Tomoyuki Sugano — 2026 Season

2026 Season Stats

Pitching stats and MLB-wide rank · 2026 Season

Stat	2026	MLB Rank
ERA	5.37	—
WHIP	1.32	—
W	12	MLB #20
L	12	—
K	96	—
IP	154.1	—
SV	0	—
GS	29	—

2026 Season Highlights

As of 10/1, Tomoyuki Sugano is an active member of the Colorado Rockies rotation and has started every game he has pitched this season. Home runs allowed have been a problem, and his results are a bit tougher than last year. A former Giants ace who won the Sawamura Award twice and led NPB in wins three times, he still shows good command with few walks. He has kept taking the ball turn after turn, and the focus now is how well he can finish the remaining starts.

Tomoyuki Sugano, a 2x NPB Sawamura Award winner and former Yomiuri Giants ace, made his MLB debut with the Orioles in 2025, going 10-10 with a 4.64 ERA. He proved his ability to compete at the major league level over a full season. In 2026, Sugano moves to the Rockies, where pitching at hitter-friendly Coors Field presents a new challenge for the veteran right-hander and his crafty pitch arsenal.

1He has kept pitching in the majors as a starter this season, but home runs allowed stand out and the results are tougher than last year.
2A former Giants ace with two Sawamura Awards and three NPB wins titles, his command, reflected in how few batters he walks, is his calling card.
3Watch whether he can limit home runs in his remaining outings, and whether he can keep up the durability of staying in the rotation through the end of the season.

DETAIL · ANALYSIS

Detailed Analysis

In-depth metrics aggregated from every at-bat and pitch.

Data as of: 2026-11-08

Expand detailed analysis ▾

Recent Form (Last 10 Starts)

Older games on the left, most recent on the right. Color shows how they played. Regular season games only.

Best: 6IP+ / ≤1ER · Good: 5IP+ / ≤2ER · OK: 4IP+ / ≤3ER · 4ER · ≥5ER (blowup)

Pitch Arsenal

Current season pitch data by type. Velocity, spin rate, movement, whiff rate, and CSW% at a glance.

Pitch	Usage	Velo (mph)	Spin	H-Mvmt	V-Mvmt	Whiff%	CSW%
Splitter	21.1%	86.9	1,656	-6.7"	+3.6"	30.4%	21.2%
Four-Seam Fastball	20.5%	92.6	2,415	-3.9"	+8.5"	14.2%	22.8%
Sinker	19.0%	92.5	2,302	-8.2"	+6.5"	5.3%	24.4%
Cutter	10.9%	89.0	2,491	0.0"	+3.4"	17.1%	21.8%
Slider	10.7%	85.2	2,596	+1.5"	+0.3"	17.6%	17.7%
Sweeper	9.5%	83.7	2,590	+4.5"	+1.4"	21.1%	29.2%
Curveball	8.2%	79.9	2,702	+3.2"	-5.0"	19.8%	24.2%

H-Mvmt/V-Mvmt (inch): movement vs. a spinless ball. + = toward 3B / up, − = toward 1B / down. Whiff% = whiffs / swings, CSW% = (called strikes + whiffs) / pitches.

Handedness & Home/Away Splits

Situational splits for the current season. See strengths and weaknesses by scenario.

vs Handedness

Split	OAVG	OOPS	HR	K	BB
vs RHB	.290	.806	10	38	11
vs LHB	.265	.863	23	58	25

Home / Away

Split	OAVG	OOPS	HR	K	BB
Home	.275	.811	13	46	18
Away	.276	.866	20	50	18

Year-over-Year Performance Trend

Career-long performance trends for every key stat. How does this year compare to history?

Season	G	IP	ERA	WHIP	K/9	BB/9	K
2025	30	157.0	4.64	1.33	6.08	2.06	106
2026Now	29	154.1	5.37	1.32	5.60	2.10	96

Full Game Log (Pitching)

All 29 regular season games of 2026. Showing latest 10; click to expand.

