Every Japanese Player in MLB in 2026: Rosters, Stats and Legends

Japanese players have never had a bigger footprint in Major League Baseball than they do right now: 15 of them are on MLB rosters in 2026, and one is putting up a 1.79 ERA while hitting 30 home runs. Here is the complete roster, where every notable name stands through Aug. 25, and how three pioneers made all of it possible.

Key Takeaways

• Fifteen Japanese players are on MLB rosters in 2026, the most ever.
• Shohei Ohtani is having the most complete two-way season of his career: .288 with 30 home runs as a hitter, 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA as a pitcher.
• Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the 2025 World Series MVP, is 12-7 with a 2.61 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP.
• The rookie class has split three ways: Munetaka Murakami homered in his first three MLB games, Kazuma Okamoto broke a 24-year-old Blue Jays record, and Tatsuya Imai has been moved to the bullpen.
• Yu Darvish is on the restricted list and will miss the entire season after elbow surgery, having forfeited his $16 million salary.

Every Japanese Player on an MLB Roster in 2026

Current through Aug. 25. Includes Lars Nootbaar, who is Japanese-American and has played for Samurai Japan.

Player	No.	Position	Team	League
Shohei Ohtani	17	P / DH	Los Angeles Dodgers	NL
Yoshinobu Yamamoto	18	P	Los Angeles Dodgers	NL
Roki Sasaki	11	P	Los Angeles Dodgers	NL
Seiya Suzuki	27	OF	Chicago Cubs	NL
Shota Imanaga	18	P	Chicago Cubs	NL
Kodai Senga	34	P	New York Mets	NL
Yuki Matsui	1	P	San Diego Padres	NL
Yu Darvish (out for the season after elbow surgery; on the restricted list, forfeited his $16 million 2026 salary; under contract through 2028 and targeting a 2027 return)	11	P	San Diego Padres	NL
Lars Nootbaar (opened the year on the 60-day IL after surgery on both heels; debuted June 6)	21	OF	St. Louis Cardinals	NL
Tomoyuki Sugano	11	P	Colorado Rockies	NL
Masataka Yoshida (on the 10-day IL)	7	OF	Boston Red Sox	AL
Yusei Kikuchi	16	P	Los Angeles Angels	AL
Munetaka Murakami	5	IF	Chicago White Sox	AL
Kazuma Okamoto	7	IF	Toronto Blue Jays	AL
Tatsuya Imai	45	P	Houston Astros	AL

The Japanese Stars Leading MLB Right Now

Shohei Ohtani (Dodgers)

Ohtani, born in July 1994 in Iwate, went from Hanamaki Higashi High School to the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (Pacific League) and reached MLB in 2018. He signed with the Dodgers for 2024 on a 10-year, $700 million deal, still the largest contract in the history of North American team sports.

In 2024, limited to hitting while rehabbing his elbow, he became the first player ever to go 50-50 — 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in the same season — won the home run and RBI titles, and helped the Dodgers to a World Series title. He returned to full two-way work in 2025: .282 with 55 home runs, 102 RBIs, 20 steals and a 1.014 OPS at the plate, plus 14 pitching appearances with a 2.87 ERA and 62 strikeouts. He was named No. 1 on the 2025 MLB Top 100 for the fourth time.

The 2026 season is the most complete version of the experiment yet. Through Aug. 25 he is hitting .288 with 30 home runs, 80 RBIs, 9 stolen bases and a .934 OPS in 121 games. The home run pace is well off last year’s — because the pitching workload has roughly doubled. On the mound he is 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA, 95 strikeouts and 85 2/3 innings across 14 appearances. He is no longer a hitter who also pitches. He is a front-of-the-rotation starter who also hits 30 home runs.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Dodgers)

Yamamoto, born in August 1998 in Okayama, won NPB’s pitching Triple Crown three years running from 2021 through 2023 and took the Sawamura Award (NPB’s equivalent of the Cy Young) in each of those seasons. He signed with the Dodgers for 2024 on a 12-year, $325 million contract — the richest ever given to a pitcher.

