Japanese pitcher steps into Mariners' spotlight

Joe Haakenson | Special for USA TODAY Sports

Hisashi Iwakuma had seen others take that great big leap across the Pacific Ocean.

He was 14 when Hideo Nomo broke through the perceived barrier and got it started in 1995, and since then there have been others who have leaped ... and landed safely. Ichiro Suzuki became an American League MVP. Hideki Matsui became a World Series MVP.

A Japanese pitcher hasn't won the Cy Young Award, but if the first three months of the season are any indication, Iwakuma will be in the running, along with countryman Yu Darvish of the Texas Rangers.

Iwakuma signed with the Seattle Mariners in 2012 and had a nice first season in the majors, but he has done even better this season. Through 16 starts, he was 7-3 with a 2.26 ERA and was giving up 0.89 walks plus hits per inning (WHIP), best in the American League.

Iwakuma averages eight strikeouts per nine innings, but he isn't overpowering, topping out at about 92-93 mph on his fastball.

He keeps hitters off-balance by mixing up his pitches — two-seam and four-seam fastball, curveball, slider and a splitter, with the splitter being his out pitch.

"I'm not surprised, but at the same time I wasn't expecting this, as well," Iwakuma said through an interpreter. "I can say I had a lot of confidence coming into this season from what I've gained with the experience in the second half of last year. I was able to go through a good offseason workout and work on things that I hadn't worked on before.

"I had a good spring training, as well, so knowing that, I thought I'd be somewhere around where I am right now."

Iwakuma began last season in the bullpen as Mariners manager Eric Wedge and his staff wanted to see exactly what they had in the 6-3, 210-pound right-hander. He joined the rotation in the second half of the season and finished 9-5 with a 3.16 ERA in 30 games, including 16starts.

"He was one of the better pitchers in the American League the second half of last year," Wedge said. "He just kept going with it. He worked hard over the wintertime and came into spring a little bit stronger than he was last year, and he just brought it into the season."

Masanori Murakami was the first Japanese-born player to play in the major leagues, playing for the San Francisco Giants in 1964 and '65. But after Nomo arrived and had immediate success, other professional baseball players in Japan seemed to gain a sense of confidence that they could make it, too. There have been 48 Japanese-born players in the majors, including eight who are active on major league rosters.

Iwakuma was a star in Japan, first breaking into Nippon Professional Baseball in 2001 at age 20. He was a three-time All-Star and, in 2008, won an MVP award as well as the Eiji Sawamura Award, equivalent to the Cy Young.

Iwakuma's motivation to come to the USA after 11 seasons in Japan was sparked by more than just the idea of playing against the best baseball players in the world. It was the chance to play in a different part of the world.

"Experiencing the World Baseball Classic in 2009, I was a part of Team Japan, and we got to go through a lot of experiences," he said. "Not just the ballparks, but what the atmosphere is like, the difference from baseball in Japan and just the opportunity for the challenge."

The Oakland Athletics won the bidding rights to Iwakuma in 2010, but the two sides were unable to agree on a contract, so Iwakuma stayed in Japan. He tried again in 2012, and this time the Mariners won the bidding rights to negotiate with him, signing him to a one-year deal for $1.5 million. He got a chance not only to pitch in the major leagues, but also play half a season with Suzuki before the Japanese legend was traded to the New York Yankees midway through the season.

"He's a national hero in Japan," Iwakuma, 32, said. "It's always an honor to be teammates with such a high-caliber player."

Iwakuma parlayed his 2012 season into a two-year, $14 million contract with the Mariners, and he hopes to remain in the big leagues for the rest of his career.

"Baseball in Japan is so different from here," he said. "The power that we go against here is totally different."

The Mariners are 10-6 in games started by Iwakuma, better than their record in games started by ace Felix Hernandez (8-8). And Iwakuma has held the opposing team to one run or fewer in eight of his 16 starts.

"This guy executes pitches more consistently than almost anybody," Wedge said. "He has a great feel for the game, a great feel for situations. You can tell all the experience he had in Japan has paid off for him because he has a good heartbeat; he's able to slow the game down when he has to."

There's a lot of baseball left to be played this season, but a Cy Young Award for a Japanese pitcher would continue to meld the world's two best professional baseball leagues.

"There's a lot of things that could result from that," Iwakuma said, "but first and foremost it'll prove that Japanese pitchers can be very successful in this elite league."

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Other notable pitchers born, raised and trained in Japan who have played in the major leagues:

RHP Hideo Nomo

Major league career: 1995-2005, 2008

Stats: 323 games, 123-109, 4.24 ERA, 1995 NL rookie of the year, 1995 NL and 2001 AL strikeout leader

Highest finish in Cy Young voting: Fourth (NL 1995, 1996)

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RHP Takashi Saito

Major league career: 2006-2012



Stats: 338 games, 21-15, 2.34 ERA, 84 saves

Highest finish in Cy Young voting: Eighth (NL 2006)

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RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka

Major league career: 2007-2012

Stats: 117 games, 50-37, 4.52 ERA

Highest finish in Cy Young voting: Fourth (AL 2008)

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RHP Hiroki Kuroda

Major league career: 2008-present

Stats: 164 games, 64-62, 3.36 ERA

Highest finish in Cy Young voting: N/A

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RHP Yu Darvish

Major league career: 2012-present

Stats: 45 games, 23-12, 3.56 ERA

Highest finish in Cy Young voting: Ninth (AL 2012)

Haakenson reported from Anaheim, Calif.