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.
Hayato Sakamoto reached a career milestone in a crucial game Sunday, while Roki Sasaki‘s progress in his return from an oblique injury took an ill turn, and – as he has been doing with every start recently – Yoshinobu Yamamoto recaptured the PL strikeout lead from Lotte’s Atsuki Taneichi, in his bid to lead the league for the third straight year.
Sunday’s games
Giants 6, Deniers 0: At Yokohama Stadium, Hayato Sakamoto had three hits and drove in multiple runs for the second straight day, while Shosei Togo (12-5) threw a six-hitter. Sakamoto’s first homer and his 21st of the season made him the 49th player to drive in 1,000 runs in Japanese pro baseball, with 1,001. He added a three-run shot to dead center in the ninth, and Togo stranded two in the ninth to finish his second shutout on 113 pitches.
