Hiroki Kuroda, Kazumi Saito??

[don_kessinger_was_good]

Didn't see any comments on this in Rogers' latest column, anyone have some info on these two?

 

Hendry, however, indicated the Cubs put an unusual amount of effort into scouting Asia this season and believe they have found "two or three pitchers over there we feel can start here."

 

One of those could be Hiroki Kuroda, a 31-year-old right-hander who was 13-6 with a 1.86 ERA last season. He's an unrestricted free agent. Kazumi Saito, who outpitched Matsuzaka by going 18-5 with a 1.75 ERA this season, also could be available.

[Mephistopheles]

Kazumi Saito is sort of a soft tossing righty. His FB ranges in the high 80s with decent movement. Kuroda is a FA, but he might remain in Japan. He's a power guy though. Good fastball split and slider. If any other pitcher were to cross now and have a chance to make an impact, it would be Kei Igawa. He's struggled the last few seasons but hes a power lefty. He's not an FA until after 2008 I believe, so there's no need to post him until next season.

[don_kessinger_was_good]

I don't care about soft-tossing so much as (1) throw strikes, (2) give me innings, (3) give me lots of groundballs. That's all we need from a #4 starter. If one of these guys can chew up the innings and give you that output for $3MM to $4MM/year, they'd be a bargain in this market. Why not take a chance? Cubs have the money to spend....

[Outshined_One]

I believe Kuroda is 31/32 years old.

 

He's not getting the same hype as Matsuzaka, but he could be a nice option. I've been advocating the idea that the Cubs should pick up two starting pitchers next season, a 1/2 to complement Z and a 4/5 to get some consistency in the back end. Kuroda would likely be cheap and effective enough to merit being the 4/5 this team needs, imo.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

What's Kuroda's stuff like? Does Saito have a really good curve or change?

[WrigleyField 22]

Even if we don't end up with any of these guys, I'm glad we are at least showing an intrest in Asia.

[Mephistopheles]

Saito is a high 80s fastball with an excellent screwball, I believe.

Kuroda is a power guy with a slider and split/fork.

[questionmarkgrace]

Saito http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFZSsosZek8

 

interesting. rears back and actually touches 93mph or 150 km at one point but generally works in the 87-90 range. Nasty curve though only shown once at 115km or 70 mph. good change and has that fork ball working well. Changes speeds very well.

[A New Era]

Well it's cool we have some alternatives to matsazuka that are a bit less expensive. And this guy sounds like he could be a good solid #4 or 3 for us.

[TruffleShuffle]

Look at what Saito did for the Dodgers this year, or Otsuka has done in his three years on this side of the pond. There are some really good Japanese pitchers coming over. I applaud the Cubs if they're looking seriously into signing some major league-ready talent from Asia.

[Fro]

Yeah, we desperately need someone who can go out there and eat up a lot of innings (Kinda like how Lieber was for us), in addition to another "ace".

[Wheelimus]

Both of these guys sound like good gambles (at the least they'd be able to "fool" the league for a year) and considering we could probably have both for much less than Daisuke's posting fee and salary, not a bad idea.

[b_wiggy_66]

I agree both of these guys would be cheap and could be #4, #5 starters. Most Japanese pitchers are very durable so I would think that these guys would be to. We need a couple innings eaters in that rotation. Could be a good way to get two solid starters without breaking the bank.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

This is likely a case of misperception, but it seems to me that many(not all, but a substantial amount) of Japanese pitchers have had great early success in the major leagues, and then have been unable to maintain that success. My guess, if my perception is right of course, is that it's partially due to pitchers coming across later in their primes, and partially due to MLB hitters being able to adapt to them.

[Derwood]

This is likely a case of misperception, but it seems to me that many(not all, but a substantial amount) of Japanese pitchers have had great early success in the major leagues, and then have been unable to maintain that success. My guess, if my perception is right of course, is that it's partially due to pitchers coming across later in their primes, and partially due to MLB hitters being able to adapt to them.

 

Some of the more notable Japanese pitchers have also gotten by early on quirky deliveries (Nomo, Irabu, etc.) that US hitters adapted to after a couple seasons

[1908]

The workload of Japanese pitchers is also a concern. Many of previous Japanese pitchers to make the switch to MLB were overworked early and often during their years in NPB.

