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Nathan Aronoff

WHO IS YOSHINOBU YAMAMOTO?

Updated: Nov 21, 2023




THE IMPORTANCE OF ADDING A STAR PITCHER:

The rumors and speculation swirl like a tornado around the top free agents every offseason. That is so because the MLB world understands how easily one free agent signing can turn around a franchise. The superstar pitchers on the market get even more attention than the rest since two or three elite pitchers can win a playoff series. In July I wrote an article explaining why. This past October, Jordan Montgomery, and Nathan Eovaldi proved my point by carrying the Rangers to their first-ever world championship. This offseason there’s one pitcher on the market that stands out, his name is Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Let’s dive into what makes Yoshinobu Yamamoto so special. 


YOSHINOBU YAMAMOTO’S EARLY CAREER:

In 2017, the 19-year-old Yoshinobu Yamamoto first broke onto the NPB scene with the Orix Buffaloes. In 2017, the kid appeared in 13 games, starting 5 of them. Yamamoto finished his debut season with a 3W-1L record and a ridiculous 2.35 ERA in over 57 innings pitched. Right from the start, it was evident that this kid was special. In his sophomore season, Yoshinobu Yamamoto took a small step forward by adding 20 innings to his workload and lowering his ERA to 2.10, however, his win percentage stayed at 75.0%. Through his first two seasons, the NPB began to realize that Yamamoto had unique potential. 


YOSHINOBU YAMAMOTO’S RISE TO STARDOM:

In his age 21 season,  Yoshinobu Yamamoto took a major step forward, into stardom. Yamamoto threw a career-high 149 innings and posted a career-low 1.99 ERA, however, yet again did not improve his win percentage. He put himself on the map that year by throwing his first complete game shutout. In 2020 Yamamoto took a bit of a step back as his ERA rose to 2.20 and he threw 23 innings less. He did continue to show that his win percentage and ERA weren’t related as it did rise compared to 2019. Yoshinobu did come up big in the 2020 Summer Olympics as he led Japan to a gold medal and was selected to the All-Olympians team. Yamamoto’s big-time performance in the Olympics was only a sign of things to come.


YOSHINOBU YAMAMOTO’S RISE TO SUPER-STARDOM:

Entering the 2021 season, Yamamoto began one of the greatest runs seen from any pitcher, NPB or MLB. In 2021 Yamamoto went 18W-5L while pitching nearly 200 innings and posting an unhuman 1.39 ERA. Unsurprisingly, Yamamoto’s 2021 campaign won the 23-year-old his first MVP and Sawamura Award, the award given to Japan’s best pitcher. There was no way he could recreate such an insane season right? Not quite. In 2022, Yamamoto pitched just as many innings yet saw his ERA rise to 1.68. The fact that I wrote “rise” before 1.68 should tell you just how ridiculous these two seasons were. Naturally, Yamamoto was rewarded with his second straight MVP and Sawamura Award. 

Before Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s fifth season in the NPB, the stud pitcher chose to represent team Japan in the 2023 WBC. Yamamoto officially put himself on the baseball world map as he put up a 2.45 ERA on his way to leading Japan to a gold medal. The MLB world then realized that this kid was pretty special and entering a contract year, he might be worth keeping an eye on. Then it happened, with the entire baseball world speculating, Yoshinobu Yamamoto put up his best season yet. Over 171 innings, Yamamoto went 17W-6L while putting up an unimaginable 1.16 ERA. To put things into context, in Yamamoto’s average start he’d throw 7 innings and allow 1 run. 

Yamamoto and the Buffaloes cruised through the NPB playoffs and right to the Japan Series (the NPB finals) against the Hanshin Tigers. The series went back and forth and eventually led to the Buffaloes trailing 3-2 entering game 6 with Yamamoto lined up to start. Emotions ran high before the game as Yamamoto knew that this could potentially be his last game in Japan, his last game in the NPB, and his last game as an Orix Buffalo. Yamamoto got off to a questionable start as he allowed a solo home run in the second inning. However, with his legacy on the line, Yamamoto-Magic took over. Yoshinobu Yamamoto caught fire and answered the homer with seven scoreless innings. Orix won the game 5-1, forcing a game 7. Yamamoto completed the game with an incredible tally of 14 strikeouts. The kid’s final start was one for the ages. Unfortunately, Yamamoto couldn’t pitch in game 7 and the Buffaloes let him down, losing the deciding game 7-1. 


YOSHINOBU YAMAMOTO TO THE MLB?:

On November 20th, Yoshinobu Yamamoto was posted for international teams. This means that MLB teams have 45 days to get a deal done with Yamamoto. MLB players are much higher paid than NPB players, making it very likely that Yamamoto will agree to play for a wealthy MLB team next season. Trevor Bauer explained in his YouTube vlog that the balls are shaped slightly differently in the NPB and MLB, therefore, if Yamamoto does join an MLB club, expect it to take him some time to adjust. Despite the difference between the MLB and NPB, I believe that Yamamoto will become a top-10 or so pitcher within his first couple of seasons in the States. Signing Yoshinobu Yamamoto to your MLB team would be a great move and will add a great weapon to your arsenal come the playoffs. Since the main reason Yamamoto would leave Japan is a higher salary, I can only see him joining one of the three wealthiest teams, the Yankees, Mets, and Dodgers. As a Yankee fan, I hope he comes to the Bronx.



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