Getty Image
If you don’t know the name Yoshinobu Yamamoto, you might want to get to know it.
The 25-year-old Japanese pitcher is perhaps the best player in the world not in Major League Baseball. But that won’t be the case for long.
Yamamoto, a two-time Pacific League Most Valuable Player and a three-time Japanese Triple Crown winner, pitched a 138-pitch gem to lead the Orix Buffaloes to a win in Game 6 of 2023 Japan Series over Hasnshin.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto just pitched a complete game on 138 pitches in his last start before becoming an MLB free agent
He had 14 strikeouts, breaking Yu Darvish's Japan Series record pic.twitter.com/SleSD0Kl4c
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) November 4, 2023
The right-hander struck out 14 batters in a complete game that also served as his final start in Japan.
The Buffaloes are expected to post Yamamoto has a free agent following the season, and a number of MLB teams are expected to fight over his services.
But what makes him so dominant and so coveted? We’ll let Kyle Glaser of Baseball America lay it out for you.
“Yamamoto’s arsenal is explosive. His lively fastball comfortably sits 94-95 mph and touches 99. His tight-spinning, 76-78 mph curveball with late tilt and depth is a plus pitch that freezes both lefthanded and righthanded hitters. His 91-94 mph cutter is an above-average to plus offering that stays off of barrels. His best secondary, and arguably best pitch of all, is a plus, 88-91 mph splitter with huge depth he can land for strikes or bury for chase swings.”
Japan’s NPB is widely considered the second best baseball league in the world. And Yamamoto has absolutely dominated it in recent years.
So yeah, it’s safe to say he’s the real deal.
He’d be one where he could be a big money guy,” an NL special assistant with extensive history scouting the Pacific Rim told Baseball America. “No injuries, super durable, good delivery, fast arm. The sky is the limit on this guy.”
It’s the Yoshinobu Yamamoto Era. And we suggest you get used it.