As the KBO League as well as the Major League and Nippon Professional Baseball near the end of the regular season, interest in Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Orix Buffaloes), who is likely to advance to the big leagues, is getting hotter.
Yamamoto is the undisputed ‘ace’ representing Japan’s professional baseball, including Orix. Yamamoto, who was nominated by Orix in the 4th round of the 2016 Nippon Professional Baseball New Draft, played as a bullpen pitcher at the beginning of his joining, but changed his position to a starter in 2019 and has become the league’s top pitcher from the 2021 season.안전놀이터
Yamamoto appeared in 26 games in the 2021 season and played 193⅔ innings, striking out 206, and had an average ERA of 1.39 with 18 wins and 5 losses. That year, Yamamoto vomited his spirit to win four pitcher crowns (most wins, win rate, strikeout average), Pacific League MVP and the Sawamura Award given to the best pitcher. And this performance did not stop in 2021.
Yamamoto also played 26 games in the 2022 season, ate 193 innings, struck out 205 strikeouts, and won 4 gold medals, MVP, and Sawamura Award for the second consecutive year as a “first” in Japanese professional baseball. Yamamoto did not perform well only in his home league. In the 2019 WBSC Premier 12, he played as a bullpen pitcher and played 5 innings in 5 games with an average ERA of 1.80 and lifted the championship trophy.
And at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, he took on a heavy responsibility as a starting pitcher in the game against Korea, blocking 11⅓ innings with 2 runs in 2 games, recording an average ERA of 1.79 and a gold medal around his neck. In addition, in the open World Baseball Classic (WBC), where major leaguers were all out, he played an active part in two games (1 start, 7⅓ innings) with an ERA of 2.45, contributing greatly to winning the championship.
It’s still the same this year Yamamoto has scored 128 strikeouts in 127 innings in 18 games so far on the 29th, 12-5 with an ERA of 1.42. The 12 wins are the first in the two leagues, and the average ERA and win rate are also leading the Pacific League. The only stumbling block to a pitcher winning 4 crowns for 3 consecutive years is his strikeout. There is a gap of up to 8 with 1st place Atsuki Taneichi (136K), but it is not a gap that can not be narrowed.
If he only rises to the top spot in strikeouts, Yamamoto has an unprecedented 4 pitching awards for 3 consecutive years, MVP, and Sawamura awards are very powerful. It is no exaggeration to say that the MVP of the regular season belongs to Yamamoto again this year. Orix, which Yamamoto belongs to, has already raised the magic number (22) this year, as the Pacific League championship is very limited. If there are no variables, the MVP of the regular season is strong. Sawamura-san is also the only player who can meet the difficult conditions.
After this season, Yamamoto can try to advance to the major leagues through the posting system. First of all, Yamamoto and Orix have shared sympathy for entering the major leagues over the past few years, and if only the Orix club signs an ‘ok’, Yamamoto’s entry into the big leagues is certain. And the interest of major league clubs is that hot.
John Heyman of the US ‘New York Post’ recently mentioned the clubs that are eyeing the Japanese ‘ace’ under the title of ‘teams flocking to recruit Yoshinobu Yamamoto as the major league transfer approaches’. In particular, on the 23rd, the day Yamamoto pitched 7 scoreless innings against the Seibu Lions, scouts from at least 10 clubs visited the Bernadome to watch Yamamoto.
“The New York Yankees, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals were some of the 10 teams that saw Yamamoto come to the mound,” Heyman said. He showed an impressive appearance with 7 scoreless innings.”
He added, “The Chicago Cubs, LA Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers, and Detroit Tigers checked Yamamoto, who was named MVP for the second year in a row.”
Meanwhile, in July of last year, ‘Major League Trade Rumors (MLBTR)’ predicted that Yamamoto would sign a super-large contract worth more than 200 million dollars (approximately 265.4 billion won). First of all, Yamamoto is evaluated as a better player than Senga Kodai (New York Mets) locally, and there is a very high possibility of winning a contract larger than his contract of 5 years, 75 million dollars (approximately 99.5 billion won).