Asian baseball players making a big splash in 2024 (Ohtani, Kwan, Jung-hoo Lee, Yamamoto, Imanaga, Seiya Suzuki, Kim) – The complete list of Asian Baseball Players upate

AsianPlayers | April 18, 2024 | Baseball | No Comments

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For the COMPLETE list of Asian players in Major League Baseball

Rank	Name	Ethnicity	Ht/Wt	Pos	Year	League	Team	Accomplishments	Debut
Rank	Name	Ethnicity	Ht/Wt	Pos	Year	League	Team	Accomplishments
1	Yamamoto, Yoshinobu	Japanese	5’10” 176lbs	SP	present-2024 (MLB)	MLB	Los Angeles Dodgers	2024 $325mil/12yr biggest ever for pitcher	2024
4	Imanaga, Shota	Japanese	5’10” 175lbs	SP	present-2024 (MLB)	MLB	Chicago Cubs	2024 $53mil/4yr	2024
5	Lee, Jung-hoo	Korean	6’1″ 192lbs	CF	present-2024 (MLB)	MLB	San Francisco Giants	2024 $113mil/6yr	2024
7	Matsui, Yuki	Japanese	5’8″ 165lbs	RP	present-2024 (MLB)	MLB	San Diego Padres	2024 $28mil/5yr	2024
7	Teng, Kai-Wei	Taiwanese	6’4″ 260lbs	SP	present-2024 (MLB)	A	SF Giants	2022 6-12 5.22 136.1inn 169Ks (minors)	2024
5	Pham, Alex	Vietnamese/Chinese	5’11” 164lbs	P	present-2024 (AAA)	AAA	Baltimore Orioles	2024 Spring training
8	Cheng, Tsung-che	Taiwanese	5’7″ 173lbs	SS	present-2024 (AAA)	AAA	Pittsburgh Pirates	2024 Spring training	2024
8	Go, woo-suk	Korean	5’11” 198lbs	RP	present-2024 (AAA)	AAA	San Diego Padres	2024 $4.5mil/2yr
3	Senga, Kodai	Japanese	6’1″ 202lbs	P	present-2023 (MLB)	MLB	New York Mets	2023 2.98 12-7 166.1inn 202Ks 2022 signs 5-yr $75 million contract	2023
3	Yoshida, Masataka	Japanese	5’8″ 176lbs	LF	present-2023 (MLB)	MLB	Boston Redsox	2023 .289 15HR .445 537ab 2022 signs 5-yr $90 million contract	2023
6	Fujinami, Shintaro	Japanese	6’6″ 180lbs	P	present-2023 (MLB)	MLB	New York Mets, Baltimore Orioles, Oakland A’s	2023 7.18 7-8 79.0inn 83Ks (OAK-BAL) 2023 signs 1-yr $3.25 million contract	2023
7	Woo, Bryan	Chinese/White	6’2″ 205lbs	SP	present-2023 (MLB)	MLB	Seattle Mariners	2023 4.21 4-5 87.2inn 93Ks	2023
2	Suzuki, Seiya	Japanese	5’11” 182lbs	RF	present-2022 (MLB)	MLB	Chicago Cubs	2023 .285 20HR .485 515ab 2022 .262 14HR .433 397ab 2022 5-yr $85 million	2022
3	Kwan, Steven	Chinese/Japanese	5’9″ 175lbs	CF	present-2022 (MLB)	MLB	Cleveland Guardians	2023 .268 5HR .370 638ab 2022 .298 6HR .400 563ab 2022 Broke MLB record for most times-on-base to start career 2018 5th round pick (CLE)	2022
8	Bae Ji-Hwan	Korean	6’1″ 185lbs	2B, CF	present-2022 (MLB)	MLB	Pittsburgh Pirates	2023 .231 2HR .311 334ab 24SB 2022 .333 0HR .424 33ab	2023
3	Kim, Ha-Seong	Korean	5’9″ 168lbs	SS, 3B	present-2021 (MLB)	MLB, KBO	San Diego Padres	2023 .260 17HR .398 538ab 2022 .251 11HR .383 517ab 2021 .202 8HR .352 267ab 2020 4yr $28mil	2020
8	Park, Hoy	Korean	6’1″ 200lbs	SS, 2B	present-2021 (MLB)	MLB	Oakland A’s, Pittsburgh Pirates, NY Yankees	2022 .216 2HR .373 51ab 2021 .195 3HR .339 128ab (PIT) 2015 signed by Yankees
3	Hiura, Keston	Japanese	6’0″ 200lbs	2B	present-2019 (MLB)	MLB, NCAA	Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, UCIrvine	2023 minors 2022 .226 14HR .449 234ab 2021 .168 4HR .301 173ab 2020* .212 13HR 217ab .410 .410 2019 .303 19HR .570 314ab 2017 1st round #9	2019
4	Kikuchi, Yusei	Japanese	6’0″ 200lbs	P	present-2019 (MLB)	MLB, NPB	Toronto BlueJays, Seattle Mariners, Seibu Lions	2023 3.86 11-6 167.2inn 181Ks 2022 5.19 6-7 100.2inn 124Ks (TOR) 2021 4.41 7-9 157.0inn 163Ks (All-star) 2020* 5.17 2-4 47.0inn 47Ks 2019 5.46 6-11 161.2inn 116Ks 2019 3-yr $43mil	2019
6	Joe, Connor Kok-wy	Chinese	6’0″ 205lbs	LF	present-2019 (MLB)	MLB	Pittsburgh Pirates, Colorado Rockies, SF Giants	2023 .247 11HR .421 413ab (PIT) 2022 .238 7HR .359 404ab 2021 .285 8HR .469 179ab 2020 Battled cancer
6	Chang, Yu	Taiwanese	6’1″ 180lbs	CF	present-2019 (MLB)	MLB	Tampa Bay Rays, Cleveland Indians, PIT, Boston RedSox	2023 .162 6HR .352 105ab (BOS) 2022 .208 4HR .315 168ab (CLE,PIT,TB,BOS) 2021 .228 9HR .426 237ab 2019 .178 1HR 73ab
1	Ohtani, Shohei	Japanese	6’4″ 210lbs	DH, P	present-2018 (MLB)	MLB, NPB	Los Angeles Dodgers, Anaheim Angels	2024 Signs record-breaking $700 million/10yrs contract 2023 .304 44HR .654 497ab MVP [3.14 10-5 132.0inn 167K] 2022 .273 34HR .519 586ab MVP [2.33 15-9 166.0inn 219K] 2021 .257 46HR .592 537ab MVP [3.18 9-2 130.1inn 156K] 2020* .190 7HR .366 153ab [37.80 0-1 1.2inn 3Ks] 2019 .286 18HR .505 384ab 2018 .285 22HR .564 326ab (ROY) [3.31 4-2 51.2inn 63Ks]	2018
6	Higashioka, Kyle	Japanese, white	6’1″ 202lbs	C	present-2017 (MLB)	MLB	San Diego Padres, New York Yankees	2023 .236 10HR .413 242ab 2022 .227 10HR .389 229ab 2021 .118 10HR .389 193ab 2020* .250 4HR 48ab .521 .521 2008 7th round pick (NYY)
2	Maeda, Kenta	Japanese	6’1″ 185lbs	P	present-2016 (MLB)	MLB	Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins	2023 6-8 4.23 104.1inn 117so 2022 –injured– 2021 6-5 4.66 106.1inn 113so 2020 6-1 2.70 66.2inn 80so (CY2) 2019 10-8 4.04 153.2inn 169so 2018 8-10 3.81 125.1inn 153so 2017 13-6 4.22 134.1inn 140so 2016 16-11 3.48 175.2inn 179so (ROY3)	2016
8	Kim, Jung-tae (Rob Refsnyder)	Korean (adopted by American parents)	6’0″ 205lbs	OF	present-2015 (MLB)	MLB	Boston Redsox, TOR, TEX, TBR, MIN, New York Yankees	2021 .325 2HR 139ab 2015 .302 2HR 43ab
9	Wong, Connor	Chinese, white	6’1″ 181lbs	C	present-2015 (AA)	AA	Boston Red Sox, LA Dodgers	2022 .188 1HR .313 48ab 2021 .308 0HR .538 13ab 2017 3rd round pick (LA Dodgers)
5	Pham, Tommy	Vietnamese, Black	6’1″ 223lbs	CF	present-2014 (MLB)	MLB	Chicago WhiteSox, AZ Diamondbacks, NY Mets, San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays, St Louis Cardinals	2023 .256 16HR 426abs 2022 .236 17HR 554abs 2021 .229 15HR 475ab 2019 .273 21HR 2018 .275 21HR 2017 .306 23HR 25SB (MVP-11) 2006 16th round pick
2	Wong, Kolten	Chinese, Hawaiian	5’7″ 185lbs	2B	present-2013 (MLB)	MLB	Arizona Diamondbacks, Seattle Mariners, St Louis Cardinals	2021 .272 14HR 445ab 2019 .285 11HR 24sb 549ab (MVP20) 2015 .262 11HR 557ab 15sb 2014 .249 12HR 402aab 20sb 2011 1st round pick #22
1	Darvish, Yu	Japanese, Iranian	6’5″ 215lbs	P	present-2012 (MLB)	MLB, NPB	San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, LA Dodgers, Texas Rangers	2023 4.18 8-10 136.1inn 141Ks 2022 3.10 16-8 194.2inn 197Ks 2021 8-11 4.22ERA 166.1inn 199Ks (AllStar) 2020 8-3 2.01ERA 76.0inn 93Ks (CY-2) 2017 3.86 10-12 209Ks (AllStar) 2014 3.06ERA 10-7 182Ks 144.1inn 2013 2.83ERA 13-9 277Ks 209.2inn (AllStar, CY-2) 2012 3.90ERA 16-9 221Ks (ROY-3) 2012 6-yr $60mil	2012
4	Choi, Ji-Man	Korean	6’1″ 260lbs	1B	present-2010 (MLB)	MLB	New York Mets, San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Tampa Bay Rays, LA Angels, NY Yankees	2023 .163 6HR 104ab 2021 .229 11HR 258ab 2019 .261 19HR 410ab 63rbi .459 2018 .263 10HR 190ab .505 2016 .170 5HR 112ab