Should Dodgers' First-Year Japanese Pitcher Compete Against Other Rookies for MLB Awards?

Sam Garcia | Jun 26, 2024

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

There is a debate surrounding the legitimacy of first-year Japanese pitchers competing against rookies for the Rookie of the Year Award. 

Many first-year Japanese pitchers have prior experience in professional baseball through Japanese leagues like the Nippon Professional League. Chicago Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga and Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto have a combined 15 years of experience in the NPB — eight years and seven years, respectively. 

The annual question involving first-year Asian players in MLB has surfaced again: is fair to throw them in the race for Rookie of the Year against rookies who are in their first-ever year of professional baseball.

Will MLB change the rule on who can win Rookie of the Year?@Ken_Rosenthal says we've faced the Shota Imanaga debate before... pic.twitter.com/SwJ21PRpI1

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) June 20, 2024

“It’s come up before: Ichiro and other Japanese players in particular,” Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic said on Foul Territory. “In my view, MLB is right here. Yes, it’s true that Imanaga is not your classic rookie, a 20-year-old kid coming out of the minor leagues, but given the challenge players from Asia face coming to North America, excelling in the major leagues, adapting to a new culture, a new league, a new baseball … that increases the degree of difficulty and it makes it harder for these guys to succeed.”

As of Tuesday, Gavin Stone is in fourth place among National League rookie pitchers in FanGraphs' version of WAR. While Yamamoto leads the pack as the only pitcher with a WAR above 2.0, Imanaga is second and Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes is third. 

While Rosenthal argues that the challenges presented by moving across the world to play in the Major Leagues are sufficient to label first-year Japanese pitchers as rookies, some may counter that it is taking recognition away from the success of true rookies. Expect the debate to surface again in September if Skenes and Stone can keep this up.