In recent weeks, I’ve written about some of the better MLB prospects who are currently active in Japan, and looked back at some of skills that have translated well from NPB to MLB. Now we’...
Within minutes of Masahiro Tanaka signing with the Yankees, I started getting questions on Twitter about the next star out of Japan. The short answer is that there’s no one of Tanaka’s cal...
http://www.npbtracker.com/2014/02/whos-next/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=whos-next
Much has been written about Masahiro Tanaka’s famous two-day, 175-pitch Nippon Series pitch-a-thon. If you’re reading this, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Pretty much all the comm...
I’ve been thinking a lot about Masahiro Tanaka and how he might perform in year one of his newly-minted mega deal. My theory is that observable skills are a better predictor of MLB success than...
I keep getting asked for this, so here it is, taken from Isao Chiba’s article in the December 16 2013 issue of Shukan Baseball. Note: regular season only. Date Opponent IP Runs Allowed Pitches ...
Update, February 8th:Â Reader Kevin W emailed me with an answer to this question… and here it is: The film was made by Andrew Jenks (has gone on to bigger projects including multiple seasons ...
“This isn’t because I wanted to play in the Majors at all costs. It’s just that I feel I can’t play for that manager (Keishi Suzuki), that’s all” 僕ã¯ã€åˆ¥ã«ã...
I get asked from time to time how much ball players make in Japan, particularly the foreign ones. With Kevin Youkilis becoming the latest bari bari Major Leaguer to venture to NPB, it seemed like...
So, Brain, the posting system is changing. Apparently the details are still being formalized, but the main changes are that the NPB chooses the posting fee, the $20m limit on fees, and the player...
If you’ve followed Japanese baseball in English for any period of time, chances are you’ve encountered Michael Westbay’s work. Westbay-san is the founder of JapaneseBaseball.com, a columnis...