One other celebrity Japanese-born pitcher is hinting at a future with the Los Angeles .
For the reason that departure of Roki Sasaki, right-hander Hiroto Takahashi is taken into account Nippon Skilled Baseball’s finest pitcher.
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Just like the trio of Japanese-born gamers, Takahashi represented Japan on the 2023 World Baseball Traditional. The then-20-year-old struck out seven-time NL All-Star Paul Goldschmidt and nine-time AL Silver Slugger Mike Trout within the championship recreation of the event.
Takahashi was seen working towards in gear by way of an X publish on Saturday, suggesting a possible future in Los Angeles.
Takahashi will flip 23 in August and will likely be eligible to play within the Main Leagues after the 2027 season. Conveniently for Takahashi, this would be the identical offseason Tyler Glasnow and Freddie Freeman’s contracts expire.
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Takahashi can also be a serious fan of beginning pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Along with taking part in collectively in 2023 on Staff Japan, the pair skilled collectively final offseason.
“His pitching ability, his pitching fashion, the whole lot – I believe he’s one of the best pitcher that I’ve ever seen in my life,” Takahashi mentioned to MLB.com’s Michael Clair. “I’m attempting to remove something that I can, steal the whole lot from Yoshinobu.”
His fastball garnered consideration after it hit 98.2 mph in July 2022 and set a brand new franchise file for the Chunichi Dragons.
He additionally depends on a split-finger pitch, resembling Yamamoto’s pitching fashion.
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Takahashi had one of the best season of his profession in 2024. He held a 15-5 file whereas logging a career-best 1.30 ERA and 152 strikeouts throughout 172.2 innings.
The will most likely at all times be within the dialog for Japanese-born gamers. However, Takahashi’s admiration for Yamamoto often is the ultimate push to persuade him to affix forces with the .
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