It is obvious 2009 has not been a great year for Japanese pitchers in the major leagues. Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Boston Red Sox and Koji Uehara of the Baltimore Orioles have spent a lot of time on the disabled list, while Kenshin Kawakami of the Atlanta Braves has posted a losing record of 5-6 through games of Wednesday.
Hiroki Kuroda of the Los Angeles Dodgers is also behind the .500 ball at 3-5 with a 4.73 ERA in 11 games.
Hopefully, they will all get healthy, bounce back and make significant contributions to their respective teams before the season ends. For at least two others whose attempts at finding success at the major league level have not panned out, it may be time to call it a day, to look back with pride for trying, come home and help a Central or Pacific League team.