Today: KC Prospect Yasuhiko Yabuta
Yasuhiko Yabuta is a right-handed relief pitcher with the Kansas City Royals. One of a number of Japanese veterans who crossed the ocean last winter, Yabuta signed as a free agent from Japan. His "rookie" season in MLB is 2008.
A good but not great starter early in his career with Bobby Valentine's Chiba Lotte Marines, Yabuta moved to a setup role in 2004 and his performance improved dramatically. He quickly became one of the league's best relievers. In 2007, his last year in Japan, Yabuta was dominant, delivering a 2.73 ERA and 34 holds. He attracted western attention with his work in the 2007 World Baseball Classic, when he made a one inning appearance against the US team, striking out Alex Rodriguez, Derrek Lee and Johnny Damon.
His two-year contract with the Royals should keep him employed through the end of 2009, and he's young enough that the Royals should consider extending him if he proves valuable.
| Yr | Tm | Age | Lvl | W | L | ERA | G | GS | CG | SH | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | K/9 | WHIP |
| 1996 | Chiba Lotte | 23 | Japan | 4 | 6 | 3.62 | 18 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 92.0 | 79 | 39 | 37 | 8 | 29 | 58 | 5.67 | 1.17 |
| 1997 | Chiba Lotte | 24 | Japan | 5 | 9 | 3.94 | 25 | 20 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 146.1 | 144 | 69 | 64 | 16 | 48 | 74 | 4.55 | 1.31 |
| 1998 | Chiba Lotte | 25 | Japan | 2 | 9 | 4.84 | 17 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.1 | 123 | 61 | 54 | 15 | 40 | 45 | 4.04 | 1.62 |
| 1999 | Chiba Lotte | 26 | Japan | 5 | 4 | 4.89 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 57.0 | 68 | 33 | 31 | 9 | 30 | 33 | 5.21 | 1.72 |
| 2000 | Chiba Lotte | 27 | Japan | 0 | 1 | 13.50 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.2 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4.05 | 1.65 |
| 2002 | Chiba Lotte | 29 | Japan | 1 | 2 | 8.74 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.1 | 16 | 11 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 6.35 | 1.76 |
| 2003 | Chiba Lotte | 30 | Japan | 5 | 6 | 5.90 | 17 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 68.2 | 74 | 45 | 45 | 12 | 27 | 44 | 5.77 | 1.47 |
| 2004 | Chiba Lotte | 31 | Japan | 3 | 4 | 2.79 | 66 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 77.1 | 62 | 26 | 24 | 4 | 34 | 71 | 8.26 | 1.24 |
| 2005 | Chiba Lotte | 32 | Japan | 7 | 4 | 3.07 | 51 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 55.2 | 42 | 20 | 19 | 7 | 13 | 54 | 8.73 | 0.99 |
| 2006 | Chiba Lotte | 33 | Japan | 4 | 2 | 2.62 | 47 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 55.0 | 43 | 19 | 16 | 3 | 26 | 48 | 7.85 | 1.25 |
| 2007 | Chiba Lotte | 34 | Japan | 4 | 6 | 2.73 | 58 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 62.2 | 64 | 21 | 19 | 5 | 10 | 45 | 6.46 | 1.10 |
Yabuta works with a 90-92mph fastball that he controls well and a quality 88mph slider. He also uses a changeup more than most relievers, and has a devasting splitter that he sometimes uses to shut down left-handed batters.
He's expected to live in a setup role, with his only closing opportunities coming if injuries or overwork rattle up the Royals bullpen.
Update: Yabuta struggled a bit in his transition to the USA, but he has remained a key part of the Royals bullpen and has shown improvement as the year progresses. He's given up 15 earned runs in 29 innings so far this year, mainly due to the .409 average that righthanders have hit against him (he's limited lefties to only .157.) He has, however, improved dramatically since his poor start. His ERA was a frightening 8.31 in April, dropped to 5.73 by the end of May, and is down to 4.71 as of today. As he learns to work in the US, he's becoming a more and more effective reliever, which means his upside is very high right now.
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