Underlined dates and › open the game page (Dodgers games only)

Date	Opp	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ER/9
09/26	@ CWS	6.2	6	4	0	5	5.40
09/21	vs SEA	5.0	1	1	2	5	1.80
09/15	vs SD	5.0	8	6	1	2	10.80
09/10	@ NYY	6.0	4	5	3	5	7.50
09/03	vs BAL	6.0	6	3	1	4	4.50
08/29	@ ATL	4.0	10	6	1	4	13.50
08/24	vs CLE	3.0	9	5	1	2	15.00
08/18	vs LAD	5.0	7	6	1	3	10.80
08/12	@ ARI	6.0	6	2	0	5	3.00
08/06	vs TB	5.0	5	3	2	3	5.40

SHOW REMAINING 19 GAMES ▾

Date	Opp	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ER/9
08/01	vs KC	6.2	5	1	0	2	1.35
07/25	@ MIL	5.1	6	2	1	5	3.38
07/19	vs CIN	6.1	6	3	0	3	4.26
06/27	@ MIN	5.0	8	7	1	2	12.60
06/21	vs PIT	6.0	4	1	0	5	1.50
06/15	@ OAK	5.0	8	6	2	2	10.80
06/10	vs CHC	5.0	6	3	2	3	5.40
06/03	@ LAA	5.0	5	2	2	5	3.60
05/28	@ LAD	4.2	6	3	1	3	5.79
05/23	@ ARI	6.2	6	2	1	3	2.70
05/17	vs ARI	5.0	7	2	2	1	3.60
05/11	@ PHI	5.0	7	5	1	2	9.00
05/05	vs NYM	5.1	3	4	2	1	6.75
04/30	@ CIN	5.1	4	0	3	2	0.00
04/23	vs SD	5.2	5	1	1	4	1.59
04/18	vs LAD	4.0	9	5	2	3	11.25
04/11	@ SD	6.0	4	2	0	3	3.00
04/06	vs PHI	6.0	4	1	1	5	1.50
03/31	@ TOR	4.2	2	1	2	4	1.93

Year-over-Year (2026 vs 2025)

Green = improvement, red = decline. "—" means no data in the same month last year.

Pitching

	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep
ERA	-2.57	+0.21	+1.92	+0.38	-2.80	+4.06	-0.64
K	+3	+1	-8	+0	-9	-7	+10
WHIP	-0.64	+0.12	+0.38	-0.28	-0.69	+0.54	-0.29

AI · SEASON ANALYSIS

Tomoyuki Sugano 2026 Season AI Analysis

Comprehensive 2026 season analysis generated by Claude AI from stats data (as of Sep 28, 2026).

Overview

Sugano's 2026 season sits below MLB average across the core rate stats. His 5.37 ERA trails the league average of 3.57 by a wide margin, placing him outside even the P50 mark (3.73), let alone P75 (3.00) or P90 (2.53). WHIP (1.32) is likewise above the 3.57 avg... above the 1.18 average and outside P75 (1.09). Only his walk rate (2.1 BB/9) is a bright spot, beating the MLB average of 2.75 and landing near the P75 threshold of 2.34. Overall, he is pitching as a below-replacement-level starter by ERA and WHIP this season.

Strengths

Control remains Sugano's calling card. His 2.1 BB/9 is a full half-run better than the MLB average and edges into the top-quartile range (P75 at 2.34), confirming the command-first profile he has shown throughout his career. He has also logged 154.1 innings across 29 starts, showing durability and rotation reliability even amid the statistical struggles. Compared to 2025 (157 IP, 4.64 ERA), the walk rate has actually tightened, suggesting his approach and pitch execution on the edges of the zone have not eroded.

Areas to Improve

The clearest year-over-year decline is run prevention: ERA has jumped from 4.64 in 2025 to 5.37 in 2026, a meaningful step backward rather than a marginal dip. Strikeout rate has also fallen, from 6.08 K/9 in 2025 to 5.6 K/9 this year, both well below the MLB average of 8.94 and nowhere near the P75 mark of 10.26. With WHIP at 1.32 versus a league average of 1.18, he is allowing more baserunners per inning, and combined with the reduced swing-and-miss output, contact quality against him appears to be the primary driver of the inflated ERA rather than any control issue.

Looking Ahead

With strong volume already banked (154.1 IP) and a walk rate that remains a genuine strength, Sugano is unlikely to be shut down or limited for the stretch run. The path to stabilizing his ERA runs through better contact management rather than mechanics, since his command hasn't slipped. If he can trim the WHIP back toward last season's level, even a modest ERA correction toward the mid-4.00s is plausible given the innings pitched. Barring a strikeout-rate rebound, though, expect him to continue projecting as a durable back-end innings-eater rather than a difference-maker for the remainder of 2026.

