NPB Pitcher Rankings

Rank		Name	Notes
1 (-)		Roki Sasaki Lotte Age 22	Average velo is down from 99 to 96. A fair trade-off for more volume, assuming it’s intentional.
2 (+1)		Hiroya Miyagi Orix Age 22	24 IP, 1 ER, 23 K over last 3 starts. Pitches are up 2-3 mph across the board.
3 (+3)		Shoki Murakami Hanshin Age 25	Smooth sailing for the reigning CL MVP after a tough season opener.
4 (+6)		Tatsuya Imai Seibu Age 25	Keeping the walks in check for the first time in his career while boasting an average fastball of 95.3 mph.
5 (+2)		Hiromi Itoh Nippon-Ham Age 26	Better sequencing has led to a career-best Chase%, CSW%, K-BB%.
6 (+2)		Shosei Togo Yomiuri Age 23	Grinds through games and gets whiffs on his fastball despite subpar velocity. 40.3 Chase% leads NPB so far.
7 (-3)		Kaima Taira Seibu Age 24	Added a gyro slider and has been messing around with pitch mix. Diminishing returns so far but no big concerns.
8 (-3)		Hiroto Takahashi Chunichi Age 21	Still hasn’t pitched in NPB this season while working out some kinks on the farm.
9 (-7)		Shunpeita Yamashita Orix Age 21	Good news: 95-98 on the fastball. 2900+ rpm on the curveball. Bad news: the command is all over the place and he gave up 8 ER in 4 IP.
10 (+3)		Livan Moinelo SoftBank Age 28	1.73 ERA, 2.62 xFIP across 26 IP in his first go-around as a starting pitcher.
11 (-)		Hiroto Saiki Hanshin Age 25	Command is getting better. Almost 5:1 K/BB ratio over last 3 starts.
12 (-3)		Atsuki Taneichi Lotte Age 25	4 starts so far: 13 IP, 1 ER in two of them. 9 IP, 10 ER in the other two.
13 (-1)		Katsuki Azuma DeNA Age 28	Not quite looking invincible like last year, but still 4 for 4 on quality starts.
14 (NEW)		Koki Kitayama Nippon-Ham Age 25	Arguably the most dominant pitcher in NPB so far this year. 1.71 ERA, 2.12 xFIP. 34.2 K% over 21 IP.
15 (NEW)		Kojiro Yoshimura Yakult Age 26	Sitting 92-94 mph. 2.84 ERA, 1.65 xFIP, 28.2 K% after 3 starts. The sophomore breakout is legit.
16 (-2)		Chihiro Sumida Seibu Age 24	Has been solid but the strikeout stuff isn’t jumping off the page yet.
17 (NEW)		Kohei Azuma Orix Age 24	You expect him to slow down eventually but you can’t dispute a 1.64 ERA since 2022.
18 (-)		Kona Takahashi Seibu Age 27	Struggled in his season debut but looked closer to himself last start.
19 (-3)		Masato Morishita Hiroshima Age 26	Allowed 13 baserunners in 6.1 IP last outing. Advanced numbers are mostly in line with career norms.
20 (-1)		Shinnosuke Ogasawara Chunichi Age 26	Whiff% is concerningly low at just 9.8%. On the bright side, he hasn’t walked anyone yet this year.

Biggest Rise: Tatsuya Imai (+6)
Biggest Fall: Shunpeita Yamashita (-7)
Fell off List: Masashi Itoh, Yudai Ohno, Takayuki Katoh
Risers Outside Top 20 to Watch: Kodai Umetsu, Tomoyuki Sugano, Keiji Takahashi

Rank		Name	Notes
1 (-)		Roki Sasaki Lotte Age 22	Fastball is down from 99 to 96 on average but the stuff is unmatched when he’s on.
2 (-)		Shunpeita Yamashita Orix Age 21	7 BB in season debut raises some concerns but stuff is still overpowering.
3 (+2)		Hiroya Miyagi Orix Age 22	Fastball is up 2-3 mph and breaking balls remain top-class.
4 (-1)		Hiroto Takahashi Chunichi Age 21	Had mechanical troubles in spring but has thrown 16 scoreless innings tuning-up on farm.
5 (-1)		Kaima Taira Seibu Age 24	Career-worst 5 BB in season debut but held opposition scoreless anyway.
6 (-)		Shoki Murakami Hanshin Age 25	Had some bad batted ball luck and lasted just 3 IP in season debut.
7 (+1)		Hiromi Itoh Nippon-Ham Age 26	13 IP, 2 ER, 16 K to open the year. Chase% and CSW% are up.
8 (-1)		Shosei Togo Yomiuri Age 23	Fastball velo and GB% are down again but still getting the job done.
9 (+1)		Atsuki Taneichi Lotte Age 25	Struggled in most recent start but still missing bats. New knuckle curve yet to feature much.
10 (+10)		Tatsuya Imai Seibu Age 25	Fastball sitting 96. Slider getting whiffs. Much improved command, unafraid to attack the zone.
11 (-3)		Hiroto Saiki Hanshin Age 25	Still too fastball reliant, which is also down a tick. Still hasn’t maximized his crazy potential.
12 (-1)		Katsuki Azuma DeNA Age 28	Allowed 10 hits on opening day. Excellent BB% should continue to mitigate damage.
13 (NEW)		Livan Moinelo SoftBank Age 28	8 innings in first career start followed by 6 no-hit innings in second outing. Starter experiment is going seamlessly.
14 (+2)		Chihiro Sumida Seibu Age 24	Secondary usage is way up, which makes his fastball play much better. Changeup is elite.
15 (-3)		Masashi Itoh Hanshin Age 27	Same old Itoh. Lots of soft contact, not a lot of strikeouts.
16 (-2)		Masato Morishita Hiroshima Age 26	Was scratched from his first start with right elbow tightness.
17 (+1)		Yudai Ohno Chunichi Age 35	5 IP, 1 ER, 4 K in first start back after missing most of 2023.
18 (-5)		Kona Takahashi Seibu Age 27	Recorded 0 K in 6 IP in farm tune-up start. Velo drop of 3 mph is quite concerning.
19 (-2)		Shinnosuke Ogasawara Chunichi Age 26	Showed slight velo increase but wasn’t getting whiffs in his first start of the year.
20 (-5)		Takayuki Katoh Nippon-Ham Age 31	Still has a minuscule BB% but GB% has slipped to 30%. Red flag because he doesn’t have the stuff to offset it.

Biggest Rise: Tatsuya Imai (+10)
Biggest Fall: Kona Takahashi, Takayuki Katoh (-5)
Fell off List: Taisuke Yamaoka (Injured)
Risers Outside Top 20 to Watch: Koki Kitayama, Kojiro Yoshimura, Kohei Azuma