A couple of weeks ago, Hiroki Kuroda and Yu Darvish staged a rare duel between Japanese-born converts from the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league. Tonight, Kuroda will take part in another reunion, when Ichiro Suzuki’s Seattle Mariners come to town.
Although matchups between Japanese pitchers and hitters are much more common these days, the sample is still limited enough to make the encounters noteworthy. During his four-plus year career, Kuroda has faced one of his fellow countrymen on 31 prior occasions, including three at bats against Ichiro, who managed to scratch out an infield single. In total, Kuroda has limited his former NPB mates to a line of .179/.258/.214, giving him bragging rights against all but Kosuke Fukudome.
Hiroki Kuroda vs. Japanese Hitters in the Major Leagues
Source: baseball-reference.com
Kuroda’s performance against his fellow countrymen (in terms of OPS against) is the best by a Japanese pitcher with at least 10 confrontations under his belt. On the other end of the spectrum is former Yankees’ left hander Kei Igawa, who yielded an OPS of 1.636 to his NPB brethren in 11 plate appearances. In between is a full spectrum of performance, but in aggregate, 11 different Japanese batters have managed an impressive line of .281/.376/.406 in 401 plate appearances against 27 pitchers.
Individual Japanese Pitchers vs. All Japanese Batters, Ranked by PAs
Note: Excludes plate appearances by pitchers.
Source: baseball-reference.com
Fukudome’s success against his countrymen hasn’t been limited to Kuroda. In 28 plate appearances, the outfielder posted an OPS of 1.064 against all Japanese pitchers, placing him ahead of Ichiro, who ranks second among the nine hitters with at least 10 plate appearances. Of course, considering Ichiro has faced a Japanese pitcher on 106 previous occasions, his OPS of .929 is even more impressive. The same is also true of Hideki Matsui, whose OPS of .824 against NPL cross-overs was compiled over 80 times to the plate. Another Matsui, however, wasn’t as fortunate. In 24 plate appearances, Kazuo Matsui managed only two singles and two walks for a paltry OPS of .258.
Individual Japanese Batters vs. All Japanese Pitchers, Ranked by PAs
Note: Excludes plate appearances by pitchers.
Source: baseball-reference.com
In terms of individual matchups, Hideki Matsui’s OPS of 1.167 against Hideo Nomo is the highest among all NPB confrontations with at least seven plate appearances. The lowest rate of success was turned in by Ichiro, who managed to compile an OPS of only .393 in nine times to bat against Tomo Ohka. The most common showdown between Japanese players belongs to Akinori Iwamura and Daisuke Matsuzaka, who faced each other 37 times. Despite striking out in one-quarter of his at bats, Iwamura got the better of the matchup, hitting .375/.459/.531 (albeit with only one RBI).
Most Common Japanese Batter/Pitcher Matchups, Minimum Seven PAs
Note: Excludes plate appearances by pitchers.
Source: baseball-reference.com
When Ichiro steps into the box this evening, it will probably be a footnote to most Yankees’ fans, especially considering the return of former top-prospect Jesus Montero to the Bronx. However, 7,000 miles away in Japan, the confrontation will probably be the lead story. And, who knows, for Ichiro and Kuroda, it might provide extra motivation as well.
[…] his countryman Ichiro Suzuki, who went 0-3 against the right hander. With those three outs, Kuroda extended his dominance over Japanese hitters, who are now batting just .162 against him in 34 plate […]