He hasn’t thrown a single pitch in the majors and is ranked 61st. MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball, ranked Yoshinobu Yamamoto (26-LA Dodgers) as the 61st best active pitcher in Major League Baseball on Monday (Aug. 8). He was ranked ahead of Senga Godai (31), who went 12-7 with 202 strikeouts and a 2.98 ERA for the New York Mets last year.
Senga, who was acquired from the SoftBank Hawks, led the team in innings pitched (162) and was second in the National League in wins and ERA in his first year. He finished 63rd in the MLB.com rankings. MLB.com ranked Yamamoto higher than Senga, despite only being able to evaluate him based on his performance in Nippon Professional Baseball last year.
Yamamoto’s performance with the Orix Buffaloes from 2021 to 2023 was so strong that he led the league in wins, ERA, strikeouts, 안전놀이터 and winning percentage for three consecutive years. The “super ace” won the Sawamura Award, Pacific League MVP, and Golden Glove three years in a row.
12 years totaling $325 million.
The Los Angeles Dodgers signed Yamamoto to the longest and highest contract for a major league pitcher. Even for the best pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball, the terms of the contract exceeded expectations. The Dodgers expect Yamamoto to be their number one starter and ace from his rookie season. Even before the season started, his every move was news and talked about.
However, there is talk that Yamamoto is “undervalued”.
Japanese media reported that infielder David McKinnon, 30, who played for the Seibu Lions last year, posted on his social media account shortly after MLB.com’s announcement that 61st place is too low.
“They say he can’t be ranked because he hasn’t thrown a ball (in the majors) yet,” McKinnon wrote, “but Yamamoto has thrown thousands of pitches in Japan and no one has ever hit him right.” “By the end of the season, he’ll be in the top 30,” he added.
Last year, McKinnon and Yamamoto faced each other relatively often in the same Pacific League. In 17 at-bats against Yamamoto, McKinnon went 14-for-17 with three hits, a double, a home run, three walks, and four strikeouts. He homered off Yamamoto on May 6 against the Orix.
It was a big home run for McKinnon.
Yamamoto pitched 164 innings last season and allowed just two home runs. McKinnon hit one of them.
McKinnon batted .259 (120-for-464) with 15 home runs and 50 RBIs in 127 games for Seibu last year. He played in every game before being placed on the disabled list on Aug. 26 with back pain. He led the Pacific League in hits and RBI among foreign batters. Seibu offered him a contract extension with a small raise, but he chose to return to South Korea.
McKinnon was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 32nd round of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft and made his major league debut in 2022. In 22 games with the Dodgers and Oakland Athletics that year, he went 7-for-50 with seven doubles, a 1.14 batting average, and six RBIs without a home run.
He opted to play in Nippon Professional Baseball instead of trying out for the major leagues in 2023, and moved to the Samsung Lions late last year. 카지노사이트 추천 He was paid 90 million yen (about $800 million) by Seibu, but signed with Samsung for $1 million (about $1.33 billion). Outfielder Jose Pirela, 35, who played until last year, also wore a Samsung uniform after playing for the Hiroshima Carp in Nippon Professional Baseball.
Yamamoto pitched in 172 games (118 starts) over seven seasons with the Orix, compiling a 70-29 record, 32 holds, one save, and a 1.82 ERA.