An introduction to the four top players coming to the MLB from Japan and Korea

Over the past two years, we’ve become accustomed to a major superstar pitcher jumping from Asia to the MLB, first with Yoshinobu Yamamoto and then with Roki Sasaki. There may not be one player who can have such an impact, but there are four prominent players coming this season.

Munetaka Murakami

Corner infielder Munetaka Murakami will grab the biggest headlines as there is no ballpark on any continent that can contain his immense power. In the eight years he played for the Yakult Swallows in Japan, he hit 246 home runs. He set a record for the most ever for a Japanese-born player in a 56-shot NPB season in 2022. Last year, at age 25, he battled through a host of injuries and hit .273/.379/.663 with 22 home runs in 56 games.

Despite his incredible power and gaudy stats, there is major bust potential if he signs a huge contract. Although most of the pitchers he faces in Japan are inferior to MLB pitchers, he makes less contact than virtually every successful hitter in the MLB. Any team drafting him will need to project significant improvements in his contact ability without limiting his power. Otherwise, he strikes out way too many to be playable, especially since he’s almost certainly a first baseman/designated hitter.

Kazuma Okamoto

Kazuma Okamoto could ostensibly have a similar market to Murakami’s, but he’s a lot safer with less upside. He has played eleven seasons for the Yomiuri Giants as a corner infielder, but unlike his counterpart, he should be playable at third base in the MLB. Between 2018 and 2024, he hit 27-41 home runs every year. An elbow problem limited him to just 69 games this season, and he hit .327/.416/.598 with 15 home runs.

MLB clubs looking for a third baseman will have Okamoto on their shopping list, especially those missing Alex Bregman and Eugenio Suárez. He won’t hit as many home runs as Murakami can — or Suárez, for that matter — but he won’t turn 30 until late June and will make more contact, giving him a better chance of hitting for average and getting on base.

Tatsuya Imai

Tatsuya Imai could land a bigger contract than Murakami or Okamoto. The 27-year-old righthander was one of the best pitchers in Japan for the Seibu Lions this year. He threw 163 2/3 innings over 24 starts with an ERA of 1.92, 178 strikeouts and a WHIP of 0.89. He gave up just 101 hits and six home runs all year.

Imai is one of the youngest legitimate starting pitchers available in free agency, meaning he should be paid handsomely. He features a mid-90s fastball, a slider and two offspeed pitches (changeup and splitter). He lacks the overpowering attributes of Sasaki and Yamamoto, but he figures to be a mid-rotation starter — and just about every baseball team could use one.

Cody Ponce

Unlike the players above, Ponce has experienced MLB before. The California native pitched 55 1/3 innings for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2020 and 2021. He spent 2022-2024 in Japan and didn’t fare particularly well, posting a 4.54 ERA over 202 innings. He moved to Korea in 2025 and took his game to a new level, posting a 1.89 ERA over 29 starts and 180 2/3 innings with a WHIP of 0.94. His 252 strikeouts broke the KBO single-season recordand he won the Choi Dong Won Award as the best pitcher in the league.

Ponce is a different man than during his previous MLB stint. He throws harder on all his pitches and has added a new splitter. For a known entity like him, he’ll have to prove it in the MLB before he gets a big contract, but the soon-to-be 32-year-old right-hander gets a short-term deal to join someone’s rotation.