His 2025 season was a 30-start, 12-8 campaign with a 2.49 ERA, 201 strikeouts and a 0.99 WHIP. He was named Pitcher of the Month in both March/April and September, the first Japanese pitcher to win it more than once in a season. Then came October: complete-game wins in Game 2 of the NLCS and Game 2 of the World Series, back to back, three wins in the Series overall, and World Series MVP — the second Japanese player to win it after Hideki Matsui in 2009.

He has not slowed down. Through Aug. 25 he is 12-7 with a 2.61 ERA, 145 strikeouts and a 0.90 WHIP over 151 2/3 innings in 23 starts. The WHIP is down from an already excellent 0.99.

Seiya Suzuki (Cubs)

Suzuki, born in August 1994 in Tokyo, came out of Nishogakusha University High School to the Hiroshima Toyo Carp (Central League) and signed with the Cubs in 2022. In 2023 he became the first Japanese right-handed hitter to reach 20 home runs in an MLB season.

His 2025 season was the breakthrough: 32 home runs and 103 RBIs, making him the third Japanese player to post a 30-homer, 100-RBI season. The Cubs reached the postseason for the first time in five years — seven, excluding the shortened 2020 season — and Suzuki hit three home runs across the wild-card and division series. He landed 77th on the 2025 MLB Top 100.

Through Aug. 25 he is at .269 with 22 home runs, 75 RBIs and an .840 OPS in 114 games. That is short of last year’s pace, but he remains a bat the Cubs can build a lineup around.

Shota Imanaga (Cubs)

Imanaga, born in September 1993 in Fukuoka, spent eight seasons with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars (Central League), throwing a no-hitter in 2022 and leading the league in strikeouts in 2023. His first MLB season, in 2024, was outstanding: 15-3 with a 2.91 ERA and 174 strikeouts.

A left hamstring strain in May 2025 cost him about two months, but he made 25 starts around it and finished 9-8 with a 3.73 ERA and 117 strikeouts. That season also produced a first: he and Yamamoto became the first pair of Japanese opening-day starters to face each other, in the Tokyo Dome opener.

Nicknamed “the pitching philosopher” in Japan, a label that traveled well, he helped push the Cubs into the postseason and re-signed with them for 2026. Through Aug. 25 he is 8-9 with a 3.78 ERA, 144 strikeouts and a 1.12 WHIP in 26 starts. The record is under .500; he still leads the Cubs in both wins and strikeouts.

The 2026 Rookie Class: Murakami, Okamoto and Imai

Three NPB stars were posted to MLB in the 2025-26 offseason. Five months in, their first years have gone three very different ways.

Munetaka Murakami (White Sox)

Murakami, born in February 2000 in Kumamoto, joined the Tokyo Yakult Swallows (Central League) out of Kyushu Gakuin High School in 2018. In 2022 he hit 56 home runs — the most ever by a Japanese-born hitter in a single season, passing Sadaharu Oh’s 55 from 1964 — and became the youngest Triple Crown winner in NPB history. They called him the Monster of the Reiwa era.

He was posted after the 2025 season and signed with the White Sox for two years and $34 million, taking No. 5. The preseason expectation was third base and DH; in practice he has played mostly first.

The start was spectacular. He homered in each of his first three MLB games, joining Trevor Story (2016) and Kyle Lewis (2019) as the only players ever to do it — and Cleveland’s Chase DeLauter matched it the same week. Through Aug. 25 he is hitting .223 with 29 home runs, 58 RBIs and an .871 OPS in 96 games. The average is rough. The power translated completely.

The White Sox had been mired in a long rebuild. In Murakami’s first year they lead the AL Central. The pitch that brought him — everyday at-bats in a low-pressure spot while he adjusted — turned out to come with a contending team attached.

Kazuma Okamoto (Blue Jays)

Okamoto, born in June 1996 in Nara, joined the Yomiuri Giants (Central League, and Japan’s most storied franchise) out of Chiben Gakuen High School in 2015 and won three Central League home run titles between 2020 and 2023.

