Japanese baseball leagues have been a major reason for new Japanese players heading into free agency these past years. Some notable players that have joined the MLB from Japan are Masataka Yoshida, Kodai Senga and the one that took the MLB by storm, Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani is one of the best players in the MLB and helped Japan win a World Baseball Classic, the world cup of baseball. He is going to be leaving the Los Angeles Angels and will probably get a huge contract from the next team he signs with.
However, he won’t be the only Japanese player to be in free agency. A whole new group of Japanese players will be entering the league. The one that we will be talking about, is one that can become an excellent pitcher and in my opinion, could play or even be on the level of Shohei Ohtani. His name is Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Yamamoto is only 25 years old and considering that most players from Japan go to America are older, he could be here for a while. He has a record of 70-29 in japan, which is incredible, especially knowing that Japan has one of the most competitive leagues in the world, he is going to be excellent in the MLB. He also had a career Earned Run Average (ERA) of 1.82, another great stat for him. He has a fastball of on average 95 MPH. He can also throw a splitter, a cutter and a curveball. As of writing this article, he could be expected to be signed by the New York Mets.
