Red Sox are ‘in on’ Japanese free agent left-handed pitcher

Image courtesy of AP Photos

It’s no secret that the Red Sox are interested in prized free agent Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto. They’re also reportedly “in on” lefty Shota Imanaga who was posted by the Yokohama DeNA BayStars on Nov. 27.

“Red Sox one of many in on Shota Imanaga (and all big market teams are in on Yamamoto),” the New York Post’s Jon Heyman tweeted on Thursday afternoon. Heyman also tweeted the “Red Sox showed interest in bringing back Eduardo Rodriguez but preferred to wait on Yamamoto and Imanaga.”

The Red Sox have been scouting the southpaw free agent and was in attendance to watch him pitch back in mid-September.

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Boston has been “heavily scouting” Imanaga, per Sean McAdam of MassLive. The 30-year-old posted a 2.71 ERA with 163 strikeouts, 21 walks, 1.02 WHIP in 136 innings spanning over 20 starts this season.

Imanaga was a member of Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic prior to the start of the 2023 season. He finished with a 3.00 ERA across 6.0 innings pitched and had seven strikeouts. He started the gold medal game against the United States and was credited with the win. 

The Japanese star offers a fastball that sits in the mid-to-low 90’s, a splitter, a cutter and a curveball. The righty focuses on controlling the strike zone to handle opposing hitters versus dominating the zone.

Baseball America views Imanaga as a potential No. 4 or 5 starter in the big leagues, they also think he could be a swingman or bulk reliever.

“Imanaga is a crafty lefthander with a good feel for pitching. His fastball sits 89-93 mph with solid riding life as a starter and touches 94-95 in short bursts. His main secondary pitch is an above-average, 82-85 mph splitter with late cut that induces ground balls. Imanaga’s success in MLB will hinge largely on the development of his slider. It’s currently a fringy offering at 80-83 mph that stays on one plane and gets barreled in the strike zone. He’s flashed the ability to throw it firmer and get chase swings, but it needs improvement to become an average pitch. He also has a below-average, 71-74 mph curveball he’ll throw as a change-of-pace offering. Imanaga mostly throws to his glove-side and can get one-sided in his repertoire, but he mixes and matches well to keep opponents off-balance. He has above-average control and keeps everything around the plate.”

MLB Trade Rumors projects Imanaga to land a five-year, $85 million deal in free agency.

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