The Tampa Bay Rays are showing interest in free agent Naoyuki Uwasawa, an NPB All-Star, despite his lack of name recognition compared to Yoshinobu Yamamoto or Shoto Imanaga.
The Tampa Bay Rays are searching abroad for possible assistance as they attempt to reassemble their starting rotation in 2024.
According to Tampa Times Marc Topkin:
Right-hander Naoyuki Uwasawa, a 29-year-old from the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan, is a player that the Rays are considering.
Uwasawa doesn’t have the name recognition of fellow Japanese pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto or Shoto Imanaga, but he’s accomplished in his own right as a three-time NPB All-Star.
Uwasawa, who will turn 30 in February, spent his whole 1118 1/3 career NPB innings (all with the Fighters) with a 3.19 ERA. Uwasawa’s statistics have been consistently good, even though it took him a few years to really establish himself on the Fighters’ squad. In 2023, he set a career best with a 2.96 ERA over 170 innings.
From a Major League scouting standpoint, Uwasawa’s two main weaknesses are his lack of strikeouts (19.67% strikeout percentage) and his lack of velocity. MLBTR’s Dai Takegami Podziewski said that in 2023, Uwasawa’s average fastball clocked in at approximately 90.8 mph in the September NPB Players To Watch feature.
The Rays could use him as they rebuild that rotation, which has been ravaged by injuries. In addition to trading Tyler Glasnow to the Dodgers last week, the Rays also will be without Drew Rasmussen, Jeffrey Springs and Shane McClanahan for all or part of the 2024 season.
Tampa Bay won 99 games last season and finished second in the American League East. At this point, Ryan Pepiot, Taj Bradley, Zach Elfin and Zack Littell are candidates for the starting rotation. Clearly there is more work to be done.
