Pink Sox followers are lots conversant in a lot of the massive names on this 12 months’s free agent market. Alex Bregman is coming off an All-Star season in Boston, Kyle Schwarber performed for half a season with the Pink Sox in 2021, and guys like Pete Alonso, Kyle Tucker and Framber Valdez have ranked among the many sport’s greatest for years now.
However as we’ve seen through the years, nice expertise can come from anyplace.
This winter quite a lot of Japanese standouts are set to make the bounce to Main League Baseball, and three specifically are anticipated to make an instantaneous affect upon their arrival. These gamers aren’t family names but, however right here’s the whole lot Pink Sox followers might want to find out about what they bring about to the desk.
Tatsuya Imai, RHP
Standing at 5-foot-11, 154 kilos, Imai just isn’t an imposing presence on the mound. But regardless of his stature, he’s managed to publish gargantuan numbers in Japan.
The 27-year-old right-hander is coming off an excellent season wherein he posted a career-best 1.92 ERA with 178 strikeouts in 163.2 innings. He’s had 4 consecutive seasons with a sub-2.50 ERA and owns a profession 3.15 mark in eight skilled seasons. He additionally hardly walks anybody, boasting a 7% stroll price for 2025 after permitting solely 45 free passes.
In keeping with MLB.com’s David Adler, Imai owns a six-pitch arsenal and leans most closely on his mid-90s fastball and nasty slider, which boasts a 53% whiff price in opposition to righties and a 39% whiff price in opposition to lefties. He additionally throws a changeup, a splitter, a curveball and one thing referred to as a “vulcan change,” which incorporates a grip much like the greeting utilized by Star Trek’s Spock.
Imai has additionally reportedly dialed up his fastball to 100 mph every so often, so it stands to motive his stuff ought to translate to the majors simply advantageous.
Being considerably younger in comparison with most free agent pitchers, Imai is anticipated to land one of many largest offers of any free agent pitcher this winter. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel initiatives Imai will land a deal within the ballpark of six years, $135 million, plus a $22.125 million posting payment, which ranks fifth general on his record.
Munetaka Murakami, 1B/3B
When it comes to pure energy, Murakami is the most effective Japanese slugger to come back to MLB since Hideki Matsui over 20 years in the past.
The nook infielder has posted monster numbers ever since he debuted in NPB as an 18-year-old in 2018, hitting 246 residence runs in eight skilled seasons. In 2022, he broke Sadaharu Oh’s 58-year-old document for probably the most homers in a single season by a Japanese-born participant when he crushed 56 in 141 video games, and this previous season he hit 22 residence runs regardless of being restricted to 56 video games because of an indirect harm.
In keeping with Yakyu Cosmopolitan, an outlet that covers Japanese baseball, Murakami posted a most exit velocity of 116.5 mph this previous season, which might rank proper close to the highest of the MLB leaderboard. And nonetheless solely 25 years outdated, the left-handed slugger hasn’t even reached his prime but.
However regardless of his youth and his excellent metrics, Murakami has a significant purple flag: his strikeout price.
Even by power-hitter requirements, Murakami strikes out rather a lot. In 2024, his final full season, Murakami struck out 180 occasions in 610 plate appearances, which interprets to a 29.5% strikeout price. To place that into perspective, the MLB common for strikeout price is 22.6%, and as soon as stateside Murakami will encounter significantly better stuff than he’s used to seeing in NPB.
If Murakami isn’t capable of enhance his contact price, there’s an opportunity he may get eaten alive by massive league pitchers. But when he’s capable of persistently get his bat on the ball, his potential upside is thru the roof.
ESPN initiatives Murakami to signal for round 5 years, $80 million, plus a $13.875 million posting payment.
Kazuma Okamoto, 1B/3B
The place Murakami profiles as extra high-risk, high-reward, Okamoto initiatives as extra of a certain factor.
The 29-year-old slugger is a six-time NPB All-Star who has hit 248 residence runs in 11 skilled seasons courting again to 2015. That features six consecutive seasons with 30 or extra residence runs between 2018-23, and this previous season he batted .327 with 15 homers and a 1.014 OPS regardless of being restricted to 69 video games because of an elbow harm.
The appropriate-handed Okamoto doesn’t normally hit for that prime a mean, however his profession .277 common, .882 OPS, 17.7% strikeout price and 10.7% stroll price are all encouraging marks. He’ll face the identical questions on his capability to deal with larger velocity as Murakami, however loads of Japanese place gamers with strong contact expertise have efficiently made the adjustment.
Okamoto is mostly thought to be a superior defensive participant as properly who’s extra prone to stick at third base relatively than shift to first, and although he might not have Murakami’s famous person potential, he needs to be a top quality massive league participant who may present an instantaneous increase to a workforce in want of infield assist.
With a projected contract of three years, $36 million plus a $6.925 million posting payment, Okamoto is perhaps an particularly good possibility for a medium to small market membership.
