Talking Yakyu

Yuri Karasawa (https://x.com/yakyucosmo) and Brandon Tew (https://x.com/brandonteweets) break down their top 20 starting pitchers in Nippon Professional Baseball for the 2026 season. Where do they agree and disagree?Yuri's Breakdowns: https://www.justbaseball.com/international-baseball/npb-top-15-starting-pitcher-rankings-2026/Brandon's Scouting Reports: https://www.prospectslive.com/author/brandon-tew/00:00 - Introduction02:53 - Shunpeita Yamashita, Hiromi Itoh, Livan Moinelo, Hiroya Miyagi13:50 - Atsuki Taneichi & Jon Duplantier21:07 - Kaima Taira & Forrest Whitley30:32 - Chihiro Sumida & Koki Kitayama37:36 - Hiroto Takahashi & Shoki Murakami53:32 - Haruto Takahashi & Hiroto Saiki01:03:16 - Haruya Tanaka, Kota Tatsu, Yumeto Kanemaru01:11:38 - Katsuki Azuma & Ryuhei Sotani01:17:23 - Ruei-Yang Gu Lin & Iori Yamasaki01:22:59 - Just Outside the Top 20

Yuri Karasawa (https://x.com/yakyucosmo) and Brandon Tew (https://x.com/brandonteweets) break down the offseason foreign player signings in Nippon Professional Baseball. Plus, another look at Samurai Japan's 2026 World Baseball Classic team following the full roster reveal.00:00 - Introduction02:03 - New MLB Players on Samurai Japan05:40 - New NPB Players on Samurai Japan15:56 - Roster Grade?19:21 - Hanshin/SoftBank: Devanney, Ragsdale, Moreta, Hsu26:15 - DeNA/Nipponham: Hummel, Duplantier, Ruiz, Reynolds, Cox, Castro, Lao35:37 - Yomiuri/Orix: Dalbec, Howard, Whitley, Mata, Seymour, Hjelle44:44 - Chunichi/Rakuten: Sano, Abreu, McCusker, Contreras, Urena54:54 - Hiroshima/Seibu: Tarnok, Lin, Canario, Winans01:01:01 - Yakult/Lotte: Jackson, Long, Castillo, Liranzo, Walters, Quijada01:06:25 - NPB vs. KBO Foreign Players01:09:45 - Conclusion

Yuri Karasawa (https://x.com/yakyucosmo) and Brandon Tew (https://x.com/brandonteweets) break down the MLB signings of Munetaka Murakami, Tatsuya Imai, and Kazuma Okamoto. Plus, previewing Samurai Japan's chances at the 2026 World Baseball Classic with 19 of the 30 roster spots officially confirmed.00:00 - Introduction02:25 - Murakami, Imai, Okamoto Find MLB Homes07:13 - Okamoto to Toronto10:07 - Murakami to CWS15:28 - Imai to Houston23:51 - Posting System Reform?29:24 - Can Japan Compete with USA and DR?37:45 - Japan's Pitching Staff53:20 - Japan's Catching56:35 - Japan's Infield58:36 - Japan's Outfield01:07:04 - Conclusion