KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tomoyuki Sugano has achieved more on a baseball field than almost anyone in the Orioles’ clubhouse.
Sugano is a superstar. The 35-year-old is one of the most decorated pitchers in the history of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, a league in which he’s won 136 games and three Most Valuable Player awards.
But on Saturday, he was just an MLB rookie, and his teammates celebrated him as such. After Sugano won his first career MLB game, he was put in a laundry cart and was doused with a beer shower.
“He’s a veteran in Japan,” catcher Gary Sánchez said with a smile through team interpreter Brandon Quinones, “but he’s a rookie here in the states even though he’s 35 years old.”
Sugano, who pitched 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball in the Orioles’ 8-1 win over the Royals, said that he was “really happy” to experience the clubhouse celebration with his teammates. Before team interpreter Yuto Sakurai could translate the question about the celebration, Sugano understood and gave a smile.
“Typically in Japan, the beer shower only happens when you win the championship,” Sugano said through Sakurai. “It made me feel like I want to succeed even more.”
The visual of Sugano, one of the Orioles’ oldest players, in the laundry cart for the beer shower made Sánchez laugh.
“It’s a joy that all the teams share whenever a guy comes over and he gets his first major league win,” said Sánchez, who navigated Sugano through his second big league start. “That was a lot of fun today.”
Manager Brandon Hyde also couldn’t contain his smile when asked about the celebration for Sugano.
“They’re excited for him right now,” Hyde said of Sugano’s teammates. “I think he’s going in the cart right now. He was really pumped up when we were in the handshake line coming through the clubhouse, and they’re all excited for him.”
After pitching 12 seasons in NPB, Sugano chose this offseason to make the jump to MLB, and the Orioles signed the soft-tossing right-hander for $13 million. He impressed with his elite command throughout spring training, but his first MLB start was a minor speedbump.
Last weekend in Toronto, Sugano struggled in the first inning and exited after four innings with hand cramps — likely a result of nerves before and during his first MLB start. He showed no wavering Saturday, though, as he helped end the Orioles’ three-game losing streak.
“Thought about being ahead of the count with each hitter,” Sugano said on his improvement Saturday. “Obviously last time through, it was my first outing in the major leagues. This time, I was a little more patient, comfortable.”
“I just thought he looked way more comfortable,” Hyde said. “I thought he was absolutely outstanding today.”
Sugano mixed his six pitches — throwing each of them between 11 and 20 times — to keep the free-swinging Royals off-balanced. Despite diminished velocity because of the cold weather at Kauffman Stadium, Sugano still got several swings and misses on his splitter and sweeper as well as five whiffs on eight swings off his 90.7 mph four-seamer.
This sweeper from Tomoyuki Sugano that struck out Salvador Perez could not be located better pic.twitter.com/mByz3MbLKz
— Jacob Calvin Meyer (@jcalvinmeyer) April 5, 2025
Sugano, who pitched the majority of his games in NPB in domes, joked after the game that he didn’t have any problems with hand cramps because “it was too cold, I didn’t sweat at all.”
“Ideally,” he quipped, “I don’t want to pitch in cold weather like this.”
After Sugano finished his interviews with the several Japanese reporters in Kansas City for the game, he walked over to Ryan Mountcastle. The first baseman saved the ball from the last out to give to Sugano to commemorate his first MLB win.
Sugano thanked Mountcastle for the gesture and then apologized for improperly covering first base during the game — to which Mountcastle laughed and said there was no reason to say sorry. Sugano then walked out of the clubhouse with the ball from his first MLB win in one hand and two Blue Moons in the other.
“I’m not here to win one game in the major leagues,” Sugano said during his postgame interview. “I’m here to win day to day and, ultimately, get the championship.”
Have a news tip? Contact Jacob Calvin Meyer at jameyer@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/JCalvinMeyer.