' opener

Masahiro Tanaka will return as Opening Day starter for the New York Yankees once again, with Luis Severino giving up the honor after shoulder inflammation surfaced this week, manager Aaron Boone announced Saturday. Severino threw a slider while warming up for his spring training start on Tuesday when he felt discomfort. He had been on track to make his second consecutive Opening Day start until the injury surfaced.

Tanaka will now make his fourth start in a Yankees season opener. He had the honor from 2015-17, but the Yankees lost all three of those games. Tanaka, 30, was 12-6 last season with a 3.75 ERA. He is 64-34 over his five-year major league career with a 3.59 ERA, posting a career-best mark of 2.77 during the 2014 season.

--Seattle Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager will have his injured left wrist examined by a hand specialist. Seager was injured during Friday's game against the Chicago Cubs when he jammed his glove into the ground while diving for a grounder hit by Javier Baez of the Chicago Cubs. The club said Seager underwent X-rays, which came back negative, prior to the decision to see a hand specialist.

Also, manager Scott Servais said left-hander Marco Gonzales will make the Opening Day start against the Oakland Athletics in Tokyo. Gonzales went 13-9 with a 4.00 ERA in 29 starts last season. --Oakland Athletics catcher Chris Herrmann underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, the team announced.

The procedure was performed Friday at Pine Surgical Center in Scottsdale, Ariz., by Dr. Douglas Freedberg. Herrmann will be re-evaluated in two weeks. Herrmann, 31, was slated to split catching duties for Oakland with veteran Josh Phegley. His injury creates an opportunity for Nick Hundley, who recently joined the club as a non-roster invitee to spring training.

--Field Level Media

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