On Sunday, Lee Jung Hoo's 11-game hit streak finally came to an end. We have learned plenty about Lee Jung Hoo over the first month of the MLB season. I thought he was going to struggle a little bit adjusting to Major League pitching, but it turns out to be the opposite. As of this moment, Lee Jung Hoo's batting average is .282 with 24 hits and two home runs. At this pace, assuming he gets plenty more hit streaks, his average will go up to .300 in no time. Lee's timing and eye coordination are phenomenal. This is what the San Francisco Giants saw in him and why they took a chance in signing him to a multi-year deal.
It's early in the season, and Shohei Ohtani is already making history, surpassing Hideki Matsui, the former Yankee, for the most home runs by a Japanese-born player.
While Shohei shines with the Dodgers, the same thing cannot be said about his fellow countryman, Yoshinobu Yamamoto. In my observations, it's Yamamoto's fastball that is the most concerning. It just doesn't have enough movement or rise. His curveball and splitter are fantastic though. Let's just hope he can solve the riddle of getting rid of this fastball dilemma.
We also have to remember that Yamamoto is only 25 years old. He has a lot of room to improve. And while Yamamoto struggles, his fellow countryman's transition, Shota Imanaga of the Chicago Cubs, is smooth. Imanaga was behind Yamamoto in Japan, as the best pitcher of the NPB.
Even though Imanaga's fastball has a lower velocity than Yamamoto's, he can accumulate a lot of strikeouts due to his excellent command of the strike zone.
Does this mean Imanaga will be a better ace than Yamamoto?
I would like to hear your opinions. What do you like about Yamamoto? What do you like about Imanaga? And, who do you think will have a better overall career?
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