New York Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka is slowly getting his old form back as the Japanese showed improvement in pitches in his last two starts since returning from an injury.

Tanaka, who was placed on disabled list due to forearm strain in April, made a triumphant return for the Yankees on Wednesday and led the Yankees to a 3-1 win against the Seattle Mariners.

During the win against the Mariners, Tanaka had eight strikeouts with a 2.76 ERA in seven innings. More importantly, the 26-year-old threw 95 mph several times and averaged more than 93 mph on his fastball for the entire game.

It should be noted that Tanaka admitted earlier in the season that his pitching velocity might go down because he is taking a cautious approach because of his injured shoulder. Tanaka was sidelined for the majority of last season due to a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament, but did not show any signs of the injury on Wednesday.

When asked about his recent performance, Tanaka said that the feeling is comparable to his string of impressive performances last season before sustaining the elbow injury."

"I think all my pitches were coming out good from my hand," Tanaka said via MLB.com. "It's pretty similar to the good run that I had last year."

While the increase in velocity was a sight to behold for Yankees fans, Tanaka reiterated, though, that pitching velocity is not a big deal for him as he is relying on placement and command to succeed.

"I guess velocity is important in some aspects, but I look at more of my command of the pitches, if I'm being able to locate the ball where I want to," Tanaka added. "For me, that's more important."

Yankees manager Joe Girardi also said on Sunday that placement of pitchers and how to attack hitters are more important than pitching velocity, but he also insisted that having more speed gives them a better chance.

"The extra velocity makes guys speed up, is what it does. It's not the key to pitching," Girardi said. "But it does allow you to do some extra things."

Tanaka, who signed a seven-year deal worth $155 million deal with the Yankees after dominating in the Japanese professional league, is scheduled to start for the Yankees again on Tuesday against the Washington Nationals.

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