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Oracle Park scoreboard suggests SF Giants hosted NPB star Kodai Senga

A graphic on the Oracle Park scoreboard suggests the SF Giants hosted Fukuoka Softbank Hawks star Kodai Senga for a free-agent visit on Saturday.

Marc Delucchi

Oracle Park scoreboard suggests SF Giants hosted NPB star Kodai Senga
Oracle Park scoreboard suggests SF Giants hosted NPB star Kodai Senga /
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The SF Giants may be making a run at signing longtime Nippon Professional Baseball star Kodai Senga. Senga, a right-handed pitcher, has been one of the best starters in Japan since turning pro at 19. While he has spent his entire career with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks, Senga became a free agent this offseason and is pursuing a contract with an MLB team.

Japan pitcher Kodai Senga throws during the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
Kodai Senga pitches for Japan during the World Baseball Classic. (2017) / Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

On Saturday afternoon, a graphic on the Oracle Park scoreboard showed Senga on the stadium's immaculate video screen in a Giants uniform next to his name and number (41). The graphic was no longer on the board by 8:00 PM. Given's Senga's status as a free agent, it seems reasonable to speculate that he was visiting Oracle Park with his agent to meet with Giants executives as he weighs his options.

San Francisco Chronicle national baseball writer and columnist John Shea reported on Friday that the Giants were eyeing Senga.

“His performance has been great,” Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi told Shea. “He’s got a great fastball, being up to 100 (mph). It’s interesting. For us, for all pitchers, we look not just at the performance but their pitching style and what adjustments they might have to make coming to major-league baseball.”

Senga has one of the nastiest pitch arsenals in Japan. After sitting in the low-90s early in his career, his fastball has sat in the mid-90s over the past few seasons and has reached 99 mph on several occasions. That heater pairs well with a 70-grade splitter that looks identical to his fastball coming out of his hand before devastating downward break. He also utilizes a cutter and slider on occasion, although neither are better than average offerings.

Over his NPB career with the Hawks, Senga has recorded a 2.59 ERA in 224 games with 1,252 strikeouts and 414 walks in 1,089 innings pitched. In 2022, Senga posted a 1.90 ERA in 144 innings pitched (22 starts) with 156 strikeouts and 49 walks.

Despite his elite productivity, Senga does carry some risk given a relatively lengthy injury history, which includes shoulder problems. He has only accrued more than 150 innings pitched in two seasons over his 11-year career and has never eclipsed 200 innings in a season. For context, other prominent Japanese starters like Yu Darvish and Daisuke Matsuzaka had multiple 200+ inning seasons in the NPB before coming stateside at younger ages than Senga.

Granted, that history could work out for the Giants if it leads other teams to be skittish in negotiations. The Giants have consistently targeted pitchers with long injury histories under Zaidi and had a great deal of success. The signings of Drew Pomeranz, Alex Wood, Alex Cobb, and Carlos Rodón all worked out well for the Giants.

Since Senga is not currently under contract with Fukuoka, he is not subject to the NPB/MLB posting system, which requires MLB teams to pay an NPB team if they sign one of their players. Instead, Senga is an entirely unrestricted free agent.

The Giants obviously have a hole to fill in their rotation with ace left-handed pitcher Carlos Rodón hitting the free agency as well. While the Giants still may hope to re-sign Rodón, the front office has to prepare to replace him if he signs elsewhere. It seems that longtime Fukuoka Softbank Hawks ace Kodai Senga could be the SF Giants top target.

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Marc Delucchi
MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).

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