New San Diego Padres reliever Yuki Matsui met members of the English and Japanese language media online Wednesday morning Japan time, and spoke about Yu Darvish, his adjustments and hopes for the future among other things.
Matsui, 28, became the youngest player to record 200 saves in Japan in 2023, a year that started dismally in the World Baseball Classic, when he couldn’t control the MLB ball and pitched just one inning.
“I received a couple of offers. I was talking to a couple of teams. The Padres were the first that presented me with an offer. From the start, I thought the Padres were really serious about acquiring me. Going into my MLB career, I thought it would be a good fit for me.”
To close or not to close
“I’ve been the last guy out of the bullpen, but I haven’t thrown a single pitch in America, so I am not thinking I should be that last guy right from the start. I need to adjust, reliably get outs, and earn trust in the chances I get.”
That being said, people have mentioned his career save total and where he sits in a tie for sixth with Masahide Kobayashi among primarily NPB pitchers with the most career major league saves–Rich Gossage, with eight saves in Japan would be fourth all-time, but I digress:
| NPB | MLB | KBO | CPBL | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hitoki Iwase | 407 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 407 |
| Kazuhiro Sasaki | 252 | 129 | 0 | 0 | 381 |
| Shingo Takatsu | 286 | 27 | 8 | 26 | 347 |
| Yoshihisa Hirano* | 242 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 250 |
| Kyuji Fujikawa | 243 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 245 |
| Masahide Kobayashi | 228 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 236 |
| Yuki Matsui* | 236 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 236 |
| Dennis Sarfate | 234 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 234 |
| Yasuaki Yamasaki* | 227 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 227 |
“Of course, I know it won’t be easy (to earn the closer’s job). It will be down to my showing all I can do and then leaving it up to the competition. My job is to win, and I can’t predict where I’ll fit into the team plan.”
“But when people talk about save totals from Japan and MLB, I want to move forward in that respect. There are two great players just ahead of me (Yoshihisa Hirano and Kyuji Fujikawa) who I really respect, and if I can surpass them this year it would indeed be a great year.”
— note: Matsui didn’t name Hirano or Fujikawa, so I’m speculating. He could easily have meant Kobayashi and Fujikawa, who are both retired. Catching Hirano would, however, make it a heck of a year, since Hirano is still active in Japan and saved 29 games last year at the age of 39.
Yu’s got a friend
Although Shohei Ohtani was the on-field MVP for Japan at the World Baseball Classic, more than anyone, it was Yu Darvish’s team. After going deep into the 2022 postseason, Darvish sacrificed the bulk of his spring training preparations in order to join Samurai Japan in Miyazaki on the first day of camp, Feb. 17.
“For me personally, he’s a big presence, and a big reason why I joined this team. We were together for a month during the WBC, and he is was a role model, of course in baseball, but also in life. He made every one of this think, ‘This is the kind of man I want to be. This is the kind of ballplayer I want to be.’ To be able to play alongside him and be around him, helped me lean toward the Padres.”
Asked about anything Darvish told him that was particularly inspirational, Matsui reflected on their time during the WBC.
“It wasn’t something he said when I signed, but what he said to all of us during the WBC about baseball, that baseball just a part of your life.”
“Of course, when you’re playing, you’re focused on baseball. When you’re not doing well in baseball, it’s not something you have to take with you every single morning. Even when you’re doing poorly, you can still eat delicious food, still take a moment to enjoy, and then give it your best shot again. I felt what an excellent outlook that was. That’s what he said that has stayed with me the most.”
“When the team assembled, he said, ‘It’s not like we’re going to war.’ He said something about not getting too worked up.”
The WBC
“I’m happy to have been on that great team, the world championship team. For myself, my own participation ended up being frustrating.
“But I drew great energy and motivation from the experience and was able to harness that this year. I am motivated now more than ever to come to the States and to be my best. It was a great experience, and it helped me get even more motivated to play here.”
And while teammate Shota Imanaga cemented his status as an MLB prospect during the tournament, Matsui definitely did not, but his desire to move to MLB, something he’d once hoped to do as early as 2019, was undiminished.
“Last year, I had an issue with my mechanics (regarding the MLB ball), and couldn’t quite get the hang of it, and that set things off a little. I’ve made adjustments there. A lot of balls were getting away from me, and I’m currently working on that. The ball feels different, but it’s ball I’m going to be throwing in the upcoming season, so I can’t avoid the issue, and have to adjust.”
Making his move
Asked about his desire to move earlier, Matsui said it had been in his mind. And given the firestorm surrounding WBC teammate Roki Sasaki’s desire to go before his team, the Lotte Marines wants him to, it’s no surprise that Matsui called it a sensitive issue. Japanese clubs are exceedingly sensitive and secretive about the agreements they have with players that are virtually never made public.
