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Memories of Ryota Igarashi

John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 21 2011 07:49 AM

Mets formally cut ties with reliever Igarashi By Anthony DiComo / MLB.com | 10/21/11 1:19 AM ET In a contractual formality, the Mets have released reliever Ryota Igarashi following two disappointing years in New York, according to a baseball source. Though Igarashi's two-year, $3 million contract with the Mets technically expired this month, the reliever would have remained under team control if not for a clause requiring the Mets to release him barring agreement on a new deal -- a prospect that both parties considered extremely unlikely. "I don't think a good offer would come up here," Igarashi said in September. The Mets faced an identical situation last winter with left-hander Hisanori Takahashi, who left New York to sign with the Angels. In his second big league season, Igarashi, 32, posted a 4.66 ERA in 45 appearances, shuttling frequently between New York and Triple-A Buffalo for the second straight year. Unscored upon over his final six outings, Igarashi managed to improve on a 2010 campaign that saw him post a 7.12 ERA as a rookie. He also produced a 0.87 ERA in 31 innings with Buffalo, but was unable to translate that success to the big leagues with any sort of consistency. Upon signing Igarashi away from the Yakult Swallows of Japan's Central League in 2010, the Mets hoped they had found a reliable setup man for then-closer Francisco Rodriguez. That much never materialized. Yet despite his lack of success stateside, Igarashi has indicated that he would like to remain in the United States next season, even if it means hooking on with a new team through a Minor League deal. Really disappointing player the club was desperate for us to dazzled by. Two things stand out for me: The myth that he was some kind of superstar before his injury last year (he'd had a couple of decent results that Gary Cohen perpetuated into a fish story); and Dan Warthen's remark later that year when asked what Igarashi needed to do to improve. He said: "He needs to calm down." That comment still intrigues me. What did he mean by that?

G-Fafif Oct 21 2011 07:56 AM Re: Memories of Ryota Igarashi

On the night Izzy made his second Met debut, Iggy entered with the bases loaded, got a 1-2 forceout, preserved the Mets' 4-2 lead...and then gave up the game-tying single to Carlos Gonzalez. Seemed to sum up the entirety of the Ryota Igarashi Experience. Did some fancy striking out late in the '11 season, but by then, Rocket Boy was clearly on the launching pad.

themetfairy Oct 21 2011 08:01 AM Re: Memories of Ryota Igarashi

MFS62 Oct 21 2011 08:14 AM Re: Memories of Ryota Igarashi

Listening to a late night game from Buffalo, and hearing that Igarashi's fastball was hitting 96 MPH on the radar gun. And being amazed. Later

metirish Oct 21 2011 08:26 AM Re: Memories of Ryota Igarashi

That comment still intrigues me. What did he mean by that? Probably wasn't listening to Dan?, I was one of those that thought this guy was going to be a star, had electric stuff and then it all went pear shaped.

TransMonk Oct 21 2011 08:29 AM Re: Memories of Ryota Igarashi

Underwhelmed every time I saw him. I did like having an Iggy and and Izzy.

Edgy MD Oct 21 2011 08:35 AM Re: Memories of Ryota Igarashi

He really had some great moments, usually when you were just about ready to toss him on the trash heap. A real feast-or-famine guy. His last appearance was him in a nutshell. Entered in a tie game in the eighth with Jay Bruce on second after a double. Intentionally walks Chris Heisey. He gets Todd Frazier on a grounder to third. He hits Ramon Hernandez to load the bases, and then strikeouts Cincinnati's pinch-hitter --- Dontrell Willis. Gets through the 11th after a two-out triple, and intentional walk to Votto, and unintentional intentional walk to Bruce, and a groundout by Heisey. Effective, but not sustainable. I wonder a lot about the Mets lack of success with players from the Orient. Two things jump out at me. One is the lack of a broader communications plan beyond hiring an interpreter --- leaving the players confused and alienated. The other is getting them too late to effectively coach. Japanese players come over here benefiting from a marvelous physical conditioning program, but both the hitters and the pitchers seem to have these complicated and studied motions with a lot of moving parts. Western coaching, I would think, would have simplified these motions at a young age, to make them more adaptable to new circumstances, but now they're ingrained in the players' game as they face the most profound new circumstances they'll ever see. That difficult adaptation combined with the cultural isolation is a tough load to bear. If I'm a Japanese player considering the US, I'd probably gravitate toward San Francisco or Seattle.

themetfairy Oct 21 2011 08:38 AM Re: Memories of Ryota Igarashi

I remember seeing him get lit up in Buffalo as a Bison in August 2009. Underwhelmed is the right word TM.

