A prolific Japanese slugger who has a swing that’s been compared to Bryce Harper’s plans on signing with a Major League team this winter, and Yoshitomo Tsutsugo was in New York two weeks ago attending Yankees’ American League Championship Series games at Yankee Stadium.
Coincidence?
Maybe, but Tsutsugo could be viewed as a good fit for the 2020 Yankees, who may be intrigued by his left-handed power, strong plate coverage and versatility. Tsutsugo mostly was a left fielder during his 10 seasons with the Japanese Central’s League’s Yokohama DeNA BayStars, but the 6-foot, 209-pounder is a right-handed thrower who also has experience at first base and third base.
With the Yankees likely to carry 13 pitchers again next season, Tsutsugo could be looked at an often-used reserve coming off a three-man bench or as a platoon first baseman with righty-swinging slugger Luke Voit.
Tsutsugo will be posted sometime from Nov. 1 and Dec. 5 by the BayStars, who announced on Oct. 7 that they would allow their long-time star to sign with a major league club this winter. After being posted, he’ll have 30 days to negotiate a contract with any big-league franchise.
“I’ve had this dream since I was little, so I told the team that I wanted to play with the intent of moving to the majors,” Tsutsugo told Japan Times in a recent interview. “It’s where the best players in the world are gathered.”
A five-time All-Star who turns 28 on Nov. 26, Tsutsugo is a career .285 average with 205 homers, 613 RBI, a .382 on-base percentage and a .907 OPS in 10 seasons with the BayStars.
He hit .272 with 29 homers, 79 RBI and 88 walks over 131 games in 2019. His best year was 2016 when he established career-highs batting .322 with 44 homers and 110 RBI. He’s averaged 35 homers and 93 RBI since 2016.
Tsutsugo has some experience playing against major leaguers, as he’d excelled in the opportunities. In 2014, he played in the MLB Japan All-Star Series and hit .429 over five games to tie Houston Astros’ star Jose Altuve for the top average in the event. In 2017, he was the Pool B MVP in the World Baseball Classic.
A 2018 FanGraphs scouting report authored by Sung Min Kim, now a front-office employee for Korean baseball’s Lotte Giants, mentioned a comparison to Harper, the slugging outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies.
Here are highlights of Kim’s analysis:
“Tsutsugo has a very defined characteristic: power. After hitting 69 home runs playing for Yokohama High, Tsutsugo was drafted by the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in the first round of 2009. Hampered by series of injuries (wrist ligament, left ankle bone contusion, etc.), he did not blossom for the first few professional seasons.
“You can know next to nothing about Tsutsugo and realize he’s a power hitter by looking at his swing. He has a Bryce Harper-like timing mechanism — an open stance, a trigger to shift the weight back, the hands held high before launch, and then boom.
“The main concern with Tsutsugo is that some believe he might end up being a one-dimensional strikeout-or-home-run player in the MLB. If his hit tool can play along with his raw power, then you may have a worthwhile everyday outfielder in the majors. It also helps that he has displayed high OBP approaches, which counts a lot!
“Right now, Tsutsugo is far from a complete package, but the market is always on demand for a power-hitting outfielder.”
Based off that, Tsutsugo has a good shot of signing with a club that hands him a starting job right away. But he has mentioned never winning a championship in Japan and the Yankees are contenders almost every year.
And for what it’s worth, Tsutsugo was at Yankee Stadium for a couple ALCS games, including Game 4 when countryman Masahiro Tanaka started for the Yankees against the Houston Astros.
“I thought the atmosphere was amazing,” Tsutsugo said. “I also thought it was a really high level of play.”
Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.