Nakamura wasn’t a high-profile draft prospect, so I headed over to Draft Reports to get the scoop on him. Nakamura has got a big frame at 195 cm, 89kg (6’5, 195lbs), and throws from a three-quarter delivery. His heater tops out on the gun at 149 km/h (92mph), but he mostly sits at about 140 km/h (86 mph) with both his fastball and slider. He also has a curve, forkball, and shuuto. Looking at his stats, he shown an ability to strike his college competition out, but walks have been an issue.
Sponichi says that the Indians’ goal is to get him in shape in Rookie Ball, and then give him a look at Single-A after a couple of months. An official contract is expected in November.
It’s that time of the year again when each team starts to look forward to the offseason stove league, aside from the Giants and Fighters who are set to do battle for this year’s big prize. The main talks of the off-season will be centering around the movement of the free agents and today the list of qualifying players was released.
Potential candidates that might consider a move overseas are starting to buzz around the rumor mill and Ryota Igarashi and Naoyuki Shimizu are two of the bigger names in the news at this point. Toshihisa Nishi is another guy who wants to play in MLB, but he’s 38 and looking at MLB as a swansong. The situation might change once the offseason begins, but there have been no talks about big names being posted and it might be a relatively quiet offseason for new Japanese players coming to the States for a new challenge.
Patrick » 26 October 2009 » In nichibei, npb » Comments Off on Lotte to Invite Maddux
Sayonara Bobby, konichiwa Greg Maddux?
Maybe. The Chiba Lotte Marines are planning to invite the future Hall of Famer to spring training next season as a temporary pitching instructor, somewhat similar to what Orix did with Hideo Nomo last year. Sponichi notes that with his legendary control and excellent circle change, Maddux is a great role model on how to get by without velocity for Japanese pitchers. I’d tweak that just a bit and say he’s a great example for any pitcher.
Lotte’s intent is to reach out to Maddux through former Padres teammate and current Marine Tadahito Iguchi. I hope this comes together, it would be great to see Maddux back in the game.
We already stuck a blurb about this up on Twitter,but Hanshin Tigers reliever Scott Atchison is looking to make an MLB comeback next season.
Atchison was one of Hanshin’s top bullpen arms last year, posting a 1.70 era in 90 innings over 75 appearances. Hanshin wanted to bring him back next year, but according to reports, Atchison wanted to return to the States for family and lifestyle reasons. That he pitched well enough in 2009 to contend for a regular MLB bullpen spot couldn’t have hurt either.
Atchison last appeared in the majors in 2007 with San Francisco, and is primarily a fastball/slider pitcher. You can get a sense of how hard he throws on the NPB Tracker data site.
Notes to share about a couple of FA-eligible players:
If Ryota Igarashi chooses to make the MLB jump, he’ll do so with agent Arn Tellem on his side. According to the Sponichi report, Igarashi is undecided on what he wants to do, and is also considering moving to another team in Japan. Tellem notably represents Hideki Matsui, and has to date negotiated $73m worth of contracts on his behalf. Igarashi is currently in the States taking in the ALCS.
Saburo Ohmura, known by his first name in Japan, is hinting that he’s going to stay put again this offseason. Saburo was eligible for international free agency last year, and announced that he was going to try MLB, but changed his mind and re-signed for one year with Lotte. After posting a career with a .314/.377/.514 slash line and 22 home runs, I thought we might see him take another shot at MLB. Maybe he’ll waffle again this year.
It looks like we could to see a wave of Japanese major leaguers make their respective ways back to Japan this offseason. I don’t expect all these guys to go back to Japan, but some of them will, and I’ve listed in order of probability of actually returning.
Kenji Johjima — appears to be headed to Hanshin, perhaps as early as the 25th.
Masahide Kobayashi — Hanshin, Orix, Yokohama and Lotte have all be mentioned as suitors for KobaMasa.
Yasuhiko Yabuta — Yabuta’s contract with the Royals quietly expired earlier in the month, and he hasn’t been in the news lately but I’ve seen both Yokohama and Lotte mentioned as interested.
Ken Takahashi — is weighing a return to Japan against taking another shot at MLB. Hiroshima seems to be the obvious destination.
So Taguchi — Orix wants to bring Taguchi back to where he spent the first part of his career.
Tomo Ohka — I think he’d rather stay in 3A than go back to Japan, but there has been speculation that Yokohama would have him back. Ohka started his career by the bay.
Hideki Matsui — For a while during the summer, it looked like both Hanshin and Yomiuri were going to go after Matsui, but his MLB stock has risen and that talk has mostly died down.
