Sugano throws BP at Rox camp before departing for Classic
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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Righty Tomoyuki Sugano’s one throwing session before taking off to represent Japan at the World Baseball Classic was a facsimile of what the Rockies want to see when the season starts.
Sugano’s four-seam fastball topped out at 91 mph (he averaged 92.7 mph last season with the Orioles), and there were no hard-hit balls during his 21 pitches in live batting practice. He struck out one, walked one (Blaine Crim, the first batter) and induced three groundouts.
“It’s nothing different than usual years,” said Sugano, a star with the Yomiuri Giants for 12 seasons before signing with the Orioles a year ago, through interpreter Yuto Sakurai. “I usually train during the offseason starting in mid-December, and so far it’s pretty good. I’ll continue with my regimen.”
A Rockies team looking for experience for its rotation spent $5.1 million for one year of Sugano, who earned Japan’s top pitcher award three times and its league MVP award twice. But he insists that’s the past, and what’s new is getting to know his new teammates. He spent time talking with lefty Kyle Freeland about addressing the altitude and is basically just being the new guy around Salt River Fields at Talking Stick.
“All the accolades that I have in Japan, I left in Japan,” he said. “The only thing I think about is being successful here.”
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OTHERS GETTING GLOBAL COMPETITION
Right-hander Juan Mejia, who went 2-2 with a 3.96 ERA and one save last year in a 55-game Major League debut, was beaming Monday – a day after he received an invitation to play for the Dominican Republic.
“I was excited, and we’ll see how I do,” Mejia said.
The Rockies will be represented by 12 players from Major League camp and one from Minor League camp – Sugano (Japan), Mejia (Dominican Republic), SS Ezequiel Tovar and RHP Antonio Senzatela (Venezuela), LHP Brennan Bernadino and RHP Victor Vodnik (Mexico), No. 3 Rockies prospect INF/OF Cole Carrigg and INF/OF Troy Johnston (Israel), INF Edouard Julien and Minor League LHP Antoine Jean (Canada), LHP Jose Quintana (Colombia), RHP Michael Lorenzen (Italy) and INF/OF Willi Castro (Puerto Rico).