@ Everyone else: Not sure if Patrick plugged his own site, “NPB Tracker,” in any previous threads, but it is a great read for info. on NPB in general and potential MLB crossovers. Check it out! http://www.npbtracker.com/

At the highest level is NPB, with the only “minors” to speak of being each teams “ni-gun” or 2nd teams. There isn’t the extensive AAA, AA, High A, etc. that we have here.

Then there’s the various independent leagues and industrial teams. Independent leagues at times have a hard time staying afloat, although the Shikoku-Kyushu Island League is the most stable. Industrial teams are just that. Just like the fact that corporations own the NPB teams, other corporations sponsor their own sports teams (and that doesn’t just include baseball). So for instance, Junichi Tazawa came from ENEOS (aka Nippon Oil).

So because the levels of baseball in Japan are so shallow, sometimes the talent in NPB is also a bit shallow. Which can lead good players such as a Matsuzaka or a Kuroda to have stellar numbers. When they transition to the US, the talent level is so much deeper that their once great numbers don’t look as good.

The other issue is the fact that players who come here are right at their prime baseball terms. Since players who sign with an NPB team are under club control for 9 years that means for a HS student drafted, they’re around 26-27 when they are eligible for FA.

That’s why the whole Yusei Kikuchi going to MLB was so interesting. Could a bonafide “star” who would be drafted #1 in NPB be molded and made into a success in the US with their training? He eventually decided against it, but it would be interesting to see what would happen. The only thing is that the guaranteed contracts offered to the draftees give players a good incentive to stay home.

Do you know any sites that have splits for japanese players? Fukudome has been awful vs LHP in MLB, but I heard anecdotally that his splits in Japan were very small. Do you know anything about this?

Pitchers (and their “love-mate,” the catcher) in NPB seem to stress more, than in MLB, on the calls, or sequence of pitch selection and location to work on batters. One possible theory would be the talent of batters, and the pool size for them. Though good batters are still good batters no matter where they go, with only 12 teams and a roster, including minors, of about 66-man, the pool in NPB for good batters is thin.

For example, weight training was not formerly introduced to Japan’s pro-ball until 1980s (according to a coach I know). Some teams didn’t see home-grown talents could bat a low and away breaking ball like Manny or many others we are accustomed in Major League Baseball. Some teams like Lotte Marines only carry less than 44% of batters on their overall roster.

A pitcher in NPB would be more well off by devise of a plan to work an individual batter than in MLB, where those plans might not work. I wonder if that’s why DiceK throws more breaking pitches for Red Sox than he did for Seibu. The strategy must change because pitchers from Japan now, in MLB, can’t rely as heavily on where to put his fastball after throwing a breaking pitch to mislead batter-A, for example.