Tanaka throws first bullpen for Yankees

Right-hander Masahiro Tanaka shed the dark business suit and put on a gray Yankees T-shirt and blue shorts. Time to get to work. After agreeing to a $155 million, seven-year contract on Jan. 22 and chartering from Tokyo to New York in a 787 for a news conference, the 25-year-old threw his first bullpen session under the watch of the Yankees. Two days before the official start of the team’s spring training workouts, Tanaka breezed through a 25-pitch bullpen session to catcher Francisco Cervelli on Thursday at New York’s minor league complex in Tampa, Fla.. “I could see his face. Looks like he wants to have fun,” Cervelli said. Tanaka threw two- and four-seam fastballs, splitters and sliders. Cervelli estimated Tanaka threw at about 60 percent strength. – Associated Press