Promising Japanese Pitcher Coming to USA, Already Linked to Several Teams
Japanese right-hander Naoyuki Uwasawa is looking to come to the United States in 2024 and is already generating interest from several major league teams.
The 29-year-old went 9-9 this past season with a 2.96 ERA. He tossed 170.0 innings. He had been playing for the Nippon Ham Fighters of the NPB.
Per the Kyodo News on the process for signing Uwasawa.
Once Major League Baseball accepts Uwasawa's application, its 30 teams will be notified that he is free to sign with any of them. Uwasawa will then have 45 days to sign with a team willing to pay Nippon Ham a posting fee based on the amount of money he will receive.
MLBTradeRumors did an excellent profile on Uwasawa with more context. He made his major league debut in 2014 and has a 3.19 ERA lifetime.
The biggest concern about him appears to be velocity, with people wondering how he'll translate to the US.
MLBTR’s Dai Takegami Podziewski has regularly featured Uwasawa in his NPB Players To Watch feature, as Uwasawa has made his intentions clear for some time that he wanted to test himself against North American competition. There are some concerns over Uwasawa’s ability to transition to the big leagues, as Dai wrote that “Uwasawa doesn’t have an overpowering arm with his average fastball velocity sitting around 90.8 mph. He also does not boast strikeout stuff, while not having the same command that [Kohei] Arihara had when he was coming to MLB (although Arihara himself was wild during his Rangers tenure).”
He's already been linked to the Rangers, Diamondbacks, Reds, Royals, Cubs, and Angels.
Follow Fastball on FanNation on social media
Continue to follow our Fastball on FanNation coverage on social media by LIKING us on Facebook and by following us on Twitter @FastballFN.You can also subscribe to "The Payoff Pitch" podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
