Blue Jays interested in top Japanese free agent pitcher Senga: report

MLB.com

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: the Toronto Blue Jays find themselves connected to a top free agent pitcher.

Per MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, the Blue Jays (along with the Los Angeles Angels and the American League East rival Boston Red Sox) are “among the teams with interest” in Kodai Senga, a 29-year-old starting pitcher who is among the top arms from Japan.

The #Angels, #RedSox and #BlueJays are among the teams with interest in Kodai Senga, who is among the top available free-agent starters. @MLBNetwork @MLB

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 5, 2022

Toronto currently has Kevin Gausman, Alek Manaoh, Jose Berrios, Yusei Kikuchi, and Hyun-Jin Ryu in their starting rotation, though Ryu’s availability and health for the 2023 season are in question after suffering a season-ending elbow injury after just six starts in 2022.

Senga officially declared for international free agency earlier this year, making himself available to MLB teams for the 2023 season.

While playing for Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in Japan’s top pro league, Senga went 11-6 with 1.94 ERA throwing 156 strikeouts and 27 walks in 144 innings pitched in 2022.

Senga went viral in 2021 for a GIF shared by baseball aficionado Rob “Pitching Ninja” Friedman, who showed off his unique “Ghost Fork” breaking ball in a series of GIFs.

Kodai Senga, "Ghost Fork" (and Grip). 👻🍴 pic.twitter.com/c5Rwp64QeD

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 2, 2021

He’s also an Olympic gold medallist, having played a part in Japan’s victory on home soil at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games.

In the decisive game, Senga came in for a relief appearance, tossing a scoreless sixth inning en route to the historic victory.

While he’s yet to play professionally in North America, Senga could follow in the footsteps of past pitchers like Shohei Ohtani, Yu Darvish, and Masahiro Tanaka who have all found success at the MLB level after transferring over from the Japanese professional ranks.

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