Hiromi Itoh just authored one of the best pitching seasons in NPB and firmly vaulted himself into the conversation as the league’s top arm from a pure production standpoint. While Shunpeita Yamashita remains the most talented pitcher in Japan, ongoing lower-back issues limited him to just 21.2 innings in 2025. Itoh went outing-for-outing with Liván Moinelo for the Sawamura Award—NPB’s Cy Young equivalent—Moinelo captured Pacific League MVP honors, but Itoh ultimately took home the Sawamura.
Open Universe Top 125 Update 12/8/25
Greg Hoogkamp has updated the Open Universe to more than 125 players from the NCAA, NPB, KBO, International and Prep ranks.
Itoh’s rise has been steady rather than meteoric, but 2025 represented the culmination of that steady climb up the mountain. He showed a true workhorse mentality, surpassing 200 innings between the regular season and postseason while consistently working deep into games and preserving effectiveness late. That durability and reliability separated him from the field.
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Prospects| NPB| Pitching guy| Brandon Tew is an operations analyst for Sports Info Solutions, a sports analytics company that has been in business providing data to MLB teams and media since 2003. Visit their website at SportsInfoSolutions.com