Still, Ishii finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting. Unlike his predecessors, Takashi Saito was in the waning years of his career when he jumped to the Majors in 2006 at the age of 36.

Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Takashi Saito, center, attends a tape-cutting ceremony for the "Dodgers Experience" exhibition in Tokyo on March 5, 2025. (Kyodo) TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The "Dodgers ...