“The impact on Japanese baseball is huge”

Japan’s Sportiva interviewed Hiroki Nomura, who won 101 games in his career and coached for the Yokohama BayStars, to find out who he considers to be the “best” foreign pitcher in the history of Nippon Professional Baseball.

Nomura began his professional career in 1987 when he was selected by the Yokohama Taiyo Welsh (now the Yokohama DeNA Basestars) in the third round of the Nippon Professional Baseball Draft, and began to make his mark in 1990. Nomura won 11 games in 1990 and 15 the following year, and in 1993 he had a “career-high” season with a 17-6 record and 2.51 ERA to capture the multi-win title. In his 15 seasons with Yokohama, Nomura pitched in 301 games (233 starts), compiling a record of 101-88 with a 4.01 ERA.

While many foreign pitchers have played in Nippon Professional Baseball, Trevor Bauer was Nomura’s first choice. Bauer began his professional career as the third overall pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2011 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft and was traded to the Cleveland Indians (now the Guardians) within a year of his big league debut, where his talents began to blossom in 2015.

Bauer went 11-12 with a 4.55 ERA in 31 games (30 starts) in 2015, followed by a 12-8 record with a 4.26 ERA in 35 games (28 starts) the following year. In 2017, he won a career-high 17 games, marking his fifth straight year of double-digit wins. In the 2020 shortened season with the Cincinnati Reds, he went 5-4 with a 1.73 ERA in 11 appearances (two complete games) and won the National League Cy Young Award.

Bauer’s performance earned him free agency, and he signed a massive three-year, $120 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers ahead of the 2021 season. But then something unexpected happened. Allegations surfaced that Bauer had sexually assaulted a woman he met on social media, and he went to trial. While Bauer was found not guilty due to insufficient evidence, Major League Baseball’s governing body, which can only impose discipline for “allegations” of domestic violence and sexual offenses, imposed a 324-game suspension on Bauer.

Bauer fought the suspension and was successful in getting it reduced to 194 games late last year. Then the Dodgers “cut their losses” by deciding to release him, and 29 other major league clubs refused to offer him a contract, leaving Bauer without a home. As a result, Bauer turned his attention away from the U.S. and toward Asia, where he found a way to stay in the game by signing with Yokohama DeNA.

Heading to Japan, Bauer tasted victory in his first start. However, after a long layoff, Bauer struggled in his next two games, giving up seven runs in a row, and was quickly demoted to the second team. But after a short adjustment period in the second team, Bauer was never the same. He began to showcase the performances that earned him the Cy Young Award during the 2020 season.

From his first start back on May 27, when he threw six innings and two runs (two earned) for a no-decision, to a four-game sweep in June, when the trade deadline arrived, to a 2.08 ERA and his first monthly MVP title, Bauer lived up to the hype, throwing six innings or more in 14 consecutive games from his first start in June to August 25.

When asked to name the five best foreigners to ever play in Nippon Professional Baseball, Nomura didn’t hesitate to name Bauer as the best foreign pitcher. According to Sportiva, Nomura said, “Trevor Bauer has only been in Japan for a year, but he’s definitely in the top five of the pitchers I’ve seen so far. He’s very different.”

As for why he chose Bauer, Nomura said, “He’s been away from actual games since July 2021, but he started to show his skills in an exchange game in May this year. His fastball, knuckle curve, slider, cutter, and split changeup are very accurate. I think I started throwing the split changeup after I went to Japan.”

“His performance is good, but what’s really amazing is that he can throw 100-130 pitches even on four days’ rest. “On July 1 against the Junichi Dragons, there was a scene where he was angry after a failed double play, but that’s proof of his fighting spirit. The impact of the 2020 Cy Young Pitcher on Japanese baseball is huge, not only in terms of his pitching but also in terms of his attitude towards baseball.”카지노사이트

Currently, Bauer is in the middle of the lineup.

Situation. The injury occurred on March 30 against the Hanshin Tigers, when he slid into a grounder and twisted his body while making the throw to first base. Bauer was only able to pitch three innings and was removed from the first team the next day, where he was diagnosed with a distal right iliopsoas injury. His timetable for returning to the first team is currently unclear.

Bauer only pitched three innings in his final start of August before suffering an “accident”, but he went 3-1 with a 1.67 ERA in six starts in August, earning his second monthly MVP honor on August 8. Bauer said, “I don’t have any pain anymore. I can’t wait to get out there and throw the ball, but I’m going to make sure I recover well and come back in good shape to help the team. I’m going to work hard on my rehab and get back as soon as possible.”