(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
You could say Yoshinobu Yamamoto was born to pitch.
He is 25 years old and has already compiled an incredibly solid resume, one that we will review in a minute.
After showing consistent brilliance for seven years with the Orix Buffaloes of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league, he is ready for the next step in his career: pitching and succeeding in MLB.
He has been posted already and has until January 4 to sign with an MLB team.
Yamamoto boasts a heavy fastball that can reach 98 mph, a filthy splitter, and a myriad of other secondaries to keep opposing lineups at bay.
He also has impeccable command, poise, and a lot of experience for a 25-year-old hurler.
All these weapons helped him complete another amazing season in Japan in 2023.
He was so good that he just won his third consecutive Pacific League MVP award.
“Yoshinobu Yamamoto joins Ichiro Suzuki and Hisashi Yamada as the only players to win the award in three consecutive seasons. Teams have until January 4th to sign Yamamoto to a Major League contract,” FOX Sports MLB tweeted.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto joins Ichiro Suzuki and Hisashi Yamada as the only players to win the award in three consecutive seasons
Teams have until January 4th to sign Yamamoto to a Major League contract pic.twitter.com/4ugIXtC422
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) November 28, 2023
That’s some elite company right there for Yamamoto.
In seven years in Japan, he won the MVP award in the Pacific League in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
He also won three pitching Triple Crowns, three Eiji Sawamura awards (the equivalent of the Cy Young), three Pacific League Golden Gloves, four ERA titles, and had five NPB All-Star berths.
Wow.
In 2023, he posted a 1.21 ERA in 164 innings, with 169 strikeouts.
Those are some video-game-like numbers.
Yamamoto has everything to be successful in the majors.
His contract could even flirt with $200 million.
He is that good.
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