Orix Buffaloes and Samurai Japan National Team ace, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, was recognized as the top pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), winning the prestigious Eiji Sawamura Award.
Yamamoto had an impressive campaign winning 18 games, posting an amazing 1.39 ERA over 192.2 innings of labor. The 23-year-old pitcher also struck out 205 opponents, throwing 6 complete games, 5 of them shutouts.
During the NPB season, Yamamoto won 15 straight decisions and became the first pitcher since Masahiro Tanaka in 2013 to win the pitcher-of-the-month award four straight months.
The Eiji Sawamura Award is an independent award created in 1947 to honor Eiji Sawamura's extraordinary career. Sawamura died during World War II at the age of 27.
If you want to hear more about the recent Sawamura Award winner, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, you can check the latest The Global Game Episode, the WBSC’s podcast, where we chat with him.