[Derwood]

The workload of Japanese pitchers is also a concern. Many of previous Japanese pitchers to make the switch to MLB were overworked early and often during their years in NPB.

 

I blame Bobby Valentine

[TheDude]

The workload of Japanese pitchers is also a concern. Many of previous Japanese pitchers to make the switch to MLB were overworked early and often during their years in NPB.

 

Does this correlate to early break-down in the US?

 

I'd really like to see a study on this, because it seems to me that the Japenese pitchers that do make the leap are durable, perhaps because they are more conditioned to higher pitch counts.

[1908]

The workload of Japanese pitchers is also a concern. Many of previous Japanese pitchers to make the switch to MLB were overworked early and often during their years in NPB.

 

Does this correlate to early break-down in the US?

 

I'd really like to see a study on this, because it seems to me that the Japenese pitchers that do make the leap are durable, perhaps because they are more conditioned to higher pitch counts.

I think it speaks to TT's point about a drop off in performance after a couple of years in MLB.

[Mephistopheles]

Speaking of Japanese candidates, in order of FA year (9th season played)

 

2006 Hiroki Kuroda

2006 Kenshin Kawakami

2007 Daisuke Matsuzaka

2007 Koji Uehara

2008 Kei Igawa

2010 Kazumi Saito

 

A long ways away:

2011 Nagisa Arakaki

2011 Tsuoyshi Wada

2011 Toshiya Sugiuchi

2014 Yu Darvish

 

This may not be completely accurate due to service time (mainly with respect to Kawakami, Saito and Igawa).

[ConstableRabbit]

This is likely a case of misperception, but it seems to me that many(not all, but a substantial amount) of Japanese pitchers have had great early success in the major leagues, and then have been unable to maintain that success. My guess, if my perception is right of course, is that it's partially due to pitchers coming across later in their primes, and partially due to MLB hitters being able to adapt to them.

 

Some of the more notable Japanese pitchers have also gotten by early on quirky deliveries (Nomo, Irabu, etc.) that US hitters adapted to after a couple seasons

 

Count Korean Byung-Hyung Kim in that category as well.

 

I'm very wary of signing players that haven't had extended success against MLB hitters to large contracts. Professional baseball players in other countries are not the same as professional baseball players here and historically have not been able to repeat their success (for the most part). It's just not the same baseball.

[TheDude]

The workload of Japanese pitchers is also a concern. Many of previous Japanese pitchers to make the switch to MLB were overworked early and often during their years in NPB.

 

Does this correlate to early break-down in the US?

 

I'd really like to see a study on this, because it seems to me that the Japenese pitchers that do make the leap are durable, perhaps because they are more conditioned to higher pitch counts.

I think it speaks to TT's point about a drop off in performance after a couple of years in MLB.

 

But drop-off in production doesn't equate to injury. I'd want to see more definitive evidence that high pitch counts lead to injury or have a tangible correlary to production drop-off.

[1908]

I'd want to see more definitive evidence that high pitch counts lead to injury or have a tangible correlary to production drop-off.

I've had my fill watching Wood and Prior decline after 2003.

[b_wiggy_66]

I know this thread had sort of died off, but I was bored and looked up Saito on You Tube. After watching the video I noticed a few things. First off he has a very, very good sinker. This seems to be his favortie pitch (Chien-Ming Wang anyone?). He also has a good breaking ball he doesn't throw it that often though. If you watch the whole video he also looks like Zambrano out there on the mound, yelling and pumping his fists. He really looks into the game. If he can be had as a cheap alternative I think he would make a good 4-5 man.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFZSsosZek8

[Outshined_One]

I know this thread had sort of died off, but I was bored and looked up Saito on You Tube. After watching the video I noticed a few things. First off he has a very, very good sinker. This seems to be his favortie pitch (Chien-Ming Wang anyone?). He also has a good breaking ball he doesn't throw it that often though. If you watch the whole video he also looks like Zambrano out there on the mound, yelling and pumping his fists. He really looks into the game. If he can be had as a cheap alternative I think he would make a good 4-5 man.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFZSsosZek8

 

He's going to have to clean up that delivery. There are enough pauses in it to get him nailed with balk calls.

 

Still, he could be a nice pickup.