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Is Masahiro Tanaka The Next Young International Superstar Pitcher?

Mashahiro Tanaka was 24 – 0, with a 1.27 ERA in with his team in the NPBL last year. He has followed countrymen Yu Darvish, Hiroki Kuroda and of course the 1st man from Japan, Hideo Nomo as superstars to take their talents to North America. Tanaka has pitched with the whole world watching him, as part of the 2013 WBC team for Japan. He will be counted on at the top of the New York Yankees rotation for years to come. Fans in New York can only pray this guy is much more like the guys aforementioned in this caption – rather than former Yankees Starting Pitcher Kei Igawa, who never panned out in his time with New York.

By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024

Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports

Today we are talking about young International Phenom pitchers. I picked 5 former and current pitchers that hailed from other places other than the USA to concentrate the story on.

I came up with Fernando Valenzuela from Mexico, Hideo Nomo and Yu Darvish from Japan, Eric Gagne from Canada and Juan Marichal from the Dominican Republic.

The 5 baseball players all flashed onto the scene as young pitchers, 3 of them dominating their peers from the get go.

Eric Gagne, the 5^th member of this study, only started to dominate when the Los Angeles Dodgers sent him to the bullpen.

Speaking of the Los Angeles Dodgers, three of these five pitchers were both with the club when they started out. It is a credit to their scouting staff.

There is a reason why no other team has turned out more ‘Rookie of the Year’ players in the last 30 years than the Dodgers.

Hideo Nomo’s No – Hitter Game

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Tags: @MLBreports on twitter, bob gibson, canada, Chuck Booth, dodgers, eric gagne, fastestthirtyballgames, fernando valenzuela, giants, hideki irabu, japan. dominican republic, juan marichal, kei igawa, la dodgers, Los Angeles, mexican league, mike scioscia, new york yankees, padres, sandy koufax, texas rangers, Tommy Lasorda, warren spahn, yu darvish

Is Yu Darvish the Next Young International Baseball Superstar?

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Monday, February 13th, 2012

Douglas ‘Chuck’ Booth (Baseball Writer)– One of the first names I forgot in my blog about ‘young phenom pitchers’ taking the league, plus a city by storm was Fernando Valenzuela. I immediately thought of another blog right after. That is young International Phenom pitchers. I picked 4 pitchers that hail from other places other than the USA to concentrate the story on. I came up with Valenzuela from Mexico, Hideo Nomo from Japan, Eric Gagne from Canada and Juan Marichal from the Dominican Republic. The 4 baseball players all flashed onto the scene as young pitchers, 3 of them dominating their peers from the get go. Eric Gagne, the 4^th member of this study, only started to dominate when the Los Angeles Dodgers sent him to the bullpen. Speaking of the Los Angeles Dodgers, three of these four pitchers were both with the club when they started out. It is a credit to their scouting staff. There is a reason why no other team has turned out more ‘Rookie of the Year’ players in the last 30 years than the Dodgers. (more…)