The dust is settling on the offseason, and we now have the answer to where every Japanese player will be starting the 2025 season in Major League Baseball. Let’s look at where all the players are and some of their expectations for the new year.
American League
Los Angeles Angels: LHP Yusei Kikuchi
Kikuchi spent his entire MLB career in Seattle and Toronto before last season’s trade deadline when he was shipped to Houston in a blockbuster deal. He now returns to the west coast in Anaheim, where the 33-year-old is expected to be a big anchor in the rotation.
Baltimore Orioles: RHP Tomoyuki Sugano
After winning his third career MVP award with the Yomiuri Giants in 2024, Sugano decided to make the jump to MLB at age 35. With a strong supporting cast in Baltimore, the veteran is eager for the challenge ahead and should slot nicely into the bottom of the rotation.
Boston Red Sox: DH Masataka Yoshida
Yoshida has been an above-average hitter across 248 career MLB games. He has a 111 OPS+ while striking out just 13.3% of the time. However, his defensive shortcomings have confined him to full-time DHing, with some starts off the bench against same-handed pitching. Boston will count on Yoshida to stay healthy and make improvements in 2025.
Detroit Tigers: RHP Kenta Maeda
Maeda struggled in his first year in Detroit as injuries and father time began to catch up to him. Still, he provides good veteran mentorship for the younger arms and could bounce back to carve out a smaller role for himself.
Seattle Mariners (Minors): RHP Shintaro Fujinami
Fujinami reportedly had NPB offers on the table but elected to join Seattle on a minor-league pact. The fireballer has dealt with control issues throughout his entire career, but the Mariners’ elite pitching factory has the potential to mold him into a more consistent low-leverage reliever (or perhaps even better).
National League
Los Angeles Dodgers: TWP Shohei Ohtani, RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, RHP Roki Sasaki
The defending World Series champs have cornered the market on Samurai Japan’s superstars. Ohtani will be back to full-time two-way duties by May and has the opportunity to further cement his legendary status with his second NL MVP and the fifth of his professional career (two in AL, one in PL). After being limited to 90 (albeit excellent) innings with an injury, Yamamoto will look to put together his first full season stateside. Expectations are sky-high for Sasaki as the potential NL ROY. All three will likely have reduced workloads thanks to the Dodgers’ six-man rotation.
San Diego Padres: RHP Yu Darvish, LHP Yuki Matsui
After missing time dealing with a personal issue, Darvish and the Padres came within one game of eliminating the Dodgers in the NLDS last season. Entering the new season, the 38-year-old veteran must prove he still has what it takes to be a reliable top-of-the-rotation option. Meanwhile, Matsui quietly had a respectable MLB debut season out of the bullpen and will look to build on that success in 2025.
Chicago Cubs: OF Seiya Suzuki, LHP Shota Imanaga
The Cubs have constructed an underrated Japanese duo in the form of Suzuki and Imanaga. Suzuki has gotten better every year, with his OPS+ climbing from 113 (2022) to 130 (2023) to 138 (2024). Though he’s expected to DH the majority of the time, there’s no reason to believe the 30-year-old will be slowing down anytime soon. Few Japanese players have won the hearts of American fans quite like Imanaga, who bigly overperformed expectations last season with a 15-3 record and 2.91 ERA as an MLB rookie. He may see some regression in 2025, but top rotation production is still on the cards.
New York Mets: RHP Kodai Senga
Senga made more postseason starts (2) than regular season starts (1) last year but should be back at 100% for the 2025 campaign. He was second in the NL ROY in 2023 with the notorious ghost fork as his main weapon of choice, and the 32-year-old still has the upside of being one of the most dominant starters in the NL on any given night.
St. Louis Cardinals: OF Lars Nootbaar
St. Louis has hit a rough patch of late, but Nootbaar remains a bright spot with an impressive mix of power, plate discipline, and defense. The 27-year-old, who represented his Japanese mother’s side of the family at the WBC, is projected to have another solid year and could end up in some trade talks.
Washington Nationals: LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara
Ogasawara landed a two-year deal with Washington as his posting window closed last month. Based on his track record with the Chunichi Dragons, he projects as a fringy bottom-of-the-rotation arm or spot starter in MLB, but the 27-year-old has the mental determination and drive to take his game to the next level.
Philadelphia Phillies (Minors): RHP Koyo Aoyagi
Aoyagi won the CL ERA title as recently as 2022 but was unable to consistently hold his place in the Hanshin Tigers rotation over the past two seasons. Looking for a change of scenery, he signed a minor-league contract with Philadelphia. Should he make the MLB roster, the veteran side-winder would become just the third Japanese player in Phillies history (Tadahito Iguchi, So Taguchi).
- NPB Standings
- Central League Hitting Leaders
- Central League Pitching Leaders
- Pacific League Hitting Leaders
- Pacific League Pitching Leaders
- Yakyu Cosmopolitan’s Website
