<figure id="attachment_228620" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1024px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-228620"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="41288cd6"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/02/1e6b428653c624b012de5919988c120b.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-228620" class="wp-caption-text">Yamamoto had an unblemished record last season. But it looks like it won&#8217;t be easy to challenge the majors.</figcaption></figure>
 He won four pitching titles, including most wins (18) and best save percentage (1.39), as well as the Sawamura Award and MVP &#8230;&#8230;.
 No one can complain about the performance of Orix&#8217;s Yoshinobu Yamamoto (23) last season. He won all the titles in the Pacific League pitching division. In his sixth year with the club, his annual salary rose 220 million yen to an estimated 370 million yen.
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 After the contract renewal on January 27th, he told the press that he was satisfied with his performance.
 I&#8217;m satisfied with the evaluation. Last year, the best thing was that the team won the league championship. I will do my best to win the league again and become the best in Japan. I want to be better than I was in the past.&#8221;
 During the negotiations, he also expressed his intention to challenge his dream of playing in the majors. He continued, &#8220;I&#8217;ve told the team exactly what I want.
 I&#8217;m very grateful to the team. I&#8217;m grateful to the team. It&#8217;s not like anything concrete has been decided, but &#8230;&#8230;&#8221;
<h2>I think I&#8217;ll be here forever.</h2>
 It&#8217;s not a situation where something will be decided immediately. In order to move to the majors, you need to be 25 years old and have been in a foreign league (other than the U.S.) for at least six years. Yamamoto does not have overseas FA rights. Even if the team allows him to move to the majors through posting, the earliest he can negotiate is next off-season.
 For Yamamoto, there are other problems close at hand. Yoshihiko Miyauchi, the owner of Orix, made the following statement at a press conference on January 21.
 I believe that the two of them (Masanao Yoshida, who has batted in the top spot for two consecutive years, and Yamamoto) will always be with the Orix.
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 Yamamoto is an indispensable pitcher for the team. He is a pitcher who is indispensable to the team, and he has no intention of accepting a move to the majors through posting.
 I think the owner Miyauchi didn&#8217;t want people to think that he could go to the majors if he played well for Orix. He didn&#8217;t want to give the impression that Orix was a &#8216;sit-on team&#8217; in Japan. Indeed, Orix was the first team in Japan to allow posting and sent Ichiro to the majors in the off season of 2000. But at the time, Ichiro had an overwhelming record of batting in the top half of the order seven years in a row, and he had the strong support of the fans.
 Yamamoto, on the other hand, even though he had outstanding results last season, it was the first time for him to win by double digits as a professional. He has only recently become a household name in Japan. For owner Miyauchi, he is an indispensable asset for the team to regain the top spot in Japan. I think he wants him to be active for at least another two to three years to become a true ace in order to convince the people around him.
 The baseball team must have a parental love for him.
 The WBC (World Baseball Classic) is scheduled for next year. For baseball players, the WBC is a tournament with a higher status than the Olympics. Many top-notch major leaguers will participate in the WBC, and it will be a test to see if they can make it in the world. Major league scouts are sure to watch the games.
 If Yamamoto achieves good results, his reputation in the majors will naturally increase. If he is going to challenge the majors, I want him to achieve overwhelming results not only in Japan but also on the world stage. That&#8217;s what fans would think.
 Yamamoto is 23 years old. Yamamoto is 23 years old and still has a lot of room to grow. I hope he will become a pitcher of a larger scale and challenge the majors with dignity.

 Kyodo News

 The Orix ace, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, has won four pitching titles, the Sawamura Award and the MVP. He has also won four pitching titles and the Sawamura Award. But the hurdles are high. What is the wall that stands in the way of a pitcher with his full potential?

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