The Phillies have been trying to get into the Japanese baseball market for years. They hope Koyo Aoyagi is the first step. The Phils on Friday night announced that Aoyagi will attend Spring Training in Clearwater,

Aoyagi, 31, spent nine seasons in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league, where he posted a 3.08 ERA over 898⅓ innings pitched. The Phillies have not had a Japanese player since 2008.

The Milwaukee Brewers announced the signing of right-handed pitcher Elvin Rodriguez, who spent all of last season pitching in Japan with the Yakult Swallows, to a big-league contract Friday. Rodriguez signed a one-year deal with a club option for 2026 with Milwaukee.

A 23-year-old right-hander whose fastball tops 100 miles per hour, Sasaki will join fellow Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in a move many baseball executives have long expected.

The Phillies have invited an additional player to attend major league spring training as a non-roster invitee: Koyo Aoyagi, RHP – Aoyagi, 31, is a veteran of nine seasons (2016-24) in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league where he was a three-time All-Star (2019,

The 23-year-old right-hander whose fastball tops 100 mph will join fellow Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

For some teams in Major League Baseball, the chase for Roki Sasaki could not be measured in mere months. It lasted for years. One of those teams, the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, concluded that pursuit on Friday night by landing the star pitcher from Japan.

Roki Sasaki's move to MLB from the Lotte Marines at the age of 23 marks a landmark change in the dynamic that exists between Nippon Professional Baseball and Major League Baseball as well as future negotiations between top amateurs and Japanese clubs.

Roki Sasaki is Major League Baseball's hottest new star but he had to struggle through adversity to get there, losing his father and grandparents in Japan's deadly 2011 tsunami.

Yahoo Sports senior MLB analyst Jordan Shusterman reacts to the Japanese pitching phenom’s announcement that he signed with Los Angeles - further bolstering the pitching rotation for the defending champions.

Rōki Sasaki, the 23-year-old phenom from Japan whose services for the next six seasons could be procured by every Major League Baseball franchise for the equivalent of a rounding error, ended his six-week recruiting period by agreeing to sign with the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday, he announced in a social media post.