AI-generated content (Claude) · Based on stats as of Sep 28, 2026

Detailed Analysis

Loading…

Season Analysis

Season Progress

ERA

↓ Lower is better

WHIP

↓ Lower is better

Strikeouts

Wins

Monthly Stats

ERA

vs MLB Monthly Avg↓ Lower is better

WHIP

vs MLB Monthly Avg↓ Lower is better

Strikeouts

Wins

Season Analysis

Loading season chart…

Splits vs LHP / RHP

Season stats vs right-handed and left-handed batters

vs RHP/RHB

.290OPS .806 / HR 10

vs LHP/LHB

.265OPS .863 / HR 23

Metrics Deep Dive

MLB-wide percentile rank, defensive and pitching metric summaries, pitch-type stats, and batted-ball distribution.

Pitching — MLB-wide Standing

WHIP ranks in the top 78% of MLB. The rest sit closer to league average.

ERA5.37

WHIP1.32

strikeouts96

K/95.60

Bars show percentile rank among MLB-wide qualified players.

PITCHER · FIP

What is Tomoyuki Sugano's FIP? 5.39 in 2026

FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) measures a pitcher's true skill using only home runs, walks, hit-by-pitches and strikeouts — outcomes the pitcher controls. By stripping out defense and luck, it tracks real ability more closely than ERA.

Tomoyuki Sugano's 2026 FIP is 5.39, rated as "below average". That's 1.39 above the MLB average of about 4.00, leaving room to improve.

Compare with other Japanese pitchers in the FIP ranking

Pitch Type K% & BA Against

K% / BA-against / Whiff% by pitch type this season. K% is based on at-bats where each type was the strikeout pitch.

Pitch	Usage	K%	BAA	Whiff%
Splitter	21.1%	22.8%	.255	30.4%
Four-Seam Fastball	20.5%	18.4%	.398	14.2%
Sinker	19.0%	6.6%	.351	5.3%
Cutter	10.9%	6.6%	.343	17.1%
Slider	10.7%	19.1%	.306	17.6%
Sweeper	9.5%	7.7%	.353	21.1%
Curveball	8.2%	13.6%	.250	19.8%

K%: rate of strikeouts among plate appearances where this pitch type was the final pitch. Whiff%: whiffs per swing. Types with fewer than 10 pitches excluded.

Splits by Batter Handedness

BA / OPS against and WHIP vs right-handed and left-handed batters this season. Spot weaknesses by batter type.

Split	BAA	OPS	WHIP	K	IP
vs RHB	.290	.806	1.31	38	66.2
vs LHB	.265	.863	1.34	58	86.2

Game Log

2026 Season Appearance Log

29 starts · 96 total strikeouts

Season Best K

Sat, Sep 26 @ CWS

Season Debut

Tue, Mar 31 @ TOR

4.2IP · 4K

Underlined dates and › open the game page (Dodgers games only)

Date	Opp	IP	K	HR	BB	Dec
9/26	@CWS	6.2	5	2	0	L
9/21	vsSEA	5.0	5	-	2	L
9/15	vsSD	5.0	2	2	1	L
9/10	@NYY	6.0	5	2	3	L
9/3	vsBAL	6.0	4	-	1	-
8/29	@ATL	4.0	4	1	1	L
8/24	vsCLE	3.0	2	-	1	L
8/18	vsLAD	5.0	3	2	1	L
8/12	@ARI	6.0	5	2	0	W
8/6	vsTB	5.0	3	1	2	L
8/1	vsKC	6.2	2	1	0	W
7/25	@MIL	5.1	5	2	1	W
7/19	vsCIN	6.1	3	2	0	W
6/27	@MIN	5.0	2	2	1	-
6/21	vsPIT	6.0	5	1	0	W
6/15	@OAK	5.0	2	1	2	W
6/10	vsCHC	5.0	3	1	2	W
6/3	@LAA	5.0	5	-	2	W
5/28	@LAD	4.2	3	2	1	L
5/23	@ARI	6.2	3	-	1	-
5/17	vsARI	5.0	1	-	2	W
5/11	@PHI	5.0	2	3	1	L
5/5	vsNYM	5.1	1	1	2	L
4/30	@CIN	5.1	2	-	3	W
4/23	vsSD	5.2	4	-	1	W
4/18	vsLAD	4.0	3	1	2	L
4/11	@SD	6.0	3	2	0	-
4/6	vsPHI	6.0	5	1	1	W
3/31	@TOR	4.2	4	1	2	-