Yamamoto makes his Major League challenge official.
On November 6, MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball, announced that “Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Oryx) has made it official.”
Yamamoto’s club, the Orix Buffaloes, officially announced on November 5 that they will allow Yamamoto to post to the major leagues in the offseason after the conclusion of the Japan Series. The ace that the major leagues have been looking for is now officially on his way to the majors.
Yamamoto, a right-hander born in 1998, is a dominant ace in Japanese professional baseball. In seven seasons in Japan, he has pitched in 172 games with a 70-29 record and a 1.82 ERA. He won 15 or more games in three consecutive seasons (2021-2023), won the Triple Crown three years in a row, and won the Sawamura Award three years in a row.
According to MLB.com, “Yamamoto is the No. 2 rated free agent this winter. Teams will be scrambling to sign him.” Only one other free agent is currently rated higher than Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, who has yet to play in the major leagues.
According to MLB.com, “Yamamoto won the Sawamura Award three years in a row and posted a 1.44 ERA in those three years. He struck out 580 batters and walked just 110 in that span, and has a fastball that sits in the low 90s, a splitter and a curveball with a big drop. He also doesn’t have an injury history,” he said of Yamamoto. 보스토토
According to MLB.com, at least eight teams will be in the mix for Yamamoto. The New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs, and New York Yankees.
After leading Japan to victory at the WBC in March, Yamamoto put on a solid “showcase” performance and has raised the bar even higher this season with a flawless performance.