Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 25, who is set to enter the major leagues after evaluating Japanese professional baseball, tops the power rankings among pitchers this offseason.
MLB Network announced the top 10 power rankings for pitchers entering free agency on its official social media accounts on Tuesday (KST).
According to the rankings, Yamamoto is the No. 1 pitcher. He surpassed Blake Snell, the favorite to win the National League Cy Young Award.
Yamamoto, a right-handed orthodox pitcher, has already dominated Japanese professional baseball by winning four consecutive prizes and the Sawamura Award for three years in a row. He has also thrown two no-hitters.
In 23 games this season, Yamamoto has pitched 164 innings with a 16-6 record and a 1.21 ERA. He struck out 169 batters. Not only did he win the Triple Crown, but he also led the league in wins.
He throws a four-seam fastball that reaches a whopping 160 mph and a splitter that reaches 150 mph. He also has a slider, cut fastball, and curveball.
His splitter, in particular, is rated a 70 on the 20-80 scale. This makes him one of the best splitters in the major leagues, which is why the $200 million contract speculation continues. His weakness is his relatively small size. Yamamoto is 5-foot-11 and weighs 180 pounds, which is very small for a major league pitcher who is over 6-foot-2.
Yamamoto is expected to receive a contract totaling $200 million. However, he has received interest from several teams, including two New York teams, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, and Texas Rangers.
Following Yamamoto in the rankings is Snell, who is the favorite to win the American League Cy Young Award. Snell was pitching at his best heading into free agency.
Aaron Nola, Sonny Gray, Jordan Montgomery, Eduardo Rodriguez, Marcus Stroman, Shota Imanaga, and Lucas Giolito round out the top three. 토토사이트
Clayton Kershaw, who recently underwent shoulder surgery and is uncertain for the 2024 season, is ranked 10th. Kershaw opted to extend his career instead of retiring.
Shohei Ohtani’s name is nowhere to be found on this list. This is likely due to the fact that Ohtani underwent elbow surgery and will not be able to pitch in the 2024 season.