‘Japanese monster pitcher’ receiving all the attention from the big leagues
Japanese right-handed pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (25, Orix Buffaloes, photo) has dominated the mound for the past three years in the Japanese Professional Baseball (NPB) until this year. He uses a four-seam fastball with a top speed of around 150 km/h, a splitter with a speed of 150 km/h, a curve with a large drop, and a cut fastball in the low 140 km/h range. With his strong pitch, he swept four pitcher crowns from 2021 to 2023, including multiple wins, earned run average, strikeouts, and winning percentage. His records this year are 16 wins, 6 losses, an ERA of 1.21, and 167 strikeouts.
With such overwhelming results, there is a lot of interest in Yamamoto, who has not thrown a single ball in the U.S. Major League Baseball (MLB). Regarding Yamamoto, who announced his entry into the United States through the posting system, many American media outlets, including MLB.com, are evaluating him as second in rankings among players in the free agent (FA) market, following 'dual sword' Shohei Ohtani (29). Considering that Otani, who underwent elbow surgery, cannot play as a pitcher next season, this means that Yamamoto is ranked first among pitchers.
MLB.com reported on the 23rd that “nearly half of the major league clubs have reached out to Yamamoto.” Yamamoto's posting was officially approved on the 22nd, and he can begin negotiations with major league clubs over the next 45 days.
Yamamoto's expected contract size is expected to exceed $200 million (about 259.7 billion won) over the seven-year contract period. This evaluation is possible because Yamamoto performed much better in NPB than Kodai Senga (30), who signed a five-year contract worth $75 million (about 97.4 billion won) with the New York Mets in pursuit of entering the major leagues last winter.
Senga performed well for the Mets this season with 12 wins, 7 losses, an ERA of 2.98, and 202 strikeouts. His earned run average was second in the National League, and his strikeouts were also eighth. In fact, it was an ace-level performance from the first starter. Moreover, Yamamoto is five years younger than Senga. Therefore, the possibility of a sudden decline in his skills is small, which is why a much larger contract than Senga is expected. MLB.com also said, “It is unclear whether the results in Japan can continue in the major leagues. “There is a risk of failure,” he said, “but there are too many advantages to Yoshinobu. He expressed his expectations, saying, “His outstanding skills and powerful pitching are worthy of big league clubs drooling over.”
The reason Yamamoto's contract size is attracting attention is because he and his peers of the same age, Lee Jeong-hoo (Kiwoom) and Ko Woo-seok (LG), are also seeking to enter the major leagues through the posting system. It is expected that as major league clubs' treatment of Yamamoto increases, expectations for the two players will also increase.