Baseball: Batting star Yoshida's posting process moving forward

Orix Buffaloes slugger Masataka Yoshida's application to be posted has been received by Nippon Professional Baseball and transmitted to MLB, NPB Secretary General Atsushi Ihara said Tuesday.

The 29-year-old left-handed-hitting outfielder has twice led the Pacific League in batting average. He drove in a career-high 88 runs this year and hit 21 home runs in each of the past two seasons.

A five-time PL Best Nine Award winner, Yoshida drew a career-high 80 walks in 2022 while striking out just 41 times as he led the PL with an on-base percentage of .447.

Once MLB accepts Yoshida's application, it will notify its 30 teams that he is free to sign with any of them. Yoshida will then have 45 days to sign with a team willing to pay Orix a posting fee based on the amount of money he will receive.

Yoshida is one of two players this winter being posted along with Hanshin Tigers pitcher Shintaro Fujinami. If either player fails to sign a contract within the allotted time frame, he will remain on his current club's roster.

© Kyodo News