Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) is full of “monsters.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Orix Buffaloes) threw a no-hitter on Sept. 9. He started the game against the Chiba Lotte Marines at Jojo Marine Stadium in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, and threw a nine-inning no-hitter in a 4-0 win. What made his performance even more noteworthy was that it was the second consecutive year that he set the record. Yamamoto completed his first career no-hitter against the Seibu Lions on June 18 last year with a nine-inning, nine-strikeout, no-hitter. Yamamoto is only the third player in NPB history to throw back-to-back no-hitters, joining Eiji Sawamura (1936, 37) and Tadashi Kameda (1940, 41).

According to Japan’s Nikkan Sports, more than 20 scouts from 12 Major League Baseball (MLB) teams, including New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, watched Yamamoto’s “monster pitch” at Jojo Marine Stadium. “I’m really happy that they were interested,” Yamamoto said. I will work harder and throw good pitches,” he said. With a 14-5 record and a 1.26 ERA through 10 days, Yamamoto is the favorite to win four NPB Pacific League titles (wins, ERA, strikeouts, and winning percentage). He is expected to knock on MLB’s door via the postseason posting system (closed competitive bidding), making him a hot target for scouts.

Yamamoto is not alone in the NBP. In the Central League, the leaders in wins (Katsuki Azuma), ERA (Shoki Murakami), and strikeouts (Shota Imanaga) are all Japanese. MLB Cy Young Award winner Trevor Bauer (Yokohama DeNA Basestars) is hard to miss. Bauer is 10-4 with a 2.76 ERA, but he trails the Japanese in most pitching metrics.

In particular, his ERA ranks eighth in the Central League. Japan announced the postseason posting of Imanaga (Yokohama) on July 7. Imanaga is a left-handed pitcher who threw the 96th no-hitter in NPB history against the Nippon Ham Fighters in June 2022 and helped Japan win the WBC in March with Shohei Ohtani (LA Angels) and Darvish Yu (San Diego) on the mound. From Yamamoto to Imanaga, MLB clubs are interested.토스카지노

Every year, NPB attracts top players to the United States. Last winter, SoftBank Hawks ace Godai Senga joined the New York Mets and Hanshin Tigers ace Shintaro Fujinami (now with the Baltimore Orioles) donned an Oakland Athletics uniform. But it’s hard to feel the void. The league is in a virtuous cycle as other players fill the void of monster pitchers. Compared to the KBO, it’s a different story. In the KBO, foreign pitchers have dominated most pitching metrics this season. Among the young pitchers in their 20s, only Ahn Woo-jin (Kiwoom Heroes) stood out, and even he was out for the season due to injury, making his report card even more shabby.