All posts by Jim Allen

sports editor for a wire service in Tokyo

Questions about Yoshinobu Yamamoto

Being at the winter meetings in Nashville allowed me to catch up with people I’d been seeing there since I first started going in 2014. With four Japanese pitchers moving to MLB this winter, there was a lot to talk about.

In the past, I’ve published injury and deactivation records of Japanese pitchers trying to play in MLB, but it has been a hectic offseason, and somehow I neglected that duty this year.

This brought a request from Eno Sarris of the Athletic::

“I’ve been furiously googling and going through your site and I can’t find anything on Yamamoto injuries — do you know off the top of your head what his major injuries were? Seems like he has a ton of innings every year except his first two?”

The answer to his injury history is that if there is one, it hasn’t been made public. The answer to his playing time requires an understanding of how NPB roster rules differ from those in MLB.

Yamamoto’s published injuries — as related to deactivations are listed below:

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The Yamamoto market according to MLB

With the exception of Shohei Ohtani, no player is set to make a bigger splash in MLB’s offseason free agent market than Orix Buffaloes ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who is just the tip of the iceberg in an offseason when four pittchers from Japan are testing an MLB market that is likely to produce some record contracts.

Although Yamamoto is being posted and will have just a 45-day window to sign and a posting fee will need to be paid to Orix, MLB scouts and executives seem certain he will shatter the record for the biggest contract offered to a first-year MLB player.

Continue reading The Yamamoto market according to MLB