Posting (private competitive bidding) permission for relief pitcher Shota Imanaga (30, Yokohama Baystars), who was as powerful as starting pitcher Yu Darvish (37, San Diego Padres) in the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) match between Korea and Japan The news has arrived.
Major League representative source John Moroshi posted on his personal SNS on the 7th (Korean time), “Imanaga was permitted to post with the consent of his off-season team Yokohama. He won the WBC championship medal in 2023, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (25, Orix Buffaloes) “He is the best pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).”
Imanaga is a talented left-handed pitcher who can throw a fast fastball with a maximum speed of over 150 km/h, a sharp curve, slider, and change-up. In the WBC Korea-Japan match held last March, he took the mound as the second pitcher after Darvish and held the national team’s hitters tight, contributing to the team’s 13-4 victory.
At the time, starting pitcher Darvish recorded 3 hits (1 home run), no 4 walks, 1 strikeout, and 3 runs (2 earned runs) in 3 innings, but Imanaga was even better, drawing attention with 3 hits (1 home run), no 4 walks, 3 strikeouts, and 1 run in 3 innings. dragged. Afterwards, Imanaga appeared as a starting pitcher in the WBC final match against the United States, allowing one run in two innings. This year in Yokohama, he is recording 19 games, 7 wins, 3 losses, 128 innings, an ERA of 2.81, and 152 strikeouts.
Major League Baseball’s official website ‘MLB.com’ said, “Imanaga has grown into one of the best starting pitchers representing Japan since his debut in the Japanese professional baseball season in the 2016 season. Although posting permission does not guarantee advancement to the major leagues, his ability “Considering the demand for (starting) pitchers, the possibility is very high.”
He added, “Imanaga’s ability to induce swings and misses will attract the attention of major league scouts, and he could hit the market at the right time. The New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, and St. Louis Cardinals are some of the teams worth noting.”온라인카지노
Meanwhile, Japanese professional baseball players have recently been steadily utilizing posting contracts to advance to the major leagues. Yoshitomo Tsutsugo (32, San Francisco Giants) signed a posting contract with the Tampa Bay Rays ahead of the 2020 season, the following year, Seiya Suzuki (29) signed with the Chicago Cubs, and this year, Kodai Senga (30, New York Mets) and Masataka Yoshida (30) signed a contract with the Tampa Bay Rays. Boston Red Sox) and Shintaro Fujinami (29, Baltimore Orioles) wore big league uniforms.
There is already a lot of interest in whether Imanaga, who took on the challenge of playing in the major leagues, will write another success story.