SARASOTA, Fla. -- Less than an hour after his arrival to his first MLB Spring Training at Ed Smith Stadium on Saturday morning, Tomoyuki Sugano delivered a message to his new Orioles teammates via interpreter Yuto Sakurai:
“Let’s go win a world championship.”
Sugano, a 35-year-old right-hander with 12 years of experience in Nippon Professional Baseball, made a bit of surprising news when he chose to sign with Baltimore in December. The O’s haven’t typically been major players in the Japanese market, having only signed one player from the country who then pitched in the big leagues (Koji Uehara in 2010).
But the Orioles made a strong pitch to Sugano, who liked everything he heard. Now, it’s time for him to try to help lead the club deep into October.
“When I first met with the Baltimore Orioles before I signed, they had strongly expressed their desire to win the world championship,” Sugano said. “So that has been my goal throughout.”
It’s only been one day, but Sugano appears to be fitting in with his new team quite well.
Prior to Saturday’s workouts, manager Brandon Hyde introduced Sugano -- who the skipper is referring to as “Tomo” -- to the rest of the players already in camp. Sugano showed up a few days late because of a visa issue, flying in from Tokyo on Friday.
“He’s all about winning, and that was clear in the two Zooms that we had with him this offseason, that he’s coming over here to win,” Hyde said. “It’s a great mentality, and I love the mindset he has.”
“Whether it’s cultural, whether there’s language barriers, whether there’s age gaps -- baseball can transcend that,” said veteran right-hander Charlie Morton, who is also new to the O’s this spring. “I shook [Sugano’s] hand, I looked him in the eye and was like, ‘Man, this is a really cool thing that we get to do this.' He gets to be here in a place that he deserves to be. I’m excited to sit there and watch him, and pull for him as a teammate and support him and get to know him.”
In Japan, Sugano was a two-time winner of the Sawamura Award -- NPB’s version of the Cy Young -- a three-time Central League MVP and an eight-time All-Star while spending the entirety of his career with the Yomiuri Giants. He signed a one-year, $13 million deal with the O’s and should slot into their rotation to begin the 2025 season.
After spending much of the offseason training in Hawaii, Sugano played catch and ran the warning track on a practice field during his first day at Orioles camp. He said he expects to throw his first bullpen session on Monday, and it will be a highly attended event, given the large contingent of Japanese media here in Sarasota.
That’s nothing new to Sugano.
“I’m not so surprised, because with the Yomiuri Giants, it was like this every day,” Sugano said with a smile.
Sugano is also used to pitching in a five-man rotation, as he said that was something he did on occasion during his career in Japan. But he knows there will be an acclimation process, especially once he begins to face big league hitters, who can have much different approaches than those in other leagues around the world.
So far, though, Sugano looks to be getting comfortable with his new surroundings, as his first day in MLB Spring Training appeared to be a rousing success.
“Everybody comes to talk to me, it’s really nice. Especially Brandon Hyde, he says, ‘If anything, just let me know,’” Sugano said. “Just really excited. It was a very good day.”
Camp tidbits
• Right-hander Zach Eflin also reported to camp Saturday and threw his first bullpen session of the spring. The 30-year-old was late to arrive after his wife, Lauren, gave birth to a boy, Hayden, who is the couple’s first son and fourth child (all 3 1/2 or younger).
“It’s been a little crazy. Went from being a full-time baseball player to running a daycare, it feels like,” Eflin said. “We had such a great offseason.”
• Chayce McDermott (Baltimore’s No. 5 prospect per MLB Pipeline) has a right lat/teres strain that will prevent him from starting a throwing program for about 10-14 more days, per Hyde. The 26-year-old righty reported soreness following his final bullpen session before the start of camp.