San Diego Padres looking overseas for needed pitching depth

The San Diego Padres have a pair of Japanese starting pitchers on their radar this winter.

When it comes to finding talent to add to his roster, expect San Diego Padres general manager AJ Preller to leave no stone unturned. That includes scouring the international market to find any pieces who can continue to help the Friars develop into a regular contender in a competitive National League West division.

One particular area of the roster that has recently become a bigger cause for concern for the Padres is the starting rotation, thanks to the unfortunate news of Mike Clevinger going under the knife for Tommy John surgery.

Dinelson Lamet, Zach Davies, and Chris Paddack are expected to form three-fifths of the rotation, with two more spots up for grabs. In-house candidates include Adrian Morejon, Michel Baez, Luis Patino, and even soon-arriving prospects like MacKenzie Gore and Ryan Weathers, while a top free agent pitching target like Trevor Bauer shouldn’t be overlooked with AJ Preller in charge.

Even after a busy 2020 trade deadline, the San Diego Padres still feature a deep farm system, fully equipped to bring in just about any starting pitcher on the trade market, Lance Lynn for example, which is certainly an option to fill the current voids in San Diego’s rotation.

But as pointed out by Dennis Lin of The Athletic, the San Diego Padres are also looking internationally for quality pitching depth, specifically in Japan.

Both RHP Tomoyuki Sugano of the Yomiuri Giants and RHP Kohei Arihara of the Nippon Ham Fighters have been posted by their NPB teams and could find their way to the United States in time for the 2021 MLB season.

The Padres have been active in bringing in talent from Japan in recent years and have an extensive scouting department with deep ties to the region just for this reason. Both Sugano and Arihara are established veterans, considered two of the top arms in the NPB, and profile as reliable starters in a MLB rotation, exactly what the San Diego Padres are looking for.

The San Diego Padres could look to Japan to fill their pitching void.

Let’s first take a look at Tomoyuki Sugano. Sugano rebounded tremendously well from arguably his worst-season as a professional in 2019, going 14-2 with a 1.97 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP. He struck out nearly 9/9 IP and continued to show plus-command of his pitches, walking just 1.6/9 IP which is just below his career rate of 1.8/9 IP.

Across eight seasons in the NPB, Sugano owns a 2.34 ERA and 1.03 WHIP across 1,360 innings, walking a sparse 265 hitters in the process.

Now 31, Sugano may not have the fastball velocity he once had, but his deep repertoire of pitches, including a plus-slider according to scouting reports, make him an effective starter, a likely fourth or fifth arm in a rotation, per multiple evaluators.

He’s a reliable arm and between the two NPB options on San Diego’s radar, could come at a lower price and on a shorter deal, acting like a bridge to some of the top young pitchers who are quickly working their way up to the majors.

On the other hand, Kohei Arihara, 28, is a younger option for Preller and the Padres. Featuring a fastball that can run up to 95 mph, a slider, changeup, and cutter, scouts believe Arihaha is a middle-of-the-rotation type arm with enough upside and youth on his side to bring multiple years of stability to a MLB rotation.

Arihara has seen notable improvements in his numbers over the last two seasons, striking out 267 hitters across 297 innings and posting an ERA of 2.46 and 3.46 in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

Formerly rotation-mates with current Angels star Shohei Ohtani, Arihara could end being a cheaper option than most quality veteran pitchers on the market, due to his lack of MLB experience, but he just might have one of the higher upsides.

The San Diego Padres have both Tomoyuki Sugano and Kohei Arihara on their radar as they look to fill out their 2021 starting rotation.