What Nationality Is Yoshi Tsutsugo?

Yoshitomo “Yoshi” Tsutsugo, long hailed as one of baseball’s next great power hitters, has had his fair share of difficulties adjusting to life in the Major Leagues.



While it’s unclear what caused his death, he now has a chance to resurrect his career after signing with the Pittsburgh Pirates over the weekend.

Yoshi Tsutsugo
Yoshi Tsutsugo

The 30-year-old Japanese-born first baseman was moved to the Los Angeles Dodgers for either a PTBNL or cash considerations after producing a .167/.244/.218 line in just 26 games after being designated for assignment by the Tampa Bay Rays earlier this year.



According to Baseball-Reference, he regressed to .120/.290/.120 in 12 games with the Dodgers, indicating that the change of scenery didn’t help him.

Due to his recent slew of signings (i.e. Ka’ai Tom, John Nogowski, etc. ), we already know Ben Cherington is all about giving players second chances, so it’s not shocking to see him go for Tsutsugo.

Cherington likes Tsutsugo’s potential in the tank, especially given his Nippon Baseball League performances.

In 4000 plate appearances, he hit .285/.382/.528 with more than 200 home runs. Tsutsugo hit a career-high 44 home runs in 2016 as part of those 200.

Tsutsugo’s ability to hit for power, which the Pirates have struggled to do in 2021, is one of his strongest assets, as he has a 44.4 percent hard-hit percentage in his MLB career.

However, he had trouble getting pop off the bat at times. In 2021, his average exit velocity with Tampa Bay was 89 miles per hour, but he was able to enhance it to 91.5 miles per hour in Los Angeles.

What Nationality Is Yoshi Tsutsugo?

Yoshi Tsutsugo is Japanese