The Los Angeles Dodgers are expected to stay at the top of the market, with Tarik Skubal as their top name, but if they want to add on the fringes, Hiromi Itoh makes sense.
Hiromi Itoh’s free agent market
Itoh has cut his teeth in Japan with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and has 1,000 innings of professional baseball.
The Fighters posted Itoh on November 1st, giving him 45 days to sign with an MLB team or return to Japan.
With the looming lockout, Itoh will have just a month to find a team, since the league is not extending the window for international free agents to sign.
Who is Itoh as a pitcher?
The Japanese right-hander is 29 and has pitched in the NPB since 2021. Itoh has a career ERA of 2.92 and has been a workhorse on the mound.
Itoh’s last season in NPB was solid, with a 3.18 ERA, 34 walks, and 159 strikeouts. He also gave up 16 home runs and 184 hits.
The year before, he posted a 2.52 ERA over 196.2 innings. Since breaking through to the pro league, he has pitched at least 150 innings in a season for six straight years.
Itoh isn’t a pitcher on the level of Roki Sasaki or even Yoshinobu Yamamoto in terms of stuff, but he has good command and some finesse.
On the Dodgers, Itoh would be a long reliever or a back-end starter, but as fans have learned over the last few years, that role can be elevated quickly if injuries hit.
As a rotation piece for a couple of years, Itoh could be worth a look for the Dodgers, especially if they want to continue developing their Japanese pipeline.
Itoh has big-stage experience, playing a role on the 2023 WBC team that won the title, along with Ohtani.
The Dodgers have enough depth to survive without a move, but Itoh offers legitimate upside as a versatile middle-rotation starter.
Itoh is projected to get a two-year, $18 million deal, according to ESPN, and at that total, a swing to replace one of Kris Bubic or Eric Lauer makes sense.
