Masahiro Tanaka has put together an impressive resume for the New York Yankees. However, he is not the best pitcher to come out of Japan…yet.
Japanese players have become an important part of Major League Baseball over the years, with players from Japan making a tremendous impact upon the game. Players like Hideo Nomo and Ichiro Suzuki showed the world that Nippon Professional Baseball had developed some incredible players, talents that were more than worthy of being a part of the major leagues. Even Masanori Murakami, the first ever Japanese player, showed that there was plenty of talent ready to be developed overseas.
That legacy continues to this day. While there are several great Japanese pitchers currently plying their trade stateside, one, in particular, has received a good deal of attention of late. New York Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka has been dominant in the postseason over his career, leading to the argument that he may be one of the greatest postseason pitchers in major league history.
The argument has even been made that Tanaka is the greatest pitcher from Japan to come stateside. While he has an impressive resume, he is not quite there…yet. In fact, there is another current pitcher that may have a better claim to being the best pitcher ever to come from Japan than Tanaka currently has. However, as he is still at the end of his hypothetical prime, and should have several more solid years left, Tanaka could take that crown.
So, if new York Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka is not the best major league pitcher to come out of Japan, who is? Let’s take a look.