A weak team can still finish in the middle of the pack with two good foreign pitchers. One of the prerequisites for fall baseball is to have a first- and second-round foreign pitcher. Foreign pitchers are a key factor in a team’s performance.
As of the 15th, the KBO’s 1-3 best pitchers are foreigners. Eric Peddy (NC) has 10 wins, Adam Plutko (LG) has 8 wins, and Raul Alcantara (Doosan) has 7 wins. All three are part of a “one-two punch,” the aces of their respective teams.
Three of the five pitchers in the top four are foreigners. Casey Kelly (LG), Wes Benjamin (KT), and Kirk McCarty (SSG) all have six wins. Six of the top eight multi-win pitchers are foreign. This shows how much foreign pitchers make up the majority of the team.
The ERAs are similar. Ahn Woo-jin (Heroes) is the only Korean in the top five. With a 1.77 ERA, she is second in the category. Pedi, at 1.74, is first, followed by Plutko (1.82), Alcantara (1.98), and Kirk McCarty (2.48).
Nippon Professional Baseball is a different story. Despite the fact that there are no roster limits and teams can have up to four foreign players on the first team, it’s hard to find a first-team foreign pitcher. Foreign pitchers are in the starting rotation,
There are teams with foreign pitchers in the starting rotation and closers, but by far the majority of players are domestic. This is especially true in the starting rotation.
As of the 15th, the top five pitchers in the Central League in wins and ERA are all Japanese.
Shosei Doi (Yomiuri), a member of Japan’s winning World Baseball Classic (WBC) team, leads the league in wins with eight. Kotaro Otake (Hanshin), Katsuki Azuma (Yokohama), and Hiroki Tokoda (Hiroshima) are tied for second with six wins apiece.
Otake is first in ERA. The left-hander, who has emerged as the ace of the league-leading Hanshin Tigers, has a 1.13 ERA. He is followed by Tokoda (1.69), Shoki Murakami (Hanshin – 1.75), Aren Kuri (Hiroshima – 1.78), and Dogo (2.45).
The Pacific League is a similar story. Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Oryx), the “super ace” who will reach the major leagues at the end of this season, is tied for first in wins (6). He also leads the league in ERA (1.59) despite not pitching a full game.
Roki Sasaki (Chiba Lotte), who represented Japan at the WBC alongside Yamamoto, is also in good form. Despite pitching less than the required innings, he is tied for sixth in wins (5) and first in strikeouts (79).
Sasaki returned to her team after the WBC to rebuild and made her first start in mid-April. In late May, he developed a blister on his finger and took over 20 days off to rest.
The saves leaders in both leagues are also Japanese. In the Central League, Yasuaki Yamasaki (Yokohama) leads with 16 saves, while Cuban Reidel Martinez (Junichi) is second with 14. In the Pacific League, Naoya Masuda (Chiba Lotte) leads with 18 saves and Mexican Roberto Osuna (SoftBank) is second with 13.
Osuna, who joined Chiba Lotte during last year’s season, signed a six-year, $650 million contract with SoftBank last winter. He is a former major league reliever.안전놀이터
After a failed stint with the Hanshin Tigers, Alcantara returned to Doosan and has been flying high. He had a 2
years with a 4-6 record, 23 saves, and a 3.96 ERA. He pitched as a reliever after falling out of the starting rotation despite being paid over $2 million per year.
Alcantara shows the difference in quality between the Korean and Japanese professional leagues.