“This is a sensitive, an issue related to the organization. I had broached the issue, but was told I must wait until I was able to file for free agency, and in exchange received a marvelous contract with an opt out when I wanted to leave as a free agent.”
“I did talk about (a posting) with the team in 2020, but they asked me to stay on for a 10th season.”
“It wasn’t a particularly arduous wait for me before I came here. I wanted to pitch in MLB back in 2019, but I had to get ready and hone my craft in order to be a player MLB teams would want. Throughout the years I was working on my craft and building up my body so I could make it, so it wasn’t really a long wait for me. There was a lot I wanted to do first. I was just focused on baseball every day until this day came.”
Early bird
One of the surprising roadblocks to MLB success for Japanese stars is that almost everything they took for granted about preparing for a season is upended in spring training, where there are no days off, practice is only in the mornings and preseason games start a few days after the full squads report, instead of three or four weeks from the start of camp in Japan.
Matsui said he’s been getting filled in on the differences.
“Things like having no days off and few full team practices, Darvish has informed of stuff like that through texts. I still have some time to get ready for that, so I should be able to handle it. Personally, I’m the type that wants to be pitching in games as early as possible, so in Japan in February, I get prepared to go fairly early, so I think I’ll be ready for that (early preseason games).”
“I talked to different players who’d gone to America to play. They didn’t exactly say ‘toss out everything you did in Japan’ but rather not to stick to things too obsessively. It’s America, so it might be better if you find what you can do that works there. So that’s what I intend to try.”
The eyes of the world
The Padres will open their season in Seoul on March 20 and 21 with games against the National League West rival Los Angeles Dodgers, who signed Samurai Japan teammates Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto over the winter to record contracts.
“The Dodgers are the team beat and we will have to get past them to win the division. It seems like the Dodgers have suddenly become quite popular in Japan.”
“It’s going to be a battle between rivals, like a sibling rivalry and since it will probably be the first Opening Day around the world this season, it’s bound to get a lot of attention. On top of that, I hope we can beat the Dodgers and get some momentum. Within that context, if I get a chance to take the mound, my hope is to be prepared so I can do well in that first game and handle the situation.”
Put up or Sho up
As a southpaw reliever, who expects to pitch in leverage situations, Matsui is likely to matchup a lot with Ohtani, who will strictly be a DH in 2024 following elbow surgery last year.
“Even in Japan, I faced him very few times, to the point where I saw him mostly on TV on the news. I’ll need to check out the data and formulate a plan to attack him. I think he’s one of the world’s best left-handed hitters, and I’m a lefty, so I think I’m going to face him a lot, and in order for us to win games, I want to be able to get him out and contribute.”
“I got a couple of messages from Shohei, one congratulating me on my deal with the Padres.”
Time waits for no man
Matsui will have to deal with MLB’s pitch timer, and one astute member of the Japanese media asked about his preparations in that area.
“As soon as last season ended, I started returning the ball faster when playing catch, and I began trying to get a feel for it in the bullpen and had someone time me. I haven’t worked on how to get the signal from the catcher yet, but I heard you get the sign before you get the ball from the catcher. I can cut down on the time it takes to get the sign, and I expect to work on that in camp.”
The question was a good one, since Matsui has for the past two seasons been the slowest-working pitcher in Japan with 30-plus innings in a season.
Carter Stewart Jr. asked recently if Japanese relievers are actually really taking up that much more time between pitches. He said it was his observation. I said I’d check, and since it came up in Matsui’s chat, I did, and Stewart was spot on. Relievers in Japan are DELIBERATE, and Matsui has been the most deliberate of the bunch.
America here we come
I had heard before that Matsui was working on his English in anticipation of his move to the States, which involves not just him but his wife and kids, too, and adjusting to the food as well.
“As far as English goes, I am doing my best to understand what I hear. Last season I didn’t have any native English-speaking teammates, so I didn’t have a chance to talk. I was in America for a week to 10 days when I signed my contract, and I was able to pick up a little of what people were saying. I certainly want to get better.”
Food won’t be a problem at home, but on the road that’s another thing, and I’m a little anxious. I heard that (Masahiro) Tanaka got used to eating on the road at the end of his time in the States. Of course, I understand they put out a super spread of food for the visiting team, so I’ll have a look at that, and I think I’ll get used to it.”
“Darvish told me it was a fantastic city, with a comfortable climate, with the warm support of the Padres’ great fans every day at a full ballpark. As a player that is very motivating. And when I signed with the Padres, he texted me to say how much he was looking forward to being my teammate, and I feel the same.”
Matsui’s wife, he said, is also pleased with their new destination.
“She said that wherever we go would be fine. But because the climate there is great, and it will be easy for the children to live there, she said it’s good that we’re ending up in San Diego. She said she was also happy that the Padres’ uniform looks good.”
