Andrew Friedman, president of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the American Major League, visited Japan. Interest in recruiting Japanese players, who have the potential to enter the major leagues, is bound to increase.
President Friedman visited the Japanese World Baseball Classic (WBC) camp in Miyazaki, Japan to watch the players. According to Japanese local media, President Friedman said, “It is not easy to gather talented players into one team. I can’t name any specific players, but there are a lot of good players. It is very enjoyable,” he said.안전놀이터
Pitchers Yamamoto Yoshinobu (Orix) and Sasaki Loki (Chiba Lotte) and fielder Murakami Munetaka (Yakult) are playing in the Japanese national team camp. All of them are players with a high possibility of making it to the major leagues. President Friedman is said to have watched Yamamoto and Sasaki pitching in the bullpen and also filmed training videos of the players.
After the 2023 season, Yamamoto can seek to enter the major leagues with the posting system. Last year, he appeared in 26 games and threw 193 innings, going 15-5 with an average ERA of 1.68 and 205 strikeouts, winning four pitching crowns (victory, winning rate, strikeouts, ERA) for two consecutive years. He even had the Sawamura Award along with the Pacific League MVP. However, the key is whether Orix will allow Yamamoto to post.
President Friedman said through the Japanese media, “If Yamamoto is officially posted, he is preparing to be recruited.”