{"id":19620,"date":"2025-07-18T18:49:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T18:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/19620\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T18:49:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T18:49:11","slug":"from-tokyo-to-citi-field-kodai-senga-is-a-key-part-of-baseballs-international-charge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/19620\/","title":{"rendered":"From Tokyo to Citi Field: Kodai Senga is a key part of baseball\u2019s international charge"},"content":{"rendered":"

CNN
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n When Kodai Senga takes the mound at Citi Field, he\u2019s not just pitching for the New York Mets. He\u2019s part of a rising wave of Japanese talent that\u2019s breathing new life into America\u2019s pastime \u2013 and drawing millions of new eyes on both sides of the Pacific.\n <\/p>\n

\n In an interview with CNN\u2019s Jim Sciutto, the three-time NPB All-Star shared what the transition was like moving from Japan\u2019s Nippon Professional Baseball to Major League Baseball.\n <\/p>\n

A new generation of talent \u2014 and fans<\/p>\n

\n \u201cOf course, there are differences when playing baseball in a different culture, so I think it\u2019s really important to think about it and study it well so that I can take advantage of the good parts of the baseball here (in the United States) and the baseball over there (in Japan),\u201d he told Sciutto.\n <\/p>\n

\n When asked what the hardest adjustment has been game-wise, Senga said, \u201cIt\u2019s definitely the ball, the ball is very different.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Known for his powerful fastball, the thirty-two-year-old pitcher holds a 7-3 record and 74 strikeouts across 77 innings this season alone.<\/a> His performance has been instrumental in the Mets\u2019 strong pitching lineup \u2013 and their current first place standing in the National League East.\n <\/p>\n

\"KANSAS<\/p>\n

\n And even though he\u2019s heading to the injured list with Thursday\u2019s hamstring injury, Senga\u2019s fast adaptation \u2013 and his 1.39 ERA this season \u2013 is only one part of a much bigger story: A growing Japan-to-MLB pipeline that\u2019s sparking international viewership and cross-cultural tourism.\n <\/p>\n

\n This season, 12 Japanese players appeared on MLB Opening Day rosters \u2014 the highest since 2012. The list includes not only household names like Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but fresh faces like Roki Sasaki and Shota Imanaga, who are redefining what a rookie campaign can look like.\n <\/p>\n

\n The fan bases are also growing in numbers. MLB viewership has spiked on both sides of the Pacific this season: ESPN is up 22%, TBS 16%, and NHK in Japan is also up 22%. During March\u2019s Tokyo Series \u2014 where the Cubs and Dodgers squared off \u2014 over 25 million viewers tuned in, setting a new record for an MLB game broadcast in Japan.\n <\/p>\n

\n The \u201cOhtani Effect\u201d has been well-documented in Los Angeles over the last several years.\n <\/p>\n

\n Japanese fans frequently flock to Dodger Stadium for a chance to see the dugout, the field, and even embark on Japanese-language tours to get a feel for the behind the scenes of the game.\n <\/p>\n

\"Los<\/p>\n

\n There are even new waves of tourism going straight to Japan itself.\n <\/p>\n

\n JapanBall Tours, which takes fans from the U.S. to Japan for NPB games, has seen a 27% jump in social media followers this year and a 31% increase in newsletter subscriptions, according to the New York Times.<\/a>\n <\/p>\n

\n When asked if this influx of top talent to the US could hurt the Japanese league, Senga pointed to how change is actually a positive.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t stay the way we are just because things are changing but instead create a system where even if new players leave, the next generation can join in,\u201d Senga said.\n <\/p>\n

\n It\u2019s not just players \u2013 the Mets themselves have a long history with Japan. They played in the first MLB Opening Day game overseas in 2000 at the Tokyo Dome. Back in 1996, they became the first team to play in both Japan and Mexico.\n <\/p>\n

\n When asked if he\u2019d like to finish his career in the US, the MLB all-star said, \u201cif I could get a long-term contract, that would be my wish.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"Fans<\/p>\n

\n Baseball may be the same game in theory \u2013 three strikes and you\u2019re out \u2013 but the cultural nuances are vast. But Senga points out the experience is actually more complementary than conflicting.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cOver here (in the United States) when the excitement hits, the fans cheer loudly, and you can really tell they\u2019re here to enjoy the game. While over there (in Japan) they enjoy the cheering itself almost as its own activity, so I think that\u2019s a different experience,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n

\n With MLB\u2019s international player count at 265 across 18 countries and a growing share of that coming from Japan, the league is poised to raise the level of competition for international players.\n <\/p>\n

\n For Senga, though, that does not affect his play. When asked if there is pressure to go up against another Japanese player like Ohtani, Senga said, \u201cI think it\u2019s more the media and the people around me that makes a bigger deal that the (opposing) player is Japanese\u2026 For the players themselves, it\u2019s the same experience, whether you\u2019re able to stop the batter or not. So, I don\u2019t think it makes a difference.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n And as for life in New York?\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIf it\u2019s New York, pretty easy\u201d, Senga says when asked about finding good Japanese food.\n <\/p>\n

\n Favorite spot? \u201cI have several.\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CNN \u00a0\u2014\u00a0 When Kodai Senga takes the mound at Citi Field, he\u2019s not just pitching for the New…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19621,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99],"class_list":["post-19620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}