Yoshinobu Yamamoto — Career

Yoshinobu Yamamoto's NPB career with the Orix Buffaloes (2017–2023) stands as one of the most dominant pitching runs in modern Japanese baseball history. Originally from Oita Prefecture, Yamamoto was drafted by Orix in the fourth round of the 2016 NPB Draft out of Hachinohe Gakuin Kosei High School, and was registered on the active roster in 2017. He began as a reliever before transitioning to the rotation in 2019 — and from there, his ascent was extraordinary. He won his first ERA title in 2020 with a 1.95 ERA, then proceeded to claim the Sawamura Award (Japan's top honor for a starting pitcher) in 2021, 2022, and 2023 — three consecutive years, becoming only the third pitcher in history to accomplish that feat. Over those three seasons (71 starts), he went 46-8 with a combined 1.61 ERA and a 10.22 K/9 — numbers that belong in any historical conversation about pitching dominance. He was effectively unbeatable in NPB: 15-0 in 2021, 15-2 in 2022, and 16-6 in 2023 despite facing deeper lineups and stronger scouting reports each year. His precision command — consistently posting BB/9 below 2.0 — combined with four above-average pitches (fastball, splitter, curveball, cutter) made him the archetype of the modern elite Japanese pitcher. After the 2023 season, he entered the posting system and in January 2024 signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on a record-breaking 12-year, $325 million deal — the largest contract ever given to a Japanese player. His NPB career totals: 113 appearances, 78-34 record, 1.82 ERA, 10.20 K/9 — as complete a résumé as the modern NPB era has produced.