Why “Four Samurai Pitchers of Real Prowess” Can’t Win, Behind the Backdrop of Shohei Ohtani and Kazuma Okamoto’s Success

Backfiring…

This year’s Major League Baseball season started with the remarkable performances of Japanese players. Shohei Ohtani, 31, of the Dodgers, who won the world championship last season for the second consecutive year, continues to pitch with aplomb, while teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 27, has been a consistent performer as the team’s ace. Munetaka Murakami (26), who joined the White Sox this season, has hit home runs since the start of the season and is in first place in the race for the A League home run crown despite being a rookie. Kazuma Okamoto (29) of the Blue Jays, who moved to Japan at the same time, has settled in at third base for one of the league’s most powerful teams and is highly regarded for his stable defense and strong hitting.

On the other hand, it is also true that some Japanese players struggle on the world’s highest stage. In particular, four pitchers, Yusei Kikuchi (34) of the Angels, Akira Sasaki (24) of the Dodgers, Kota Senga (33) of the Mets, and Tatsuya Imai (28) of the Astros, have not performed as expected. They are all top-notch pitchers who have been dominant in the NPB, but why can’t they win in the majors? Will they end up as “bad major leaguers”?

In this article, we will analyze the reasons why these four pitchers cannot win, based on pitching analysis by Ryota Igarashi and Keiichi Yabu, both of whom have experience on the mound in Major League Baseball, and reports from reporters who cover Major League Baseball on a daily basis.

I don’t know what will happen in the future,” Yabu-I said. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Angels manager Kurt Suzuki, 42, expressed his disappointment with Kikuchi after he left the game against the White Sox on April 30, complaining of a strained left shoulder.

He commented in the off-season that he always wanted to be the world’s healthiest pitcher, so it must have been a shock for him to be out of the lineup. After three to four weeks of no-slugging, he is scheduled to practice in preparation for his return to the lineup.

Kikuchi has been inconsistent so far this season, going 0-3 with a 5.81 earned run average in seven appearances. Igarashi believes that the change in form that Kikuchi made in order to be more aggressive may not have been successful.

Kikuchi changed his form this season to a short arm style (a throwing style with a compact take-back). By doing so, he probably aimed to stabilize his release point and improve control of his breaking ball. However, it is essential for this form to work in tandem with the lower body. If this does not work, the only way to deal with the problem is to increase the output of the upper body. As a result, there is a possibility that the shoulders were overburdened and the pitches were uneven.

Kikuchi’s weapon of choice is his powerful fastball, which he throws with great velocity. However, a local media reporter in Los Angeles said, “Kikuchi has become one of the most theoretical players in the MLB,” and continued, “As Kikuchi gets older, his pitches become more and more dynamic.

As Kikuchi got older, he began to make adjustments by making full use of motion analysis and ballistic measuring devices such as the Lapsode. He became too aware of the vast amount of data and the latest indicators, but lost the roughness that had been his weapon. Even with the restrictions of the pitch clock, he spent more time thinking on the mound, and the leaders are analyzing the situation, saying, ‘Brain fatigue may have upset his mechanics, leading to injuries and poor performance.

Nevertheless, it is also true that Kikuchi has improved his control by making full use of data. If he can regain the balance with his natural roughness during his absence, he is sure to return as one of the best left-handers in the majors.

Enough room for pitching, enough room for physical strength

Sasaki, who helped the Dodgers win the world championship as a relief pitcher in last season’s postseason, has been entrusted with a spot in the starting rotation this season, but his 2-3 record and 5.09 earned-run average so far have been unsatisfactory.

In contrast to Kikuchi, Sasaki’s lack of pitching ability has been exposed,” said an MLB West Coast reporter for a sports newspaper.

In Japan, there is a lot of talk that Kikuchi gets hit by pitches because his straight pitches are stickballs, but the Dodgers’ leaders point to a more fundamental problem: a lack of pitches that he can handle. Namely, the lack of a variety of pitches he can handle. Yamamoto can handle splits, curves, cuts, sinkers, and sliders at a high level, as can Ohtani. Sasaki, however, only has a four-seam, a split, and a slider.

Yabu also said that the key is to broaden the range of his pitches.

If his split is bad, he has no choice but to throw his four-seamer in the strike zone. For example, Otani and Yamamoto, they can switch to a curveball, but Sasaki, who has fewer pitches, can’t. He came to the U.S. without a full rotation in the NPB, which makes him look uneasy on the mound.

Major league hitters are skilled at psychological warfare, so if anxiety shows up on their faces, they get swallowed up. Also, they are used to fastballs, so if they can narrow down their target pitch, they can easily hit it back. He will need to study new pitches, such as a change-up, for example. Nevertheless, his potential is top-notch, as he showed in a good performance against the Angels on May 18, allowing one run in seven innings. As he gains experience, the results should eventually come.

In his rookie season of 2011, Senga went 12-7 with a 2.98 earned-run average and was named the Mets’ rookie of the year, but he has been plagued by injuries throughout his MLB career. Early last season, he was pitching like a Cy Young Award winner with his “ghost fork,” but in June he left the game with a sore right thigh. On April 29, he was placed on the disabled list with lumbar spine inflammation.

He was also placed on the disabled list on April 29 due to lumbar spine inflammation. The severe cold in New York in early spring aggravated old injuries and pain in his lower back, and the poor medical care system compared to that in Japan also took a mental toll. He was given epidural anesthetic injections to suppress the inflammation, but it is still difficult to play an active role while cheating an injury,” said a sports newspaper reporter for MLB’s East Coast.

Igarashi said that Senga, in perfect condition, is one of the best pitchers in the majors, and continued, “To be honest, he has a 100 percent record of being a good pitcher.

Igarashi said, “To be honest, I think it will be difficult for him to return to 100% of his original condition. To protect the injury, his body is out of balance, and the chain of injuries continues. After all, the damage caused by too much movement cannot be ignored. Even when I was in the majors, the hardest part was the travel. Sensitive players are easily affected, and in many cases, lack of sleep leads to injury.”

A heart that cannot catch up

Imai, who joined the Astros this season, says there is nothing wrong with his body, but he is having a hard time adjusting to the mental side of his game. ……

He was known for his sensitive nature since his days at Seibu. He was determined to “beat the Dodgers!” But he must be feeling lonely in Texas, where there are no Japanese players and few Japanese staff members. He has to deal with the hard mounds and slippery pitches characteristic of the Majors, and his control, which has been unstable since his days in Japan, remains an issue.

As he admits, he is still getting used to the American lifestyle and diet, and he needs to stabilize his mind before he starts pitching mechanics. If he had joined a team in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, or Seattle, where there are many Japanese people and many Japanese restaurants, I feel he could have adapted more quickly. ……

Imai has pitched in five games so far, going 1-2 with an 8.31 earned run average, and it is clear that he is having a hard time adjusting to his new environment. Igarashi sympathizes with Imai, saying, “I understand how he feels.

I also took some time to get used to major league baseball and living in the U.S. right after I came to the U.S.,” he said. The only way to get used to the slight difference in the feel of the ball on your fingertips is to keep throwing and correct it yourself. Once I can do that, I will be able to pitch with the power that is typical of Imai. Looking at his current pitching, there are still many moments when the ball drops out. If he continues to make steady corrections and regains his feel for pitching, he should be able to pitch well enough.

The four players are in a period of obscurity, but when they overcome their respective issues, they will be able to take off in a big way.

From the June 5-12, 2026 issue of “FRIDAY