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How do the skills of Japanese hitting stars translate to Major League Baseball?
Posted by John Dewan on Dec 16th 2015
January 26, 2005
With the White Sox signing Japanese second baseman Tadahito Iguchi, the question is: How do the skills of Japanese hitting stars translate to Major League Baseball?Three hitting stars from Japanese baseball have entered the American baseball scene in recent years: Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui and Kaz Matsui. Using the statistic OPS (on-base plus slugging) as a good overall offensive measure, all three players, and Iguchi, had impressive numbers in Japan. Here's a chart comparing their OPS numbers in Japan (their last two seasons combined) and their corresponding OPS in the States:
| Player | Japan OPS | MLB OPS |
| Ichiro Suzuki Hideki Matsui Kaz Matsui Tadahito Iguchi |
1.019 1.117 0.960 0.985 |
0.827 (4 MLB seasons) 0.850 (2 MLB seasons) 0.727 (1 MLB season) ????? |
While an OPS over .800 for outfielders Ichiro and Hideki, combined with their other skills, make them above-average players, it remains to be seen whether the middle infield stars, Kaz and Tadahito, can become more than average (mid-.750s OPS) offensive players.