Free agent Tomoyuki Sugano is not planning to return to Nippon Professional Baseball, per a report from Yahoo Japan (hat tip here for the translation). The report cited a recent television interview from Sugano in which he said he’s “not considering” coming back to NPB. He has connected with multiple teams and is “waiting for offers.”
The report doesn’t mention any suitors, and it also doesn’t clearly state that the teams Sugano was referring to were in MLB, but it seems like a safe assumption. With the longtime NPB hurler rebuffing the idea that he’d return to Japan after one year in MLB, he’s presumably working through negotiations with big-league clubs. The recent interview echoes the sentiments Sugano shared near the end of last season.
Sugano signed a one-year, $13MM deal with Baltimore last offseason. He posted a 4.64 ERA across 30 outings. The righty got off to a solid start, putting up a 3.04 ERA through a dozen appearances, before falling off as the season went on. Sugano had an xFIP and a SIERA in the mid-4.00s during that stretch, so regression was coming.
Never a big strikeout pitcher, Sugano struggled mightily to miss bats stateside. His 15.7% strikeout rate ranked in the 6th percentile. He had the fourth-lowest swinging-strike rate among pitchers who threw at least 150 innings. Given that Sugano had a stellar 5.3% walk rate, plenty of balls were put in play against him. Sugano ceded a hefty 11.8% barrel rate and an above-average fly ball rate. That combo is part of the reason he gave up 33 home runs, the third-most in the league.
Sugano spent 12 seasons with the Yomiuri Giants before joining the Orioles. He capped off his time in NPB with a strong 2024 that saw him go 15-3 with a pristine 1.67 ERA. Sugano pushed his low walk rate down to a miniscule 2.6% that season. He didn’t receive a ton of fanfare last offseason, but landed a decent commitment from Baltimore.
The 36-year-old Sugano boasts a six-pitch arsenal. His mix is fairly unique, as his splitter and sweeper lead the way in terms of usage. Sugano’s four-seamer averaged just 92.7 mph, but he also threw a sinker and cutter at least 12% of the time. The full repertoire resulted in an underwhelming 92 Stuff+ last season.
Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro, Imagn Images