Japanese right-hander Kohei Arihara will be allowed to make the jump to MLB after his Nippon Professional Baseball team, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, posted him on Thursday.
Arihara's entry into the MLB-NPB posting system starts a 30-day window for all 30 Major League clubs to negotiate with the 28-year-old starting pitcher.
Arihara was posted at 8 a.m. ET on Thursday, per a release from the Fighters, giving MLB teams until Dec. 26 at 5 p.m. ET to come to a deal with him.
Arihara went 8-9 with a 3.46 ERA in 20 games for the Fighters in 2020, with 106 strikeouts in 132 2/3 innings. In 2019, he went 15-8 with a 2.46 ERA in 24 games, with 161 strikeouts in 164 1/3 innings.
According to scouting reports from Sports Info Solutions' Will Hoefer and Ted Baarda, Arihara throws both a four-seam and two-seam fastball, sitting in the low 90s, and his best strikeout pitch is his splitter, in the high 80s. Arihara also uses a low-80s slider against right-handed batters and mixes in a cutter, changeup and curveball against lefties.
If Arihara signs with a Major League club, that team will have to pay a posting fee to the Fighters based on the value of Arihara's MLB contract. If Arihara doesn't sign with an MLB team, he'll be returned to the Fighters and can't be posted again until next offseason.