Aoyagi arrives from Japan, hopes to help Phillies on and off field originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
CLEARWATER, Fla. — To call Koyo Aoyagi’s last 48 hours eventful would be an understatement. The 31-year-old side-armer arrived in the United States for the first time on Friday morning and quickly joined his new Phillies teammates at BayCare Ballpark.
Aoyagi unpacked his belongings in the clubhouse, shook hands with a few Phillies and Dave Dombrowski, then went out to long-toss.
“It was my first day so I didn’t really know where I was supposed to go, but I was really excited,” he said. “There are so many new things here.”
The Phillies signed Aoyagi in mid-January to a minor-league contract with an invite to spring training. The right-hander spent nine seasons pitching in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball with a 3.08 ERA, made three All-Star teams and won a championship in 2023, but he was also demoted to the minor leagues at a point in each of the last two seasons.
For four years, he had expressed to his team, Hanshin, that he wanted to pitch in the United States. But because of underperformance the last two seasons, no major-league team signed Aoyagi to a guaranteed deal.
Aoyagi will compete in spring training for the final spot in the Phillies’ bullpen, but if he doesn’t make the team, he can be sent to the minor leagues and is willing to do so.
“The past few years in Japan, I wasn’t able to perform to the best of my abilities and the Phillies still saw something in me,” Aoyagi said. “For that, I really want to play for this team.”
From Hideo Nomo to Masahiro Tanaka to Shohei Ohtani to Yoshinobu Yamamoto to Roki Sasaki, the Phillies have never been a major player in the market for top Japanese talent looking to make the transition to Major League Baseball. They pursued Yamamoto last offseason and are believed to have made an enormous offer but Yamamoto signed a 12-year, $325 million contract with the Dodgers. Sasaki, the prized international free agent this past offseason, also signed with the Dodgers. The Phillies were eager to make Sasaki a presentation but didn’t make the pitcher’s short list.
Aoyagi appearing in the major leagues for the Phillies could help them make some in-roads in Japan. He’s not going to make the team or earn a promotion just for that reason, but it factored into the team’s interest in giving him a shot.
“We’ve liked him. He was looking for a big-league opportunity, it didn’t…