Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Orix Buffaloes), who is about to enter the major leagues, left the best pitch in front of major league scouts.
Yamamoto started in the 2023 Japan Professional Baseball Seibu Lions home match held at the Kobe Sports Park Baseball Field in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan on the 8th (hereinafter Korean time) and pitched 125 pitches in 9 innings, 5 hits, 1 walk, 13 strikeouts and 1 run ( 1 self-accusation) and fought back.
After this season, Yamamoto is aiming to enter the major leagues through the ‘posting system’. In front of scouts from 8 major league clubs, he threw 125 pitches and earned a complete win, rising to 1st place in the Pacific League with most wins (8 wins), 94 strikeouts, and lowering his ERA from 1.87 to 1.79, ranking 2nd alone in all categories. ranked
His start was neat. Yamamoto broke the three-way start by neatly tying up the top batting line leading to Shuta Tonosaki, Sosuke Genda, and Shohei Suzuki in the first inning. In the second inning, after striking out leadoff hitter Takeya Nakamura, he allowed Makinon to walk and let out a runner for the first time. Afterwards, Yamamoto took a breather by catching Junichi Kishi with a shortstop grounder, and was hit by Sato Ryusei, but with the help of the defense, he caught the runner who was running to third base and finished the inning without conceding.
Solid pitching continued. Yamamoto made another tripartite inning in the 3rd inning, then scored two strikeouts in the 4th inning and scored no runs. And in the 5th inning, he made his third flawless inning, striking out two even to the lower batting line leading to Kishi-Sato-Wataru Takagi.
The first loss was in the 6th inning. With no runners in the second out, Yamamoto was hit by a high cutter in the middle of the strike zone with a 149km first pitch by Genda, and was hit by a double to the left fielder, putting him in his first crisis. And he scored the first run by giving a timely hit to the follow-up hitter, Suzuki, on a 145km forkball. However, he set up Nakamura, the follow-up hitter, with a floating ball to left field and finished the inning without allowing any additional runs.
Yamamoto climbed the mound again in the 7th inning and tied the lineup leading to Makinon-Kishi-Sato. In the 8th inning, Takeru Furuichi, Yuji Kaneko먹튀검증, and Tonosaki each threw a 122km curve-144km fork-144km fork as a winning shot, and three batters He recorded consecutive strikeouts, climbed the mound in the ninth inning, tied the Seibu batting line without conceding, and obtained a complete victory. It was the first complete game this season, 13 strikeouts, and 125 pitches were also the most. The top speed is 156km.
In the 2021-2022 season, Yamamoto, who has emerged as the ‘ace’ representing Japanese professional baseball by winning the 4 Pacific League pitcher crowns, the ‘Sawamura Award’ given to the best pitcher, and the regular season MVP, is in the major leagues after this season. It is expected to present a challenge. He has already proved his international competitiveness in the World Baseball Classic (WBC), and it is clear that he is a player who is currently catching the eyes of many scouts.
According to Japan’s ‘Full Count’ and ‘Sports Hochi’, numerous major league scouts visited the Kobe Sports Park baseball field to watch Yamamoto’s pitching that day. According to the media, eight clubs, including the San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies and Toronto Blue Jays, watched Yamamoto. ‘Full Count’ and ‘Sports Hochi’ reported that “eight major clubs sent hot eyes.”
Recently, ‘Major League Trade Rumors (MLBTR)’ said, “Senga Kodai (New York Mets) had an inconsistent command, but after signing a five-year, $75 million (approximately 97.7 billion won) contract with the Mets, he is performing well. Joel Sherman of The New York Post says Yamamoto is better than Senga, and Yamamoto is younger and arguably better than Masahiro Tanaka (Rakuten Golden Eagles). It is not unusual to have a contract that exceeds .
After the game, manager Satoshi Nakajima praised the ace’s counterattack, saying, “He told me to go (even in the 9th inning),” and Yamamoto was delighted, saying, “There were a lot of very good and strong balls, which led to good results.” The Yamamoto jackpot contract is getting closer.
