The 2024 Major League Baseball season has officially concluded after the Los Angeles Dodgers won their eighth World Series title in franchise history.
Many Japanese-born players have come over to play in the MLB, and Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers is likely the most popular.
This offseason, another Japanese-born pitcher is expected to sign with a big-league team.
MLB Analyst Jensen Lewis revealed which team he thinks Roki Sasaki would make a great fit with.
“The San Diego Padres will be in there. Yu Darvish commands about as much respect as any Japanese-born player in the modern era,” Lewis said.
“Yu Darvish commands about as much respect as any Japanese-born player in the modern era.”@JLEWFifty on why the #Padres would be a great fit for Roki Sasaki:#FightForTheFaithful
🔗 https://t.co/fGPbvbjGlC pic.twitter.com/eUJxoW0ndw— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) November 10, 2024
Lewis appears to believe that there could be some influence to join the Padres due to Darvish also pitching for the organization and being from Japan.
Sasaki pitched overseas in 2024 where he started 18 games and had a record of 10 wins and five losses with a 2.35 ERA and 129 strikeouts in 111.0 innings pitched.
The talent that some of the Japanese-born players in the MLB have brought makes any new player coming to the MLB exciting.
After finishing the 2024 season with a record of 93 wins and 69 losses, the Padres made the postseason as a wild-card team and ended up losing in the National League Division Series to the Dodgers.
Although the Padres fell in the NLDS, they won their first series against the Atlanta Braves in the wild-card round.
It will be interesting to see if the Padres pursue Sasaki this offseason and add to their already talented starting rotation that includes Darvish.
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