Chicago Cubs Making Headway in Sweepstakes for Japanese Superstar

The Chicago Cubs are not allowed to negotiate with free agents until Thursday, but they may already be making progress on Japanese ace Koudai Senga.

You can never have too much starting pitching.

The list of Chicago Cubs potential starting pitchers for the 2023 season is long: Marcus Stroman, Kyle Hendricks, Justin Steele, Hayden Wesneski, Keegan Thompson, Adrian Sampson and Javier Assad. All seven started at least eight games in 2022, and other than Hendricks, none had an ERA higher than 3.76.

Why not add another pitcher to the mix and transfer some young arms to the bullpen? 

The Cubs could have one of the strongest pitching cores in the National League if their offseason plans come to fruition, starting with Koudai Senga.

Teams are not allowed to talk to free agents until Thursday, but that doesn't prevent friends from keeping in contact.

Both Seiya Suzuki and Senga are represented by the same American agent, Joel Wolfe.

"They've been in contact," he said in an article by Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago. "Seiya said very nice things about his experience in Chicago... He's really happy that he chose the Cubs."

Senga is a difference making pitcher. His bread and butter is a fastball that touches 99-100 mph and a 'ghost-splitter' as it's been dubbed by Japanese media. He also throws a slider and a curveball.

Kodai Senga, 99mph Fastball and 84mph Slider, Individual Pitches + Overlay. pic.twitter.com/nF60sUBvED

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) November 2, 2022

During the 2022 NPB season, Senga had a 1.89 ERA over 148.0 innings. He doesn't strike out an absurd number of batters (9.7 K/9), nor does he walk particularly few, (3.0 BB/9). But he prevents home runs very well, surrendering just seven across the 2022 season, making those good K/BB numbers go from good to great.

Most important for any American suitors though, is familiarity and conformability. The Cubs, are leaders in both those categories.

With a Japanese player already thriving on their team, Senga need not worry about feeling isolated in the clubhouse. and the Cubs have been a hot destination for overseas players for over a decade.

Yu Darvish, Koji Uehara, Kosuke Fukudome and Munenori Kawasaki are just a few of the Japanese ballplayers who have worn blue pinstripes.

According to his agent, Senga wishes to play in a big market. And the interest is mutual from the Cubs according to David Kaplan.

Getting Senga to Chicago wouldn't just give the Cubs a more formidable rotation, but it would have effects throughout the roster. For a team that's already overflowing with starting pitching depth, it would force talent further down the roster and through the bullpen.

Senga, and players like him, aren't just flashy names for what they bring to the team, but also for how they influence the players around them.

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