Baseball

Tomoyuki Sugano Joins the Baltimore Orioles on a 1-Year Contract

After a banner 12-year career with the Yomiuri Giants, pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano, now 35, achieved his goal of signing a contract with an MLB team.

by
Ed Odeven
December 17, 2024

Eight-time NPB All-Star Tomoyuki Sugano, who pitched for Yomiuri Giants from 2013 to 2024, has finalized a one-year deal with MLB's Baltimore Orioles.

The Orioles made the announcement on Monday, December 16, and the free agent right-hander will receive a $13 million USD (¥2 billion JPY) salary in 2025.

Sugano, 35, will become the third Japanese pitcher to join the Orioles, following Koji Uehara (2009-11) and Shintaro Fujinami (2023). The Orioles are coming off a 91-71 season and finished second behind the American League East Division champion New York Yankees (94-68).

In 2024, Sugano won his third Central League MVP Award with an outstanding 15-3 win-loss record and a 1.67 ERA. He had 111 strikeouts and 16 walks in 156⅔ innings.

Tomoyuki Sugano: A Model of Consistency

During his dozen seasons in a Giants uniform, Sugano had nine double-digit win seasons, including a 13-6 record as a rookie.

He owns a career record of 136-74 with a 2.43 ERA in NPB, pitching 1,857 innings and fanning 1,585 batters. Sugano's pinpoint control was on display throughout his long tenure with the Giants as he only issued 347 walks.

Sugano led the Central League in wins in 2017 (17-5), 2018 (15-8) and 2020 (14-2). He was No 1 in strikeouts in the CL in 2016 (189) and 2018 (200). And he captured four CL ERA titles ― in 2014 (2.33), 2016 (2.01), 2017 (1.59) and 2018 (2.14).

The Kanagawa Prefecture native was the Eiji Sawamura Award winner, which honors NPB's top pitcher each season, in 2017 and '18.

A Look Ahead to 2025

MLB.com writer Jake Rill projects Sugano to be the No 4 starter in Baltimore's five-man starting rotation next season, penciling him in after Zach Eflin, Grayson Rodriguez and Dean Kremer. Or he could add depth to the bullpen corps.

Reacting to the news of the pitcher's signing with the Orioles, MLB Network broadcaster Jon Morosi highlighted Sugano's long career in NPB.

"It's difficult to imagine a pitcher who would arrive to the AL East with more experience for this immense task of facing the top competition in MLB," Morosi said.

In 2024, Sugano's four-seam fastball averaged 92 mph (148 kph), ESPN.com reported and noted he had been clocked at 98 mph (about 158 kph) earlier in his career.

As a savvy veteran, Sugano has utilized a repertoire of six pitches (two- and four-seam fastball, split-finger fastball, cutter, slider and curveball) to be successful on the mound.

"He throws all of his breaking pitches with high accuracy and has good control," reporter Kodai Kawamura of the Japanese-language baseball website Full Count was quoted as saying by The Baltimore Banner.

Author: Ed Odeven

Find Ed on JAPAN Forward's dedicated website, SportsLook. Follow his [Japan Sports Notebook] on Sundays, [Odds and Evens] during the week, and X (formerly Twitter) ＠ed_odeven.