Tomoyuki Sugano and Kensuke Kondoh were rewarded for their outstanding performances when NPB handed out its MVP awards for the 2024 season on Tuesday, November 26.
The 35-year-old Sugano bounced back from three subpar seasons when he went 15-3 this season to lead the Central League in wins for the Yomiuri Giants.
Sugano, who finished second in the CL with a stellar 1.67 ERA for the league champion Giants, received 253 of 302 first-place votes cast for the award.
It was an impressive turnaround for Sugano, who went just 4-8 in the 2023 Nippon Professional Baseball campaign and made some adjustments to his delivery in the off-season.
"A year ago, I don't think anyone thought I could win an MVP," Sugano said, according to Kyodo News. "But I believed I could do it. I want to take it to the next level next year."
Sugano won the CL MVP accolade for the second time in 2020 and was then made available to MLB teams through the posting system but failed to sign a contract overseas and returned to the Giants.
The veteran pitcher has indicated he is still interested in signing with an MLB club and his numbers this season will certainly help, but his age is likely to raise some flags.
Kondoh Makes a Big Impact for Hawks
Kondoh, 31, was instrumental in helping the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks to their first PL championship in four years.
A year after barely missing out on winning the PL Triple Crown, Kondoh won this year's batting title with a .314 batting average and led the league in walks (92), on-base percentage (.439) and slugging average (.521).
Kondoh received 158 of 259 first-place votes for PL MVP. His teammate Hotaka Yamakawa was second with 78.
"It took a while, but I did feel I might win it someday," Kondoh said, according to Kyodo News.
A converted catcher, Kondoh joined the Hawks as a free agent prior to the 2023 season and was a key member when Japan won the World Baseball Classic in 2023.
On Friday, Kondoh agreed to a ¥550 million JPY ($3.7 million USD) deal for 2025, the third season of his seven-year contract with the Hawks.
The 31-year-old Kondoh helped the Hawks reach the Japan Series where they lost in six games to the Yokohama DeNA BayStars.
Takeuchi, Funabasama Named NPB's Top Rookies
Saitama Seibu Lions left-handed pitcher Natsuki Takeuchi won the PL Rookie of the Year Award, receiving 242 of 259 votes while Yomiuri reliever Hiromasa Funabasama took the CL's top rookie honor.
Takeuchi went 10-6 for the last-place Lions and was runner-up in league ERA with a stellar 2.17 result over 145⅓ innings.
Funabasama, a fifth-round draft pick in 2022, racked up 22 holds in middle relief with four wins for a much-improved Giants pitching staff.
Gu Ready to Go
And speaking of MVPs, Taiwan pro baseball's 2024 MVP Ruei Yang Gu Lin says he is looking forward to the challenge of pitching in Japan next season for the Hokkaido Nipponham Fighters.
Gu went 10-2 with a 1.66 ERA and 150 strikeouts over 125 innings for the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions of the Chinese Professional Baseball League.
After posting those numbers, the hard-throwing 24-year-old Gu became the first Taiwanese pitcher to be named the CPBL's MVP since 2006.
His decision to move to the Fighters comes on the heels of Taiwan winning a historic Premier12 championship with a 4-0 victory over Japan in the final on Sunday, November 24.
Gu was unable to participate in the Premier12 due to injury issues but praised his countrymen for their upset of top-ranked Japan.
"I felt our players performed exceptionally well," Gu said, according to Kyodo News. "I would like to thank them for allowing the world to see Taiwan. Being a Taiwanese and a baseball athlete, I felt very proud."
While details of his transfer have not been released, Fighters chief baseball officer Hideki Kuriyama told Taiwan media that Gu is the type of pitcher the team has been looking for.
The 24-year-old Gu will become the first Taiwanese player to join an NPB club from the CPBL since Po Jung Wang in 2019.
Tanaka Moving On
Veteran pitcher Masahiro Tanaka announced on his YouTube channel on Sunday, November 24 that he will soon leave his current team, the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.
Tanaka, 36, said that he felt the Eagles were no longer counting on him and he wants to find a team that values him.
The former New York Yankees pitcher said he received an offer from the only NPB team he has ever played for but would rather look for another team than take a pay cut.
Tanaka is just three wins shy of 200 in his career, including 78 from his seven seasons with the Yankees from 2014 to 2020.
"I don't know how things will go and I'm quite anxious," Tanaka told reporters on Tuesday at Rakuten Mobile Park Miyagi in Sendai. "I believe I still have much more to offer."
Tanaka has been the face of the club since joining the Eagles out of high school ahead of the 2007 season.
He went 24-0 in 2013 and led the Eagles to the PL pennant and Japan Series championship that season before leaving for New York via the posting system.
But he appeared in just one game this season, taking the loss in a start on September 28 against the Orix Buffaloes.
Kai Could Become a Free Agent
Tanaka may not be the only big-name veteran playing on a new team in 2025.
Hawks veteran catcher Takuya Kai also seems eager to test the free agency waters.
"I'd like to hear what other teams' evaluations of me are, and I want to know how much they value what I have done as a catcher," Kai told reporters.
Once recognized as having one of the strongest arms in NPB, the 32-year-old Kai has spent the last 11 seasons with the Hawks. He has a career .223 batting average with 62 homers and 290 RBIs.
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Author: Jim Armstrong
The author is a longtime journalist who has covered sports in Japan for over 25 years. You can find his articles on SportsLook.
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