[ad_1]
The Cardinals are fascinated by left-hander Yuki Matsui, per a report from Natsuki Une of Yahoo! Japan.
Matsui, 28 subsequent week, is a left-handed reliever who has been pitching in Japan’s Nippon Skilled Baseball for the previous 10 years. He’s appeared in 501 video games in that point, posting an earned run common of two.40 whereas recording 236 saves. Right here in 2023, he’s been much more spectacular, with a 1.57 ERA in 59 appearances whereas recording 39 saves. He struck out 32.4% of batters confronted this yr whereas strolling simply 5.9%. Along with his glorious outcomes, Matsui is notable for his dimension, listed at simply 5’8″ and 167 kilos.
Although his body could also be atypical, it’s laborious to argue with the outcomes. It was reported a few weeks again that Matsui would discover signing with main league golf equipment and it looks like he’s already garnering curiosity. As a result of debuting at a younger age, he’s going to be a full free agent this winter and any signing membership wouldn’t be required to pay a posting charge to the Rakuten Golden Eagles, the membership he has performed with for his total profession up to now.
Matsui has been a mainstay of MLBTR’s NPB Players to Watch sequence this yr, with Dai Takegami Podziewski highlighting Matsui’s four-pitch arsenal, that includes a fastball, splitter, slider and curveball. The lefty reportedly had some bother adapting to the ball within the World Baseball Basic, which is nearer to the ball utilized in MLB. There’s at all times some uncertainty with international gamers since they’re unproven in North America. Matsui’s dimension and points with the WBC ball maybe add to that, however golf equipment are sometimes intrigued by the potential of unearthing a hidden gem.
It appears the Cardinals are one such membership, primarily based on this report. That isn’t terribly shocking, since pitching was a notable weak spot for the 2023 membership. The bullpen as an entire posted an ERA of 4.47 on the yr, placing them twenty third within the league. Additionally they traded impending free brokers Jordan Hicks and Chris Stratton on the deadline. By way of left-handers particularly, they’ve JoJo Romero, John King and Andrew Suárez on the roster. Romero completed the season robust however nonetheless has simply 67 profession video games on the main league degree. King has posted good outcomes by preserving the ball on the bottom however doesn’t get many strikeouts. Suarez had an ERA of seven.16 within the majors this yr.
The Cardinals have loads of work to do that winter, trying so as to add three starters to their rotation, however including one other lefty to their bullpen could be a wise improve as properly. They are going to reportedly make Matsui a proper provide after the Japan Sequence, the NPB equal of the World Sequence, which is scheduled for October 28 to November 5. Just like the World Sequence, it’s a best-of-seven, that means it might finish earlier if it doesn’t go the complete seven. However given Matsui’s glorious season in Japan, the Cardinals absolutely gained’t be the one membership . The Yankees, Purple Sox, Cubs and Padres have additionally been scouting him, per the report. Matsui additionally reportedly has a four-year provide to stick with the Golden Eagles.
[ad_2]
Source link
