Japanese Pitchers Meet MLB's Contact Culture
We look at how Japanese pitchers handle MLB's contact-oriented hitting culture.
MLB hitters are strongly contact-oriented, often focused on putting the ball in play even with two strikes.
Japanese pitchers typically chase whiffs with breaking balls, and bridging this cultural gap is a key rookie-year task.
In particular, how often they can induce chases out of the zone drives their strikeout rate.
Imanaga and Yamamoto are examples of pitchers who have adapted successfully.