New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays: Masahiro Tanaka vs. Trent Thornton

We’re truly on the home stretch as we hurtle towards Opening Day. It can’t come soon enough, as it was a long winter, and a long spring training as well, as the Yankees were unable to emerge from the exhibition slate unscathed.

In any event, Masahiro Tanaka is scheduled to make another season-commencing start, and today’s outing marks his last chance to fine tune things before the real games begin. He’s looked pretty sharp in spring, maintaining a 3.00 ERA and striking out 20 batters across 15 innings.

In opposition, he’ll face Blue Jays starter Trent Thornton. A 25-year-old right-handed pitcher, Thornton tossed 124.1 innings last season in the Astros system, striking out 122 and posting a 4.42 ERA. He’s allowed five runs in 11.1 innings this spring, and has yet to make his major-league debut.

Take a look at the lineups:

Originally, Greg Bird was slated to play first and bat fourth, a few days after going down with an elbow injury. Unfortunately, he was scratched an hour or two before the game.

The game starts at 1:05 EST and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB Network, heard on the radio on WFAN, and streamed on MLB.tv.