“He’s a hell of a competitor” – Adam Jones reflects on Tomoyuki Sugano’s transition to the Orioles

On Wednesday, former big leaguer Adam Jones talked about the Baltimore Orioles' new acquisition, Japanese pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano. According to Jones, the new arrival will be a great addition to the Orioles' pitching staff, as he comes in eager to compete, with a lot of knowledge about 'American-style pitches'.

"Well Sugano, obviously, is a hell of a competitor," Jones said, via NASN. "Obviously, he's a little older, and it's been some years since I faced him, but he's a competitor. He pitches with everything, and he was fortunate enough to be in that group that knew (Masahiro) Tanaka and grew up around Tanaka, so he has all the American-style pitches. He understands the American-style hitters."

CPBL Selected Team v Japan - SAMURAI JAPAN Send-off Friendly Match - Source: Getty

Further, Jones spoke about how players arriving in the NPB are quite skilled and often become successful in MLB:

"Over the last few years, I think the Japanese style of play has changed a little bit to where you see some of these guys, you hear about them, hitting 40, 50 home runs. There’s a guy (Munetaka) Murakami, who's the third baseman for the Yakult Swallows. So when I was over there, obviously not playing every day, I got a very good view of everybody and just watching the bodies of work."

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Tomoyuki Sugano arrives with an impressive NPB resume

Having made his professional debut in 2013, right-handed pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano has accumulated quite an impressive resume in over eleven years of action at the top level in Japan. Sugano spent all of his time in the NPB with the Yomiuri Giants.

Tomoyuki Sugano in action during the World Baseball Classic - Source: Getty

For his career as a whole, Sugano has a 136-74 win/loss record, with a 2.43 ERA and 1585 total strikeouts. In terms of awards, Sugano has three Central League MVP awards to his name, a Japanese pitching triple crown (2018), three Central League Golden Glove awards and eight NPB All-Star caps, among numerous other honors.

With the Orioles losing one of their most important aces in Corbin Burnes to free agency, fans and the organization will hope Sugano, who arrives on a one-year, $13 million deal, can hit the ground running at Camden Yards.