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The Mets are taking a flyer on Yuhi Sako

Related Topics: Bakary Sako

There isn’t much easily searchable info on Yuhi Sako, the 25-year-old pitcher the Mets signed out of the Frontier League.

Part of that is his journeyman status: In his brief career, Sako has already pitched at a semi-professional level in Japan, Australia, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Sonora, Mexico before signing a Minor League deal with the Mets in December. That’s not a particularly odd career path for most aspiring pitchers—but it is one for a Japanese pitcher.

That’s because Japan has a comprehensive and massively successful player development system that very few domestic players stray away from.