Have Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani Played Together Before?

The esoteric Japan has produced countless remarkable MLB players of great playmaking calibre, pitching stature etc, so on and so forth. It is home to two of the biggest sensations of baseball currently – Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. While the two-way phenom has made his way to the MLB and is about to sign the biggest-ever free-agent contract, Yamamoto is ready to make waves in the next few months. The Orix Buffaloes ace has taken the world by storm owing to his extraordinary pitching. So the question arises, have these two talented players ever been together in a ballpark?

Ohtani started his career in NPB playing for Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and came to MLB in 2018. Interestingly, Yamamoto started playing for Buffaloes in 2017. So there was one whole season when these two greats were playing in the exact same league. So did they ever face each other inn a battle of wits and ingenuity on the field? Let us get to the bottom of this mystery that has fans riding high on the curiosity train.

Shohei Ohtani and Yamamoto’s playing history charted

Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto played in the same league in 2017. So there could have been a chance for them to play against each other, but as it was Yamamoto’s rookie year, the chances were slim. Although Ohtani played in almost every game of their series, Yamamoto was not a pitcher in any of them. So even when they were professionally together for a year, fans never got to witness the two greats facing off against each other. Still, due to both players being a prominent part of the Japanese National team, fans have seen them in the same ballpark many times now. They both won the 2023 World Baseball Classic together and have been playing together for years now.

Now with Yamamoto heading to MLB, people will finally get to witness these two on the opposite sides. Or maybe not? Both of these players are being targeted by similar teams. What if they both end up in the same place? That could be a scary prospect for any manager to think about. Their union might work from a professional standpoint but from a marketing perspective, it would be a PR nightmare as well as a conflict of interest.

Even then the similarities between both their journeys are interesting. Ohtani came to MLB after he won the Japan Series. Yamamoto is on the verge of doing it consecutively before coming here. His excellent pitching has seen him get 14 Strikeouts in game 6 of the Japan series. This was after getting hit for an unexpected Homerun in the 2nd inning. It is performances like this that are the reason for the market frenzy after the news of his arrival came out.

Potential teams vying to bag Yoshinobu Yamamoto

Yamamoto has probably thrown his final pitch in NPB. The Japanese Ace had a remarkable 2023 with an ERA of 1.21. As a result, many teams are targeting him. The San Francisco Giants are a major candidate for getting his services. They have shown a clear interest in getting Yamamoto. The Giants had a disappointing 2023 with a 79-win season, making them unable to play in the postseason. So they’d love to improve their team’s standing.

Read more – Amidst Interest in Japanese Ace, New York Yankees Target an NPB Pitcher Not Named Yoshinobu Yamamoto

Other big teams are the New York Yankees and New York Mets. The Mets were also targeting Shohei Ohtani until recently they had a little cooling off on that front owing to “Sho” getting injured. With his free agency just commencing, there is no doubt a lot many teams will come forth with their interest in the star from the land of the rising sun. Who do you think will win in the race to get a new Ace?

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