Japan’s Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters will post right-hander Kohei Arihara this offseason, as Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets and as Nikkan Sports previously reported.
The 28-year-old Arihara has garnered extensive experience in the NPB, where he has logged a 3.74 ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 836 innings. At his best, Arihara put up a 2.46 ERA and recorded 8.8 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9 across 164 1/3 frames in 2019. Will Hoefer of Sports Info Solutions wrote in a scouting report after that season that “Arihara demonstrates strong command of his three best pitches–an above average four seamer, a plus change, and a slider that flashes plus,” and added that he could quickly turn into a mid-rotation starter in the majors.
Of course, before signing Arihara, any MLB team will first have to go through the posting system. Once Arihara is posted, he’ll be free to negotiate with all 30 big league teams. However, a major league club that signs Arihara will have to pay a 20 percent sum of the first $25MM to his NPB team. The MLB club would also have to surrender “17.5 percent of the next $25MM and 15 percent of any dollars spent thereafter,” as MLBTR’s Steve Adams previously explained.
I’m pretty sure it’s Nippon-Ham Fighters, and that they neither fight ham nor are hams and fight.
Maybe they fight with hams?
I can get behind this
I think it’s a Kosher/Halal thing
They fight ham specifically from Nippon, which, as I understand, is somewhere near Japan.
Nippon ham is a company in japan that sponsors the team. The team is actually just called the fighters . Fun fact
just like that, smarter than i was five seconds ago. Good Ham Fighter knowledge.
robluca21 is correct. Japanese teams are named after the corporation that owns them, not the city/region they call home. Nippon-Ham is a meat/food processing corporation. Should be known that the full team name is “Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters” as they play home games in Sapporo (city), Hokkaido (prefecture). Every single NPB team has some connection to it’s owner/corporate sponsor in it’s official full name.
Los Angeles Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Anaheim
28 year old mid rotation arm. Angels should look into this. As should every team.
But the Angels desperately need to solidify the rotation and give the farm time to grow.
IMO, his number are not better than Yusei Kikuchi in Japan. Not sure why you want your teams to have this guy as a starters
If the front office thinks his arsenal and command will transition here, I’d trust them. If not, same thing.
@angels let’s go!!
not sure how id feel about his track record. last two years are good but not out of this world and the rest of his track record is meh at best.
Yeah but you have to consider how young he was and that in Japan they generally go straight to (or much closer to ‘straight to’) the majors than in the MLB… for example he probably would have been in AAA for parts of the seasons where his numbers weren’t as good if he were in the US. To me, he looks like a guy that really clicked at around age 25 and now is a different pitcher than he was when he was 22-24. So while yes his full ‘track record’ isn’t as strong… I think the recent success is more relevant given that he’s only 27/28 now.
some of the better posted guys (Darvish, Tanaka, etc) were getting it done in their early 20s. its not at all unheard of for that to happen there.
I’m actually more concerned that he was really good in 2016. Being bad at 22, really good at 23, then bad at 24 and 25, then good at 26 and 27… that looks more like an erratic pitcher whose recent success might not last. If he’d made steady progress instead that’d be easier to trust.
“Meh” isn’t a word. Sounds like a 5 year-old valley girl.
okay and? it gets the point across
#1 starter for the Red Sox.
Of course you can say the same about Erasmo Ramirez.
Drew Smyly got a hefty contract after 28 decent frames last season, this dude surely gets some attention from most teams.
One thing to note: his strikeout rates will be lacking but his command should be fine enough and he generates enough groundballs too. I’d say he’ll be like Miles Mikolas except a little worse.
Doctor Strange : Who?
In this Statcast era, his low K/9 rate in Japan will scare off a lot of MLB teams. I’d be shocked if he was able to find a 3/24 deal with any MLB team. He sounds like a $5M/yr. pitcher at best.
No he doesn’t.
It puts the lotion on its skin.
His overall numbers don’t suggest he’ll translate to a mid-rotation starter in the majors, but maybe he’s there’s something in his arsenal that generates weak contact or ground balls. The K rate certainly isn’t impressive.