There are usually not so many interesting sets of baseball cards released in January. Last Month, I went to a card shop and saw that some packs of the 2021 Topps Japan Edition were still there. Previously, I hadn't seen this set before. When I saw this series in the shop, I was thinking that perhaps, buying some packs could be fun.
Well, the design is just like series 1, series 2 and update series. The major difference is that we can see the Japanese flag on the front. Moreover, there are some parallels such as Cherry Blossoms and Jade Green. And, we can find inserts that highlight some Japanese players. I found a Yu Darvish card and was just wondering whether he’s the best pitcher from Japan. To understand a little bit more, I went to check on the great baseball reference website.First of all, let’s look at wins. Well, win might not be accurately indicating a pitcher’s contribution. However, you have to pitch long enough to get a certain number of wins. Hideo Nomo is a pioneer and his success in the MLB has encouraged more Japanese players to play in the big league. Nomo played 12 seasons in the majors and earned 123 wins. Moreover, Yu Darvish has 79 wins so far and Hiroki Kuroda has 79 wins in the MLB. Kuroda already retired from baseball and Darvish shall surpass Kuroda in wins this season. However, it will still require some time for Darvish to reach 100 wins.
In addition, five Japanese players each threw 1000+ innings in the majors. Hideo Nomo threw more than 1900 innings over 12 seasons. Kuroda tossed 1319 innings over 7 seasons. Yu Darvish has pitched 1293.1 innings in the MLB so far. If the 2022 season starts on time, we will soon see him surpass Kuroda in IP. Tomo Ohka tossed 1070 innings over 10 seasons. Masahiro Tanaka returned to the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles last year, he spent 7 seasons with the Yankees and threw 1054.1 innings before coming home.
Finally, Hideo Nomo struck out 1918 batters in his career and Yu Darvish already threw 1500+ strikeouts. They are the only two Japanese pitchers who reach 1000 strikeouts in the MLB. There are still two years remaining on Darvish’s current contract and it’s possible to see him surpass Nomo in strikeouts before this contract comes to an end. Hideo Nomo is not just a pioneer in baseball and he used to be a dominant pitcher for a while. Over his 12 years in the MLB, opponents hit .240 against him. Furthermore, Yu Darvish came to America in 2012 and it will be his 10th season in the majors. Over the last 9 seasons, opponents hit .218 against Darvish. If Darvish stays healthy and keeps pitching for a few more years, it will be possible to see him lead in innings pitched and strikeouts among Japanese pitchers. And, don’t forget Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani won the 2021 AL MVP, as a pitcher, he already threw 183.2 innings and opponents hit .208 against him. However, as a two-way player, Ohtani might not pitch as many innings as Yu Darvish does. But, it will be interesting to see these two Japanese stars play in the West in 2022.
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