Junichi Tazawa Scouting Report

After hearing of Junichi Tazawa, the 22-year-old flame thrower from Japan, who all but skipped the NPB draft to come to the United States, and also reading Brandon Heikoop’s article on the topic here, I was inspired to formulate a scouting report.

The best video I found was this one.

Junichi Tazawa, 5-11, 180 lbs, R/R, June 6, 1986

Delivery

Tazawa’s deliver has been the subject of concern for many fans. His arm lags behind his shoulder through his deliver, and his follow through is fairly upright and ends abruptly. These things are not uncorrectable and shouldn’t be a major concern for fans.

Tazawa lands well, which I think is one of the most important things for pitchers, and unlike many Japanese pitchers, his slightly awkward delivery is not used to mask his pitches or deceive the hitter, so mechanical changes shouldn’t throw off any rhythm he has or subtract from his production.

Tazawa balances his weight well, which maximizes his velocity and movement, and also puts the least amount of stress on his arm, compared to production of velocity as is possible.

Stuff

Tazawa features a low-mid-90s fastball, which tails in on right-handed hitters. His curve, which generally sits between 75-78 mph, is an effective offspeed pitch with sharp, late break. His slider, or possibly a shuuto, which he throws the least of all of the pitches breaks mostly down, and sits in the low-mid-80s.

Tazawa’s fastball has enough movement for backdoor strikes on the outside corner, and to cause lefties to chase it out of the zone. His fastball/curve speed ratio is ideal, and will cause hitters to swing on their front foot. His slider, perhaps the most impressive pitch in Tazawa’s repertoire has potential to be an out pitch in the bigs.

Pitching Style

Tazawa’s style is not dissimilar to that of Clay Buchholz, though he has a lesser fastball. Tazawa relies heavily on his curveball and slider, though less heavily on his slider. To go the distance in the major leagues, one mustn’t rely too heavily on their breaking stuff.

Similar to fellow countryman Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tazawa is a nibbler. In the majors, this could will be a problem. Japanese baseball has notoriously large strike zones, and it has taken time for Matsuzaka to adjust; he’s arguably still in the infancy of his adjustment process.

Tazawa controls both sides of the plate and changes speeds well, which is impressive at his age. It is rare to see a pitcher of Tazawa’s age able to throw the high-inside strike and strike a man out looking.

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