ATLANTA — A 2025 season that started on the Tokyo Dome makes a outstanding pit cease right here at an All-Star Sport that includes a record-tying three Japanese-born gamers in Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Dodgers and Yusei Kikuchi of the Angels.
And people stars solely scratch the floor of the possibly historic affect being made by those that made the trek previous the Pacific.
“I grew up watching superb Japanese gamers play on this stage,” stated Ohtani via an interpreter, “so I hope that I may be that type of instance to the longer term Japanese gamers.”
This recreation Tuesday evening at Truist Park — like several recreation that includes Ohtani — figures to draw an enormous viewers in Japan.
They’ll have rather a lot to root for:
These three Japanese-born All-Stars tie the file set in 2003 (Hideki Matsui, Ichiro and Shigetoshi Hasegawa) and matched in 2007 (Hideki Okajima, Takashi Saito and Ichiro), 2014 (Masahiro Tanaka, Yu Darvish and Koji Uehara) and 2021 (Kikuchi, Darvish and Ohtani).
“We need to be an inspiration,” Kikuchi stated via an interpreter.
Reality is, a number of different Japanese gamers simply might have joined that trio in Atlanta this week.
It might not be in any respect troublesome to make an All-Star case for Mets right-hander Kodai Senga, who, regardless of lacking a month with a hamstring problem, has posted a glowing 1.39 ERA and 274 ERA+ in 14 begins this season.
Or Cubs lefty Shota Imanaga, who additionally was sidelined for a major stretch with a hamstring damage however however has a 2.65 ERA in 12 begins and has quietly put up one of many 14 greatest ERA+ marks in MLB over the previous two seasons (139) amongst these with no less than 200 innings in that span.
And maybe probably the most ignored Japanese star of all was Cubs DH Seiya Suzuki, whose 146 OPS+ ranks 14th amongst all MLB qualifiers.
Let’s additionally not overlook that whereas heart fielder Jung Hoo Lee, who cooled after a sizzling begin however has nonetheless had a breakout season for the Giants, first embarked upon his skilled path within the Korean Baseball Group, he was born in Nagoya.
Per FanGraphs’ calculations, the very best mixed WAR complete for gamers born in Japan was 24.7 in 2007, which featured 16 such gamers.
Utilizing those self same calculations, the 14 Japanese-born gamers in 2025 have mixed to provide 15.2 fWAR, with 59.5% of scheduled video games within the books. So we’re forward of that 2007 tempo.
“Yearly, we get extra Japanese gamers coming right here and enjoying within the massive leagues,” Yamamoto stated via an interpreter. “After I give it some thought, I admire and am very grateful for the Japanese gamers that got here right here earlier than us and paved the trail for us. That’s very particular.”
Nomo was the second Japanese-born participant in MLB historical past and the primary in a number of a long time, and he had to make use of some daring creativity to persuade his NPB crew to “retire” him in order that he could possibly be eligible to signal with the Dodgers. The Nomo state of affairs helped encourage the posting system we all know at the moment.
Then, in 2001, got here Ichiro, who broke via as the primary Japanese-born place participant in MLB and later this month will probably be saluted as the primary Asian-born participant to have a without end dwelling within the Corridor’s treasured Plaque Gallery.
“All of the individuals round my age, it was actually enjoyable to observe him, and I used to be impressed by him personally,” Kikuchi stated. “I simply need to say thanks to Ichiro.”
Ohtani is now within the midst of reinventing what is feasible not only for the Japanese-born participant however any trendy participant. However as we see on this All-Star Sport and the remainder of a league that now takes these NPB stars and statistics way more severely than it as soon as did, Japan produces way over only a distinctive two-way unicorn.
That is the third straight yr that “Baseball’s Bridge Throughout the Pacific,” a touring exhibit celebrating the wealthy historical past of baseball in Japan, is part of the All-Star festivities, at Capital One All-Star Village. The Corridor of Fame simply unveiled “Yakyu/Baseball,” its personal Japanese historical past exhibit in reference to Ichiro’s induction.
Make no mistake, although, we’re additionally witnessing dwelling historical past. The sport has by no means had a stronger trans-Pacific attain. The 2024 World Sequence that includes Ohtani and Yamamoto’s Dodgers shattered viewership data in Japan, and the two-game Tokyo Sequence amazingly averaged greater than 24 million viewers in a rustic with a inhabitants of about 124.5 million.
For now, this All-Star Sport is a second to understand how far the sport has come, how that bridge throughout the Pacific that pioneers like Nomo and Ichiro nurtured has actually by no means been so fruitful.
