Meet Yoko, Diablos Rojos del Mexico’s First Japanese Ballplayer

The journey that made Takaaki Yokoyama the first Japanase player with Diablos Rojos del Mexico in 79 years of franchise history was not a planned one.

Back in 2014, when he made his debut in Japan with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, his main goal was to make a living in Japanese baseball. In order to do it, he had a what might be called a typical repertoire for a Japanese pitcher — fastball, sinker, curveball, slider, and changeup. But he struggled with home run issues and below-average velocity on his heater (138.9 kmh or 86.3 mph). He tried to improve his offspeed stuff after a rough couple of years, moving from a classic changeup to a splitter. That bumped up his velocity on offspeed pitchs almost 4 mph but did nothing to correct his main problem in NPB: his fastball was getting destroyed. According to Deltagraphs, his four-seam fastball had a -10.6 run value in less than 20 innings pitched in 2016. Two years later, he was released.

Luckily for Yokoyama, that wasn’t the end of the road. The 28-year-old right-hander teamed up with a group of international players to showcase themselves in several spring games organized by Yokoyama’s agent and translator, Toma Irokawa, in an effort to offer their services to American teams.

The plan worked for him. He signed with the New Jersey Jackals in the CanAm league and was about to get his first shot at independent baseball until things hit a snag.

“He had everything set up but problems with the immigration process delayed us. In the middle of that process, we got the call from Diablos Rojos,” remembers Toma.

Word of Yokoyama and the showcase had spread, and a team in need of bullpen help was about to get it in the form of its first Japanese pitcher.

Prior to being signed, Yoko, as he likes to be called by Diablos broadcasters, tweaked his mechanics in order to help his profile.

“I lowered my arm and it helped me develop horizontal movement with my slider. Now it’s my best secondary pitch,” Yokoyama said proudly, without an interpreter (he does speak a little English).

Among other things, the slider was exactly what made him attractive to Diablos.

“His slider moves a lot. If he is able to control it and pair it with his fastball at that angle, he is going to do damage here, especially against right-handed hitters,” said Luis Fernando Mendez, Diablos Rojos del Mexico’s pitching coach.

But playing in Mexico comes with some hurdles. There is the language barrier, of course. Yokoyama doesn’t speak a word of Spanish, though he says this is only difficult when he is not on the field.

“It’s difficult to be around without knowing Spanish. I just talk a lot using the WiFi in my hotel with my family and girlfriend,” he confesses.

When he is between the lines, he lets his pitches speak for him, and relies on his catchers and coaches.

Another thing that he has had to adjust to is the ball. This year, Mexican baseball is using a Franklin ball that is much different from the Mizuno ones Yokoyama was used to in Japan. The Franklin ball, he says, has more prominent seams and feels harder.

“I don’t generate the same movement with my slider. I don’t make it sweep as much as I used to with the other ball,” he says. Of course, this is something that he is working on. He has only had two weeks in Mexico and is getting more comfortable as the days go by. The new ball has been linked to a massive spike in power in the already offense-friendly Mexican League. LMB teams right now are averaging 1.39 home runs per nine innings, about a 50% surge from last year’s numbers (0.93 HR/9 IP).

This number doesn’t intimidate Yokoyama, who sees himself as a groundball pitcher.

“My work is to generate weak contact on the ground. That’s why I also don’t care much about pitching here at such a high altitude. I’ve noticed that it gets hard to breathe when you are getting tired. Fortunately, I’m here as a reliever,” he said with a smile.

Mexico City is around 2000 feet higher than Denver, making it an absolute paradise for hitters and a very tough spot for pitchers.

Yokoyama also pointed out that because of his new home, he is embracing a different mode of baseball training. After many years in Japan, he has discovered that the physical realities of playing in Mexico City require some adjustments to his regimen.

“I want to be ready every single day. If I train like I trained in Japan, I couldn’t do that. I would get tired,” he acknowledges.

Of course, this doesn’t mean he doesn’t wish for a return to NPB, or maybe for a shot with an MLB team. Mexican League ball is a version of the minors after all, and as with most of the players in the minors, he still believes he has what is needed to play at a higher level.

In the meantime, he has little to complain about; he is in a foreign country, enjoying the amenities of a brand new stadium, making history while he pitches and tries to show that Mexican baseball and Japanese players are more compatible than they’ve been thought to be in the past.

“I think a lot has to do with lack of information. There are a lot of players in Japan that are looking for a chance to get better and keep playing in good leagues. I think Mexico is a destination that can really do that for them if they get the call,” he says.

Yokoyamas’ opinion isn’t lacking in evidence. His countryman Yasumoto Kubo is leading the league in strikeouts (69) and is top five in K-BB% among qualified pitchers (17.5%) while pitching with Bravos de Leon. Yes, he has a high ERA (5.52), but it’s still below league average (6.02), and he is leading the league in innings pitched (66.1).

If Yoko can duplicate that production on the biggest baseball stage in Mexico and manages to avoid the home run plague that is affecting the league, maybe he will serve as further proof that Mexican teams should take a more expansive view when they are searching abroad for answers on their current rosters.