seawolf17 Oct 21 2011 08:48 AM Re: Memories of Ryota Igarashi

Edgy DC wrote: I wonder a lot about the Mets lack of success with players from the Orient. Two things jump out at me. One is the lack of a broader communications plan beyond hiring an interpreter --- leaving the players confused and alienated. The other is getting them too late to effectively coach. Japanese players come over here benefiting from a marvelous physical conditioning program, but both the hitters and the pitchers seem to have these complicated and studied motions with a lot of moving parts. Western coaching, I would think, would have simplified these motions at a young age, to make them more adaptable to new circumstances, but now they're ingrained in the players' game as they face the most profound new circumstances they'll ever see. That difficult adaptation combined with the cultural isolation is a tough load to bear. If I'm a Japanese player considering the US, I'd probably gravitate toward San Francisco or Seattle. There's definitely something there, but at the same time, you can count one one hand the list of successful Japanese imports in the past ten years -- Ichiro, Nomo, Hideki Matsui, and Kaz Sasaki, who had a decent albeit short run closing for the Mariners. It might not just be a Mets problem.

Edgy MD Oct 21 2011 08:56 AM Re: Memories of Ryota Igarashi

Yeah, sure, but we're looking to get a leg up on the competition. And finding a way to translate Far East ability to US fields more consistently may be one way to do it.

Ceetar Oct 21 2011 09:06 AM Re: Memories of Ryota Igarashi

Edgy DC wrote: Yeah, sure, but we're looking to get a leg up on the competition. And finding a way to translate Far East ability to US fields more consistently may be one way to do it. minimizing the culture shock is the new market inefficiency. I wonder how this applies to raw 17 year old talent drafted out of Latin America? Probably less of an issue in the low minor leagues..but I wonder how much teams consider bilingualness an asset when hiring a single-A manager?

seawolf17 Oct 21 2011 09:07 AM Re: Memories of Ryota Igarashi

And I guess my point is that maybe it's just not that easy. By place of birth, with ASG selections in parentheses: Japan: 52 (Ichiro 10, HMatsui 2, KSasaki 2, Nomo and four others 1) Taiwan: 6 (Kuo 1, CMWang 1) South Korea: 13 (BHKim 1, Park 1) That's it, pretty much. Add Chan Ho Park and SK's Shin Soo Choo to the list of Asian success stories, but that's it, since 1995 when Nomo debuted. And I guess I have zero faith in the Mets to be able to craft any sort of innovative program to buck the trend. Not that some team can't do it, but it ain't gonna involve the Wilpons.

Edgy MD Oct 21 2011 09:09 AM Re: Memories of Ryota Igarashi

Ceetar wrote: minimizing the culture shock is the new market inefficiency. That's what I'm thinking. Ceetar wrote: I wonder how this applies to raw 17 year old talent drafted out of Latin America? Probably less of an issue in the low minor leagues..but I wonder how much teams consider bilingualness an asset when hiring a single-A manager? I'm sure they consider it a lot. And if not managers, certainly coaches.

seawolf17 Oct 21 2011 09:27 AM Re: Memories of Ryota Igarashi

I'd think that almost every team in the minor leagues has at least one Spanish-speaking coach/manager on staff, if not an entire Spanish-speaking staff.

Frayed Knot Oct 21 2011 09:33 AM Re: Memories of Ryota Igarashi

Yeah, I'm sure every org does. They also start teaching their Spanish signees English real early on, if for no other reason than the fear that if the first english words they learn are "Supersize it" they'll eat their way out of a career before it ever gets started. The difference in Asian players is that most of them are coming over as older and fully-formed players so you don't have the lead time to break them in. Also the numbers are so comparatively small (and languages and dialects many) that it's not nearly as cheap and easy.

Ceetar Oct 21 2011 09:36 AM Re: Memories of Ryota Igarashi

Maybe these Asian players should start learning English on their own. afterall, some of them debate posting for years. couldn't hurt to at least go through the basics of Baseball English could it?

Benjamin Grimm Oct 21 2011 09:51 AM Re: Memories of Ryota Igarashi

I think that will soon take care of itself. When I was in Japan in 2006 I noticed that many of the younger locals spoke English. Not only those that I'd normally encounter as a tourist (in hotels and restaurants) but also those I'd meet on the street. In Japan, English has become part of the high school curriculum.

attgig Oct 21 2011 09:54 AM Re: Memories of Ryota Igarashi

seawolf17 wrote: That's it, pretty much. Add Chan Ho Park and SK's Shin Soo Choo to the list of Asian success stories, but that's it, since 1995 when Nomo debuted. I don't know if I'd count Shin Soo Choo with the list of everyone else. Choo was the only one who came over to america out of high school. he made a conscious decision to come to america early to chase his dream to be a mlb player. everyone else made their names in their respective leagues/countries before coming to america.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Oct 21 2011 10:01 AM Re: Memories of Ryota Igarashi

