Who's The Next Big Japanese Baseball Star To Come To MLB?

Now with Shohei Ohtani selecting sunny Orange County as his destination, let's take a look at some of the potential talent that could come from the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

• Shintaro Fujinami: Once thought to be a good rival to Ohtani, Fujinami has fallen to the wayside a bit. He posted an ERA of 4.12 along with a run average of 4.58 and a WHIP of 1.66 with the Hanshin Tigers last season, which aren't Fujinami-type numbers. Granted, he only started eleven games last season. But he can get his stock back up if he rights his control and gets back to his old self. Like Ohtani, Fujinami is a young pitcher at the age of 23, so he'll have plenty of time to make adjustments.
  
• Kotaro Kiyomiya: The former Little League player has blossomed into a profound slugger. In fact, it's believed that Kiyomiya hit 111 home runs in his high school career at Waseda Jitsugyo. The prized batter just joined the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters after his high school career.
  
• Sho Nakata: The Nippon-Ham Fighters first baseman was actually pursued by MLB teams before; the Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, and Seattle Mariners all expressed interest in him around 2006 with Seattle offering $2.5 million. However, Nakata turned them all down to stay in Japan. He's not the best hitter (.257 career batting average), but he can still get on base (.771 career OPS).
  
• Tetsuto Yamada: The second baseman for Yakult may be undersized at 5'10". But he has tremendous power. Yamada has hit 20+ home runs his past four seasons in the JPCL. Yamada also has a knack for swiping bags; he posted a career high of 34 stolen bases in 2015.