Baseball

Athletes on The Medalist Index in baseball — briefed for readers who care how Asia shapes the global game.

Akshay More
India
First Indian pitcher signed by an NPB club — Seibu’s 194 cm development arm out of Baseball United and six years of baseball.
Jung Hoo Lee
Korea
Giants outfielder and former KBO batting champion — Korea’s clearest everyday MLB export of his generation.
Kim Sung-jun
Korea
Texas Rangers two-way prospect out of Gwangju — pitching and shortstop on the same developmental track.
Roki Sasaki
Japan
Former Chiba Lotte ace and Dodgers pitcher — Japan’s “Monster of the Reiwa Era” now in MLB.
Shohei Ohtani
Japan
Dodgers two-way superstar — the Japanese player who remade what an MLB contract and an MVP season can look like.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Japan
Former Orix ace and Dodgers starter — three NPB Triple Crowns, then October baseball in Los Angeles.