Toronto signed him for four years and $60 million after his posting, and he kept No. 7 from his Giants days. He has played third base, hitting in the middle of the order alongside Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Through Aug. 25 he is at .230 with 26 home runs, 74 RBIs and a .741 OPS in 127 games. The batting average he built in Japan has not followed him; the power has. His 25th home run, on Aug. 18 against the Tampa Bay Rays, broke a 24-year-old franchise record — Eric Hinske, the 2002 AL Rookie of the Year, had held the Blue Jays’ rookie mark with 24. Before that, Okamoto had already passed Ohtani’s record of 22 for the most home runs by a Japanese-born rookie.

Tatsuya Imai (Astros)

Imai, born in May 1998 in Tochigi, won a Koshien title at Sakushin Gakuin High School and joined the Saitama Seibu Lions (Pacific League) in 2017. He built his career on a fastball that reaches 98 mph and a splitter, anchoring Seibu’s rotation.

He signed with the Astros for three years and $54 million, with opt-outs after both the 2026 and 2027 seasons.

The first year has been hard. He went on the injured list in April with fatigue in his throwing arm, and his command never came back — he failed to finish five innings in eight of his 15 starts. On Aug. 1, manager Joe Espada said Imai was moving to the bullpen. Through Aug. 25 he is 6-4 with a 5.32 ERA, 83 strikeouts and 67 2/3 innings over 18 appearances.

The relief numbers have been better, but exercising that opt-out this winter is not realistic. The job now is winning a rotation spot back for 2027. Houston is still a perennial contender, which was the point of signing there.

The Legends Who Built the Pipeline

Ichiro Suzuki

Born in October 1973 in Aichi, Ichiro won seven consecutive batting titles with the Orix BlueWave in NPB before signing with the Seattle Mariners in 2001 — the first Japanese position player to establish himself in MLB.

His rookie season is still hard to believe: AL Rookie of the Year, the batting title, the stolen base crown, AL MVP, a Silver Slugger and a Gold Glove, all at once. In 2004 he collected 262 hits, breaking George Sisler’s single-season record that had stood for 84 years. He then strung together 10 straight 200-hit seasons, something no one had done before.

He finished with 3,089 MLB hits. His 4,367 combined hits across Japan and the United States are recognized by Guinness World Records as the most in professional baseball history. In 2025 he became the first Asian player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, named on 393 of 394 ballots — one vote shy of unanimous.

Hideki Matsui

Born in June 1974 in Ishikawa, Matsui earned the nickname “Godzilla” at Seiryo High School and hit 332 home runs for the Yomiuri Giants, winning three home run titles and three RBI crowns.

He signed with the New York Yankees in 2003 and spent seven seasons as a middle-of-the-order fixture there, batting .292 with 140 home runs and 597 RBIs in 916 games.

The peak came in the 2009 World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies: .615 with three home runs and eight RBIs, including a 3-for-4, six-RBI night in Game 6. He was named World Series MVP, the first Asian-born player to win the award. He now works as a special adviser to the Yankees’ general manager and entered the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018.

Hideo Nomo

Born in August 1968 in Osaka, Nomo was taken in the first round by a record eight clubs in the 1989 draft and signed with the Kintetsu Buffaloes. Working from his corkscrewing “tornado” delivery, he led NPB in both wins and strikeouts four years running.

He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995, becoming the second Japanese player to reach MLB after Masanori Murakami and, in practical terms, the man who opened the door for everyone who followed. He went 13-6 as a rookie, won NL Rookie of the Year — the first Asian player to do so — and led the league in strikeouts. He threw no-hitters in 1996 and 2001, making him the fourth pitcher in MLB history to throw one in each league.

He finished 123-109 with 1,918 strikeouts in 323 MLB appearances, and 201 wins across both countries. Those 123 wins are still the most by a Japanese-born pitcher in MLB — Darvish, the closest active challenger, sits at 110 and will not add to it in 2026. Darvish did pass Nomo’s strikeout total in 2023, but the wins record has held for two decades and counting.