A Japanese Pitcher The Yankees Should Pass On - But Will They?

I had an interesting discussion at work yesterday. One of my colleagues is a huge Dodger fan and we love to talk about baseball. He’s feeling good right now with the additions of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto so of course I get to hear him gloat about it. 

But now what are the Yankees going to do? It’s a good question. We made some improvement to the offense, but I am still dreaming of another pitcher. My colleague seems to think the Yankees should go after the next best Japanese pitcher Shota Imanaga….but I disagree.

In a perfect world, I’d love to see the Yankees get a left-handed pitcher. Imanaga is a left-handed pitcher, and he’s had a lot of success in Japan…. I just don’t think he’s a good fit for the Yankees. He posted a 2.80 ERA and struck out 174 in 148 innings in the NPB during 2023 but did give up 46 home runs. Not all left-handed pitchers are equal, and I think he will be a good fit for a MLB team, but I think he’s more of a risk to the Yankees than a potential asset.

My concern with Imanaga is he’s a fly ball pitcher. He struggles with keeping the ball on the ground and Yankee stadium is not forgiving. He was successful at striking pitchers out in Japan, but Yankee stadium is a different animal. If he doesn’t have an elite strike out rate in a smaller ballpark that could be a detriment. I just think he needs a bigger ballpark.

The Yankees are in a must win now mode. They’ve failed for too long, and they are wasting Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole‘s best years. I think they need options that have big league experience rather than someone like Imanaga that may not help the Yankees make it to the World Series. If the Yankees played in a bigger ballpark, it would make more sense.

I just want to see the Yankees make some smart decisions instead of listening to analytic nerds who don’t know baseball fundamentals. The Yankees need to make the right moves this winter and they don’t need to be like the Dodgers and spend a billion dollars to do it. But that’s just my two cents.

–Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa