Most of the players who played in Asia and then moved to the major leagues have already gained successful experience in Japan or Korea. Although he qualifies as a rookie in the major leagues, he cannot be considered a rookie in the strict sense. In fact, the American media also holds this view.

However, even if a player has perfected his skills, he cannot rise to the top class level right away. Although high-level pitchers representing Asia have advanced to the major leagues and won rookie awards such as Hideo Nomo and Kazuhiro Sasaki, it was unprecedented for them to be in the top three in Cy Young Award voting from their debut season in the major leagues.도메인

Nomo, who suddenly became a ‘yellow sensation’, appeared in 28 games in 1995, his major league debut season, and showed excellent performance with 13 wins, 6 losses, and an average ERA of 2.54. In 191⅓ innings, he also recorded a league-leading 236 strikeouts. At the time, he won both the National League Rookie of the Year Award and the All-Star Award. However, he failed to enter the ‘Top 3’, finishing 4th in Cy Young Award voting.

Wang Chen-ming, who is considered the best pitcher from Taiwan, also recorded 19 wins in 2006 and ranked second in Cy Young Award voting. However, Wang Chenming was also a pitcher who pitched 116⅓ innings in 18 games in 2005 and was not a rookie. Yu Darvish (San Diego), who is trying to surpass Chan-ho Park’s record for the most wins in Asia, also achieved the feat of finishing second in Cy Young Award voting in 2013 and second in Cy Young Award voting in 2020. However, in his debut season, he was 9th in Cy Young voting.

Ryu Hyun-jin, the best pitcher from the KBO League, ranked 2nd in the National League Cy Young Award voting in 2019 and 3rd in the American League Cy Young Award voting in 2020, showing off his spirit as a ‘Top 3’ for two consecutive years, but in 2013, his debut season, he won 14 games. He was a good pitcher, but not a player worthy of Cy Young Award votes.

But this year, that wall may be broken. Kodai Senga (30), who debuted in the Major League wearing the New York Mets uniform this year, is a strong candidate. Senga, who has been famous for his ‘ghost forkball’ since his days in Japan, played 166⅓ innings in 29 games this year, achieving excellent results of 12 wins, 7 losses, an ERA of 2.98, and 202 strikeouts.

In the early part of the season, in addition to strong advantages, there were also disadvantages such as a lot of walks. However, after the middle of the season, he found a clue in the walk problem, and after fully establishing himself in the major league, he cruised along and eventually finished the season with an ERA in the 2-point range (2.98). It was a very successful debut season.

In the end, there are predictions that he will do well in Cy Young voting as well. Considering his actual performance, such a prediction is not unreasonable. It is also ranked quite high in the Cy Young Award prediction model designed by sabermetrician Tom Tango.

With the regular season completed, the leader in this year’s National League category is Blake Snell (San Diego) with 82.4 points. Snell has the No. 1 record in the major leagues across both major leagues. Second place is Arizona’s ace Jack Gallen (63.0 points). There is also an opinion that the difference between Snell and Gallon is so large that Snell’s blood-free nature is expected.

3rd place is Spencer Stryder (Atlanta) with 61.4 points, 4th place is Justin Steele (Chicago Cubs) with 61.3 points, 5th place is Logan Webb (San Francisco) with 60.4 points, and 6th place is Sengar with 60.4 points. In fact, there is no difference in scores from 2nd to 6th place. Ranking may be determined based on the impression of the voting public. Senga became famous for his forkball this year, struck out a lot of strikeouts, and is expected to have an afterimage effect as he gets stronger in the second half of the year. Attention is being paid to whether he will be able to enter the top 3 in his first year of debut.