The Los Angeles Dodgers have stacked their rotation with three Japanese powerhouses in Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki, but they had established themselves as a prime landing spot for Japanese players long before any of the three had stepped foot in LA.
The Dodgers have a history of bringing in Japanese players and turning them into stars, laying the groundwork for their record-breaking deal with Ohtani which has ushered a successful era of Dodger baseball into Los Angeles.
On Japanese Heritage Night, we are looking at Japanese players who made a name for themselves during their time with the Dodgers.
Hideo Nomo was the first Japanese-born player the Dodgers ever signed, bringing him in on a minor league contract with a $2 million signing bonus in 1995.
He made his debut for the Dodgers the same year and took MLB by storm, winning NL Rookie of the Year and earning the only All-Star appearance of his career during his first year in the majors. He finished that year with 28 starts, posting a 2.54 ERA through 191.1 innings pitched and leading the NL with 236 innings pitched.
The right-hander remained with the team through 1998, when the Dodgers shipped him to the Mets to land All-Star catcher Mike Piazza.
That wasn’t the end of the Dodgers’ journey with Nomo, though, as he came back ahead of the 2002 season and stayed through 2004. In his seven seasons with the Dodgers, Nomo posted a 3.74 ERA through 191 starts.
Hiroki Kuroda transferred to the MLB from NPB aged 32, and signed with the Dodgers on a three-year deal ahead of the 2008 season. He played out his contract and even signed on for an extra year, serving as a serviceable starter throughout his tenure in Los Angeles.
Throughout his seven-year MLB career, he never finished a season with an ERA north of 4.00. After ending his time in MLB with the Yankees in 2014, Kuroda returned to NPB to play two more seasons.
The most recent name on the list, Kenta Maeda joined the Dodgers ahead of the 2016 season. He had a great first season with the Dodgers, placing third in NL Rookie of the Year voting, and stayed with the team for four seasons before they traded him to the Minnesota Twins.
Maeda placed second in American Cy Young voting after joining the Twins, and only retired from MLB after the 2025 season. He is currently playing in NPB.
Through his four seasons as a Dodger, Maeda posted 5.4 bWAR and had a 3.87 ERA.
The Dodgers took a shot on Takashi Saito ahead of 2006, and their faith in the reliever massively paid off. He filled in as the Dodgers’ closer that season, logging 24 saves while posting a 2.07 ERA through 72 appearances.
He went on to make an All-Star Game the following year, logging a career high 39 saves with the Dodgers and posting a career-low 1.40 ERA. Saito joined MLB extremely late, making his debut aged 36, but still played seven seasons in MLB.
The right-hander had a fantastic stretch with the Dodgers over three years, posting a 1.95 ERA through 180 games. His
While he has by far the shortest career of any player on the list, Kazuhisa Ishii had a decent MLB career during his four years of service time.
Three of those seasons came with the Dodgers, for whom he made 86 starts.
He posted a 4.30 ERA with the team in 473 innings pitched before joining the Mets and finishing his career in Queens in 2005.
The Dodgers have historically produced fantastic Japanese-born players over the past few decades, and are now using them as the centerpiece for what will become one of MLB’s most dominant dynasties.
Who is your favorite Japanese player to have player for the Dodgers? What about Japanese players who didn’t?