According to a Chicago Tribune report, the Chicago Cubs are considering the possibility of inviting two Japanese pitchers to spring training.
Ken Kadokura and Shegeki Noguchi were both released by the Yomiuri Giants following the 2008 season, in which the team lost to the Saitama Seibu Lions in the Japan Series (Japan's World Series equivalent). Both pitchers are veterans in Japan, having spent 13 and 15 years, respectively, in Nippon Professional Baseball.
The reasoning given for signing either of these pitchers is twofold: The Cubs want some experienced pitchers in the bullpen and believe that having another Japanese-speaking player on the team might help Kosuke Fukudome.
Noguchi is a 34-year-old lefty who stands 5'10" tall and weighs 194 pounds. He has only logged decent playing time in one of the past three seasons in Japan, racking up 29.1 innings in 2007. He pitched in only one game in 2006 and he did not see the field in 2008. The Cubs have already given him a tryout.
Kadokura is a 35-year-old righty who stands 6'3" tall and weighs 198 pounds. He throws a fastball, slider, and splitter and is currently garnering more attention from the club.
According to the Chicago Tribune article, the Cubs are considering Kadokura as a possibility to pitch in relief in spring training so that Jeff Samardzija can get some reps as a starter. Kadokura pitched 31.2 innings in 2007 with a 5.97 ERA. In 2008, he pitched 12.2 innings with a 3.55 ERA.
The Cubs' Pacific Rim scout, Steve Wilson, was quoted as saying that he will suggest signing Kadokura as a spring training invitee to Jim Hendry, the Cubs' general manager.
After acquiring Rule Five draft pick David Patton through a trade with the Reds and signing Joey Gathright, the Cubs have two spots left on their 40-man roster.
Though a spring training invite does not count towards the 40-man roster, if either player was signed to a major league contract (in addition to the invite) or made the team out of spring training, they would obviously be added to it.
With the Cubs still looking to sign a left-handed, power-hitting outfielder, I highly doubt that either will get more than an invite from Jim Hendry. Also, considering the age of each player and their lack of recent playing time, I also doubt that either would make the Cubs 25-man roster out of spring training.
It seems to me that the Cubs are simply trying to do something that might help out struggling outfielder Kosuke Fukudome. I do not expect anything to come from the dealings with either player.
However, if Hendry decides to sign either or both players, there is a possibility that more roster spots will open with trades. Jason Marquis is almost certainly on his way out, and with the signing of Gathright, Felix Pie might be following him.
If Hendry ends up trading either or both of them, only receiving minor leaguers in return, it would offset the signing of the Japanese imports. Of course, recent events would lead you to believe that Hendry will most likely not make trades that only bring in prospects.
In that scenario, I am not sure what advantage these players provide over in-house options that would possibly warrant the release of other players on the 40-man roster.
While they may be experienced, these players have not been able to hold on to roster spots in Japan these past few seasons and in the limited opportunities they have had, they have put up unimpressive numbers.
The Cubs are still in the early stages with both players, so any thoughts on their future with the club is still speculation. Until either player shows that they are capable of pitching in Major League Baseball, don't expect either to hang on with the club.
2 comments Last one added 6 months ago — Leave a Comment
Brian Conant 6 months ago
You know, it's actually kind of funny -- Japanese relievers seem to perform much, much better than starters when they come over to the majors.
Even more interesting is that a lot of these relievers weren't any good in Japan!
Take Takashi Saito: He posted a 4.62 ERA in his last three seasons in Japan, before coming to the Dodgers and being lights-out.
Hideki Okajima was nothing even resembling a star. According to Bobby Valentine, "Every team had a better lefty than Okajima. Every one."
The list goes on: Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Akinori Otsuka, Shingo Takatsu -- all played better in their first few years in the majors than they did in their last few years in Japan.
I'm not really sure why this is, but some people have theorized that it's because nearly all Japanese relievers can throw their breaking balls for strikes, even the fringy middle relief types. Coming from a league full of Ichiros that never strike out to one filled with players that frankly don't care if they whiff, these guys just have a different approach that works well for short relievers in the U.S.
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Matt Poloni 6 months ago
I get what you're saying, but there's still a difference between all those players and the two that the Cubs are looking at.
Saito had been logging significant innings every year in Japan's major league. Okajima was four years younger and coming off a pretty good season with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. Hasegawa was another year younger at the time than Okajima was he came over and was coming off his only poor season in Japan. Otsuka was 32 and had only one bad season in his previous seven, which happened to come three seasons earlier. And Takatsu had been a decent closer (albeit with low strikeout totals) for the previous five seasons after having an earlier four year stretch of closing games that also went well.
They all had something that either isn't comparable to these guys or doesn't jive with the notion that they were poor pitchers in Japan.
Neither Kadokura or Noguchi has put up a stretch of seasons comparable to the final seasons any of those players spent in Japan before coming to the majors. Add in that they are older than most of those players were and the fact that neither has thrown over 32 innings in the past two seasons, and the theory doesn't transfer over.
I do believe that Japanese relief pitchers have an advantage when they come over to the states, but I only believe that that advantage exists with players who have been playing in NPB at a decent level. And Bobby Valentine has a little bit of a history of exaggerating to make his point.
Thanks for the insight, Brian. Hope you have a good New Year.
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