Orioles sign Uehara

January 7, 3:38 PMMLB ExaminerAlex Brown

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The Baltimore Orioles signed free agent Japanese pitcher Koji Uehara to a two-year contract worth about $10M guaranteed.  The Orioles were known to be pursuing fellow Japanese pitcher Kenshin Kawakami, and may still be willing to add him.  Uehara will immediately compete for a spot in the dreadful Orioles rotation for 2009.

The 34 year-old Uehara is a 9-year veteran of professional baseball in Japan, all with the Yomiuri Giants.  His record stands at 104-57 with a career ERA of 2.96.  His best season appears to be his rookie year, 1999, when he went 20-4 with a 2.09 ERA and registered 15 wins in a row.  He was injured prior to the 2007 season and joined the Giants late, becoming their closer and saving 32 games.  Where does Uehara rank amongst his fellow Japanese pitchers?
 

• Daisuke Matsuzaka has four more wins in about the same number of seasons (given Uehara’s time as a closer).  Matsuzaka’s strikeout numbers are more impressive, especially in his last two years in Japan.
• Hiroki Kuroda has one less win in two more seasons than Uehara.  His ERA is also a lot less consistent – it’s kind of odd to look at these stats after seeing Kuroda have pretty good success at the major league level.
• Kenshin Kawakami has 112 wins in two more seasons – his ERA is more consistent.

Based on his Japanese stats alone, it will be hard to predict Uehara’s success in the major leagues.  Japanese pitchers have had varying levels of success in the United States from very good (Hideo Nomo), to very bad (Hideki Irabu).  Usually there is an adjustment period, as was the case with Daisuke Matsuzaka who was nothing special in 2007 but became an All-Star in 2008.  What do scouts say about Uehara’s chances in Baltimore?

Apparently Uehara is a fly ball pitcher, which does not bode well for pitching in Camden Yards.  According to ESPN’s Keith Law:

"In an ideal environment -- National League, non-hitters' park -- he could be a midrotation innings-eater because he'll allow so few baserunners. In the American League, he'd be more of a fourth starter, but would have to have some luck keeping the ball in the park to keep his ERA under 4.00."

This isn’t a division changing signing by any means, but it’s always exciting when a new player comes over from Japan to test his skills against major league competition.  In my opinion there’s only an upside to this deal for the Orioles – they could be pleasantly surprised if Uehara is able to transition well and have on field success, and if nothing else, at lease they have finally begun to invest some time and resources in Japanese scouting – Uehara is the first Japanese player to play for Baltimore. 

Orioles fans, what do you think of this signing?