Edgy DC wrote: Yeah, sure, but we're looking to get a leg up on the competition. And finding a way to translate Far East ability to US fields more consistently may be one way to do it. Ceetar wrote: minimizing the culture shock is the new market inefficiency. "A-hem."

attgig Oct 21 2011 10:01 AM Re: Memories of Ryota Igarashi

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I think that will soon take care of itself. When I was in Japan in 2006 I noticed that many of the younger locals spoke English. Not only those that I'd normally encounter as a tourist (in hotels and restaurants) but also those I'd meet on the street. In Japan, English has become part of the high school curriculum. English has been in school curriculum (i think it starts earlier than hs actually) in japan, korea, and taiwan i believe. but i know i took 4 years of spanish in highschool, but i can't really carry on a conversation. i don't think by the time they make it to america that they would really be able to speak it that well... what they should do is ditch the translator so that they're forced to learn rather than always having a crutch. it would suck at first, but it would take less time for them to pick it up.. speaking of asians speaking english...one of my favorite clips [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GIEHPGj9sI[/youtube]

Edgy MD Oct 21 2011 10:04 AM Re: Memories of Ryota Igarashi

What they should do is ditch this posting system and start signing more Asian prospects at 18.

attgig Oct 21 2011 10:13 AM Re: Memories of Ryota Igarashi

Edgy DC wrote: What they should do is ditch this posting system and start signing more Asian prospects at 18. asian leagues would hate mlb for that, and definitely strain existing relationships, ie posting system. choo is such an anomaly because there's pressure for players to do well in their own countries first before going anywhere else (even from korea to japan).

Edgy MD Oct 21 2011 10:17 AM Re: Memories of Ryota Igarashi

Not for nothing, but let them hate. It's a competitive game. The system as it stands is designed to reward the club over the player... of course.

seawolf17 Oct 21 2011 10:20 AM Re: Memories of Ryota Igarashi

But that's the Japanese system. You're not going to ask them to change a bazillion years of cultural growth just so a handful of ballplayers can hit some home runs 6,000 miles from home.

Edgy MD Oct 21 2011 10:32 AM Re: Memories of Ryota Igarashi

They don't have to agree to it. The players are free creatures, endowed by their creator with the inalienable right work for whomever they choose.

Frayed Knot Oct 21 2011 12:08 PM Re: Memories of Ryota Igarashi

attgig wrote: Benjamin Grimm wrote: I think that will soon take care of itself. When I was in Japan in 2006 I noticed that many of the younger locals spoke English. Not only those that I'd normally encounter as a tourist (in hotels and restaurants) but also those I'd meet on the street. In Japan, English has become part of the high school curriculum. English has been in school curriculum (i think it starts earlier than hs actually) in japan, korea, and taiwan i believe. but i know i took 4 years of spanish in highschool, but i can't really carry on a conversation. i don't think by the time they make it to america that they would really be able to speak it that well... what they should do is ditch the translator so that they're forced to learn rather than always having a crutch. it would suck at first, but it would take less time for them to pick it up.. Complicated by the fact that these are ballplayers we're talking about and not necessarily the best students. Whenever this subject gets brought up it brings to mind my brother's HS friend who wound up in Japan teaching English. Now Jimmy S is a good guy and all but he has the classic NY/Italian accent and I always imagine his Japanese students speaking English like extras from a Scorcese mob film.

Edgy MD Oct 21 2011 12:46 PM Re: Memories of Ryota Igarashi

Wow, you went to school with Jimmy Squillante, "King of the Garbage Protection Racket"? Body was never found, if I'm not mistaken.

Edgy MD Dec 21 2011 08:24 AM Memories of Ryota Igarshi

When good, he was good. When bad, he seemed to be desperately clueless, and the most hittable guy out there. Certainly got his share of strikeouts. And very effective in the minors. Once the fastest pitcher in Japan, and part of the reason I wonder if the Mets need to try something new in bridging the communication gap with their Far East imports. He was in camp last year when the earthquake/tsunami/meltdown hit.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 21 2011 08:33 AM Re: Memories of Ryota Igarshi

"He needs to calm down" --Dan Warthen Whiffed the side with the bases loaded in the 20-inning Cardinal game IIRC. The Mets were desperate to sell this guy as the shizz, while unheralded Takahashi ate his lunch.

G-Fafif Dec 21 2011 08:35 AM Re: Memories of Ryota Igarshi

Didn't we already memories-ize this guy? Perhaps that's my greatest memory of Ryota Igarashi: insisting we had said goodbye to him sooner.

Edgy MD Dec 21 2011 08:38 AM Re: Memories of Ryota Igarshi

How embarrassing. Yeah, I hold off on my total recall threads until the guy gets signed elsewhere. That's how I roll, but others memorialize as soon as he is set free. I'll find the other thread and merge it.