Akinori Iwamura — Aki has stated that his first preference is to remain in Tampa Bay, but Hanshin is reportedly interested in bringing him in. Since Yakult posted him they should still own his NPB rights, so I’m not sure if that move is feasible.
And as a special bonus:
Eric Hinske — Hinske wouldn’t be an NPB returnee, but the Hawks are reportedly interested in signing him this year. They had him on their list last offseason as well.
33-year old right-handed pitcher Naoyuki Shimizu cannot seem to brush off his desire for the challenge of MLB. Even though he’s going into the second year of a two-year contract with the Chiba Lotte Marines, he earned the option of opting out during the regular season.
Shimizu quoted in an interview, “My admiration for the Major Leagues has not changed. If all condition comes to term (I would like to challenge).” He earned international free agency rights in June, during the season. “The situation is completely different from the previous year. When I think about the rest of my playing career, I would like to absorb the different cultures.”
Last off-season other NPB teams showed interest toward the right-handed pitcher if he does opt out couple of the teams might again show interest, but Shimizu stated the only option after free agency will be to the Major Leagues. “If I declare for free agency I will go overseas. I love Lotte and they have served me well. I can guarantee 100 percent that I will not sign with another NPB team.”
In 2009, he appeared in 23 games (22GS) and posted a 4.42ERA. I couldn’t find many clips of him pitching, this one is up-close and you can see his delivery. His pitch chart from his most recent start can be checked here.
Shimizu will not cost a fortune for an MLB team as an international free agent and I can possibly see him latching onto a team as a back-end rotation candidate. We’ll see when he officially announces his intentions.
Manager Katsuya Nomura finally accepted an apology from Todd Linden. Linden was taken off the Golden Eagles’ roster for the first round of the Climax Series versus the Softbank Hawks for criticizing the coaching staff over being benched in a regular season game. At first, the situation seemed to be unresolvable as Nomura went to the extreme as telling Linden to pack his bags and go back to the States through the media.
The Golden Eagles were able to advance even without the service of the .292 hitter Linden. However both sides felt a reconciliation would benefit the team in order to beat the Fighters. Linden showed the respect to the coaching staff after the suspension was in order. Linden continued to practice at the ni-gun facility and attempted to apologize for his comments.
The situation turned the corner when Linden came to apologize with a suit and tie in front of Nomura. He also showed respect to the media and reflected on his comments. Linden’s behavior after the incident changed Nomura’s mind and the decision of adding him to the second rounds roster has been made.
Respecting the game of baseball and the coaching staff is a must in the Japanese baseball world and criticizing that can jeopardizeyour position as a player. The adjustments that Japanese players needs to make in the MLB are often publicized, but the same goes for foreign players attempting to make a name for themselves in Japan. It’s not just about the strikeouts and home runs in Japanese baseball, but how much you play the game with honor that will determine the success of a player. Linden learned the lesson in a hard way, but hopefully both sides will enjoy a happy ending at seasons end.
As previously reported in Japanese, Kenji Johjima has decided to opt out of the final two years of his contract with the Seattle Mariners. Johjima was the first Japanese catcher in the big leagues, playing in total of 462 games in the span of four seasons.
His NPB power bat did not translate well for him in the big leagues and it became a struggle to earn regular playing time last season with the Mariners, as he appeared in only 71 games. A pair of injuries limited his playing time as well.
Earlier this week, there was speculation that an opt out move was in the works, citing Johjima’s cancelled off-season Mariners PR work. Johjima is known to be quoted in saying, “I do not feel strongly to live and die in the majors for the rest of my career. I would like to take back to Japan what I learned from the States, and want to go back while I can still contribute to a team.”
There have been reports already that the Hanshin Tigers are interested and his former team, Softbank Hawks, should be another possibility. Johjima should still be one of the best catchers in Japan, once landing with a team and Japanese fans should be happy to get him back.
Now the question is when will we see another Japanese catcher be to challenge for an opportunity in the majors, and who will it be? Motonobu Tanishige and Ryoji Aikawa both failed to garner offers in their attempts to move over as free agents.
Yabu had a solid season coming off the scrapheap with the San Francisco Giants in the 2008, throwing a total of 68.0 innings and posting a 3.57ERA. Even though his 2009 season ended early pulling his right calf muscle at Fresno, he has been quoted as saying he’s continued to train and wants to prove that he can still be a contributing pitcher.
Will Yabu get another shot with a team and add a final page to his playing career?