The Yanks appear to be interested in Ryota Igarashi after trading Brian Bruney away to the Nationals on 12/7. The Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants, and Baltimore Orioles are also rumored to be interested in Igarashi. And it seems his agent is looking for a 2-year deal wroth about US$2M-3M.Here's a scouting report from NBP tracker:
Igarashi is known one of the hardest throwers in Japan, and jointly holds the record for fastest pitch* by a Japanese pitcher in an NPB game with a 158 kmph (98.75mph) fastball. Igarashi hit 158 kmph in 2004, when the average speed of his pitches over the course of the season was 154.5 kmph (96.6mph), which is an NPB record he has to himself.Although he doesn’t throw quite as hard as he used to, but still runs his heater into the upper 90’s, and augments it with a hard splitter that he throws at around 90mph. He’s also got a slider and a curve that he’ll mix in occasionally, but is primarily a fastball/splitter pitcher.
NBP tracker also says that his major issue is control. He's not only prone to the walk, but the wild pitch as well. He also missed the 2007 season after having Tommy John surgery.
