Japanese starter Tomoyuki Sugano expected to sign with MLB club this offseason (report)
Japanese right-handed starter Tomoyuki Sugano is going to sign with a team in MLB this offseason, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
The 34-year-old posted a 1.67 ERA last season for the Yomiuri Giants with 111 strikeouts and 16 walks. He finished the season with a 15-3 record.
Sugano has spent his entire career in Nippon Professional Baseball; he will become an international free agent this winter.
The righty is a two-time Sawamura Award winner, which is the equivalent of winning the Cy Young in MLB. He is a two-time Central League MVP and a four-time ERA champion.
During his time with the Giants, he went 136-75 and will now have the opportunity to join his peers Shohei Ohtani, Yu Darvish, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and others in the majors.
Sugano was originally posted back in 2020 but never signed with a bug league club before the posting deadline. The Japanese hurler returned to Toyko to continue his career.
This past season, Sugano has averaged 92 mph with his four-seam fastball and relied on a two-seamer. He throws both an 82-mph slider and an 87-mph cutter, and he offers a splitter that he can bury at 86 mph with a curveball at 77 mph.
International free agents have no restrictions as to where they can sign and are not subject to posting fees and that process. Players in NPB earn the right to become international free agents after nine seasons.
Sugano will join a starting pitching free agent market led by Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell, Max Fried, and Jack Flaherty. If the Chiba Lotte Mariners decide to post 22-year-old flamethrower Roki Susaki, he will be one of the most coveted arms on the market.
