Shun Yamaguchi:
Lincecum “special.”
New Giants pitcher Shun Yamaguchi was asked about the Giants’ history with Japanese players dating to Masanori Murakami, a relief pitcher who in 1964 became the first Japaneseborn player to appear in the majors.
Yamaguchi turned the subject to more recent Giants history.
As in this century.
“I’ve been doing some research on my own about this organization,” said Yamaguchi, whose signing was announced Saturday in the wake of his failed bid with the Blue Jays. “Besides Japanese players, I know Barry Bonds, and another player would be Tim Lincecum.”
That’s a good start. Yamaguchi said when he was in Japan, he studied video of Lincecum and spoke Monday of their similarities, which are noticeable with his splitfingered fastball far more than his 6foot2, 225pound frame, which would tower over Lincecum’s.
“He’s definitely a special pitcher in my eyes,” Yamaguchi said. “Moving forward, I would like to study a little bit more about him.”
The priority for now is showing the Giants enough to win an Opening Night roster spot. Yamaguchi, 33, signed a twoyear, $6.35 million contract with Toronto before the 2020 but had poor stats (8.06 ERA, six homers, 17 walks, 252⁄3 innings) and was released Feb. 13.
Yamaguchi met the Bay Area media in a Monday teleconference call with his interpreter, Yuto Sakuria, who had a similar role with Toronto last season and now is a Giants employee who will shadow Yamaguchi and be available to assist with communication including during mound visits.
Also on the call were many Japanese reporters. Yamaguchi thrived in 2019 for the Yomiuri Giants when he went 164 with a 2.78 ERA over 181 innings. He was exclusively a reliever with Toronto, and the Giants (San Francisco, not Yomiuri) plan to let him compete as a starter.
The rotation seems set, but president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi expressed a need for far more than five starters as Major League Baseball transitions from 60 games in 2020 to 162 (that’s the hope) in 2021.
Yamaguchi has a split contract — one for the Giants and one if he agrees to pitch in the minors — but the righthander has an out in his contract allowing him to pursue a bigleague job elsewhere (or return to Japan) if he doesn’t click in San Francisco.
Asked if he’d accept a minorleague assignment, Yamaguchi said, “Honestly, I’m not thinking ahead too much. All I’m thinking is making the 40man roster.”
In Yamaguchi’s defense, a lot was thrown his way last year. Not just the culture change and language barrier but the coronavirus protocols and the fact the Blue Jays’ “home” games were played at their TripleA Buffalo site because of border restrictions.
“Last year, I had no idea which way was right or left,” Yamaguchi said. “Not knowing anything, to be honest with you. Obviously, the training methods, too. Going over last season with the Toronto Blue Jays, I have a better understanding of how to go about my days.”
Giants manager Gabe Kapler said a fresh look could be a differencemaker for Yamaguchi.
“When you have a short season like we had in ’20, sometimes numbers can be a little bit random,” Kapler said. “I don’t want to chalk it all up to the smallsamplesize narrative. But what we’ve seen since he’s been in camp is a very hungry and focused individual, so we’re trusting that determination and the history of success in Japan to translate.”
If Yamaguchi makes the Giants’ roster, they’d need to pay just the majorleague minimum with the Blue Jays picking up the rest of his $3.175 million salary. Instead of returning to Japan, he preferred to give the majors one more try and built strength in the offseason after experiencing what he called “weaknesses” with speed and movement.
“The main reason for choosing to come back to the big leagues,” Yamaguchi said, “is I wasn’t satisfied with my results last year, and I want to challenge myself once again.”
The Giants have had several Japaneseborn players since Murakami’s twoyear stint as a reliever in the ’60s, including Tsuyoshi Shinjo, Keiichi Yabu, Kensuke Tanaka and Nori Aoki.