Kattobase Nihonjin Dairiigaa: AL East

April 5, 11:19 PMAsian-American Sports ExaminerMichael Street

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"Kattobase Nihonjin Dairigaa" means
"Let's go Japanese MLB players!"

Kattobase Nihonjin Dairiigaa!

First, apologies to all my readers for remaining silent for the past two weeks.

I’ve just bought my first house, which closed right after the WBC finished. I’ve spent all the time since moving all my stuff from the apartment I’ve lived for almost a decade to my new digs.

But now I’m back at it, and you can expect more daily news from around the Asian-American world of sports, starting with baseball.

Tonight is Opening Night, and what a better time to introduce my new feature, Kattobase Nihonjin Dairigaa, focusing on the exploits of Asian major leaguers.

The phrase above means “Let’s go Japanese major leaguers!” and the translation comes courtesy of Steven P. Venti of BHK Limited http://www.bhk-limited.com.

Steve suggested this phrase, drawn from the traditional Japanese baseball cheer, “Kattobase Dairigaa!” which literally translates as “Send the ball flying!”

The batter’s name usually comes after the “Kattobase,” so we added “Nihonjin,” which means “Japanese major leaguers.”

Steve was incredibly helpful with this, and I highly recommend him for all your Japanese translation needs.

I’m going to start the KND series off with a broad overview of Asian players in the majors—I should add that, though the phrase refers to Japanese players, I’m including Korean, Taiwanese, Hawaiian, Samoan and even Chinese and Indian players. And for those of you following the WBC, you know that South Korean talent isn't far behind the Japanese.

I’d actually started out to provide a comprehensive list of Asian baseball players at all levels, majors and minors, but after I found nearly seventy, I decided to stick to major leaguers and significant minor leaguers.

For the next six days I’ll break the major leagues down, division by division, with are all the players you can expect to read about this season on my page, along with a brief summary of their role and outlook.

Today, the AL East

Baltimore Orioles

Koji Uehara was one of the biggest signings this offseason, and he’s badly needed by an Oriole pitching staff that’s awfully thin. He’ll start the season as their #2 starter after a strong spring, but their #1 starter, Jeremy Guthrie, is good but not great, so Uehara could easily become their ace by midseason. Good shot at a Rookie of the Year Award.

Soon after signing Uehara, Baltimore inked Ryohei Tanaka to a minor-league deal, another piece of their growing Asian presence, though he’s a few years from the majors.

Boston Red Sox

Boston is the premier Asian importer, at least at the major league level. When Daisuke Matsuzaka signed with them, it was one of the biggest baseball stories of 2006. Dice-K did adequately in 2007, improved his record in 2008, but fell back in some of his peripheral numbers. Though he shone at this year’s WBC, Matsuzaka needs to fight back further decline in 2009.

Hideki Okajima’s signing fell in the long shadow of the $100M Dice-K story, but he’s had season that are arguably better than Dice-K, though Okajima works out of the bullpen. As a setup man for closer Jonathan Papelbon, Okajima and his “Okey-doke” changeup dazzled batters in 2007, and he fought back from a difficult start in 2008 to finish strong. He’s probably lost ground in the bullpen, but that has more to do with recent signings than his perfomance.

The recent signing to which I refer is Takashi Saito, former All-Star closer for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Saito’s 2008 was cut short because of a sprained elbow ligament. Instead of going under the knife, he elected to rehab the injury, and signed with Boston when he couldn’t come to terms with the Dodgers. If Saito stays healthy, he’ll be the guy behind Papelbon in the pen, setting him up for saves and filling in if he goes down.

Junichi Tazawa’s decision to jump straight to MLB caused an international flap last fall, and his choice to sign with Boston had everything to do with the chance to pitch along his hero, Dice-K. He won’t be able to live that dream until 2010 or later, and will start the season with the AA Portland Sea Dogs.

Taiwanese centerfielder Che-Hsuan Lin was the MVP of the 2008 Futures Game for his two-run go-ahead homer. Power’s not really part of his game, however, which centers more on his speed and defense. He could join Tazawa in Portland after spending last year with the Class A Greenville Drive.

New York Yankees

Losing Hideki Matsui was part of the reason 2008 was such a disappointment for Yankees fans. Though Godzilla tried to play through knee pain, he finally elected for surgery, the second time he’s gone under the knife for that body part. To protect him from a third procedure, the Yankees will DH Matsui and bat him fifth for at least the first part of the season.

The other significant injury struck down Taiwanese starting pitcher Chien-Ming Wang, who came up lame rounding third base in an interleague game. He’d torn a tendon in his foot and would not return. But he seems fully healed this spring and will slide in behind big-money free agent acquisitions CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett to be a devastating #3 starter.

When the Red Sox signed Dice-K, the Yanks signed pitcher Kei Igawa to a $20M deal, after paying the $26M posting fee. Though he cost half of Matsuzaka, Igawa would love to be half the pitcher that his more famous countryman is. Igawa has struggled awfully in several big-league outings and become a high-paid millstone around the Yankees’ necks. If he returns to the big leagues and succeeds, it would be a minor miracle; look for him to stay with the AAA Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees unless the entire Yankees staff suddenly transmogrifies into Jell-o Pudding Pops.

If you watched China play in the WBC, you might have seen catcher Zhenwang Zhang flailing to an 0-6 performance. He’s a Yankee signee, and hopes to make a better showing of it this year, where he’s likely going to be assigned to Rookie League ball.

Tampa Bay

The Cinderella team of last year’s World Series—in the version of Cinderella when she gets stood up by the prince, anyway—has only one Asian player of note. But leadoff hitter and second baseman Akinori Iwamura is plenty.

Aki shifted from third to second but didn’t miss a beat defensively, and put up a year at the plate very much like his 2007 season. He’s not a model leadoff hitter, since he doesn’t draw enough walks (128 vs. 245 Ks in the past two years), nor does he steal bases (20 since 2007, getting caught 14 times). But he’s the best leadoff guy they’ve got, and he’s scored a total of 173 times in 2007 and 2008.

If he puts up similar numbers in 2009, he should be fine, but he doesn’t have too much room for error. It will be interesting to see if the Rays pick up his 2010 option, which will range from $4.25 to 5.25M, depending on his plate appearances.

Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jaysnearly had made the AL East an all-Asian division at the major league level when they signed Ken Takahashi to a minor-league deal. Takahashi is only a middling Japanese pitcher, and he apparently didn’t impress the Blue Jays, since they cut him loose during spring training. The Mets snatched him right up; look for more on him when I hit the NL East.

Otherwise, Toronto is well behind in the Eastern arms race, as I couldn't find any Asian minor-leaguers of note anywhere in their system.

Tomorrow: The AL Central