Japanese Pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano Reportedly Set to Hit MLB Free Agency

Tomoyuki Sugano will try to join an MLB team for the second time, possibly marking an end to the veteran's dominant 12-year run in Nippon Professional Baseball.

Mar 21, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Japan pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano (11) throws a pitch in the first inning against United States during the 2017 World Baseball Classic at Dodger Stadium. | Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

Right-handed pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano is set to become an international free agent this offseason, ESPN's Jeff Passan reported Friday morning.

Sugano has spent the past 12 seasons with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. In that time, he has been named an All-Star eight times, earned two Central League MVPs and won two Eiji Sawamura Awards – the NPB equivalent of a Cy Young.

The soon-to-be 35-year-old appears to be moving on from that storied chapter of his professional career, looking to join MLB ahead of the 2025 campaign. This isn't the first time Sugano has shown interest in coming to the States, though.

The Giants posted Sugano in December 2020, but he did not reach an agreement with an MLB team before his posting window closed in January 2021. Despite having enough experience to circumvent the posting system the following winter, Sugano elected to remain in Japan again.

Tatsunori Hara, Sugano's uncle, stepped down as the Giants' manager in 2023 after 17 years at the helm. Yomiuri replaced him with Shinnosuke Abe, who was Sugano's catcher between 2013 and 2019.

Sugano is now 136-75 with a 2.45 ERA, 1.035 WHIP and 1,596 strikeouts in his career. So far this season, Sugano is 15-3 with a 1.67 ERA, 0.945 WHIP and 6.4 strikeouts per nine innings.

Boasting a six-pitch arsenal – a four-seam fastball, a two-seam fastball, a slider, a cutter, a splitter and a curveball – Sugano presents a skillset sure to attract plenty of suitors in the big leagues.

The two biggest Japanese free agents from last offseason – Los Angeles Dodgers righty Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Chicago Cubs lefty Shota Imanaga – both impressed as MLB rookies in 2024. Yamamoto went 7-2 with a 3.00 ERA, 1.111 WHIP and 1.7 WAR, while Imanaga went 15-3 with a 2.91 ERA, 1.021 WHIP and 3.1 WAR.

Sugano may not have as long of a runway as Yamamoto and Imanaga, considering his age, but he could similarly make an immediate impact.

This winter's free agent class already features a laundry list of notable starting pitchers, including Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Charlie Morton, Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, Jack Flaherty, Shane Bieber, Jose Quintana, Luis Severino, Yusei Kikuchi, Walker Buehler and John Means, plus potential opt-outs in Blake Snell, Gerrit Cole, Michael Wacha, Sean Manaea and Clayton Kershaw. The Chiba Lotte Marines could post 22-year-old right-handed pitcher Roki Sasaki as well, further crowding the market with talented arms.

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