Former Blue Jays playing in Nippon Professional Baseball

Just like Major League Baseball, Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball is set to kick off this week, beginning this Friday.

There are a handful of former Blue Jays playing in the leagues, mostly pitchers and mostly players from North America. Japan only allows five foreign players to be registered and there have only been five Japanese players who’ve played for the Jays, one is still active (Yusei Kikuchi) while the other six have retired.

In this article, we’ll take a look at former Blue Jay players who are currently on an NPB roster!

Griffin Foster

Griffin Foster was selected 28th overall in the 2014 draft by the Kansas City Royals. In the summer of 2022, the Blue Jays sent prospect Jonatan Bernal to the Royals for the left-handed pitcher, with Foster eventually making his debut with the Jays later that season.

Foster pitched just two innings without giving up a run. However, he was released in mid-November that season and agreed to a deal with NPB’s Yomiuri Giants two months later.

In 2023, Foster had a 2.75 ERA and a 2.49 FIP in 121 innings pitched, all starts. It was Foster’s first season with regular starts since 2019. He followed that up with a 3.01 ERA and a 2.23 FIP in 116.2 innings pitched in 2024, with a 26.9 K% and a 4.9 BB%.

Griffin signed a one-year extension in November.

Roberto Osuna

At one point, Roberto Osuna looked like one of the best young closers in all of baseball. Making his debut as a 20-year-old in 2015, he had a 2.58 ERA and a 3.02 FIP in 69.2 innings pitched with 20 saves. He followed that up with a 2.68 ERA and a 3.20 FIP in 74 innings pitched and 36 saves in 2016 and a 3.38 ERA and a 1.74 FIP in 64 innings pitched and 39 saves in 2017.

Early in the 2018 season, he was suspended for violating MLB’s domestic assault policy and was traded to the Houston Astros after being reinstated. Osuna’s MLB career ended after the 2020 season, and he eventually signed in Japan after a season in Mexico.

After posting a 0.91 ERA and a 0.92 ERA in 2022 and 2023, respectively, Osuna’s ERA ballooned to 3.76 in 2024 with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. He’s still under contract with the team.

Jeremy Beasley

In April 2021, the Blue Jays acquired Jeremy Beasley for cash from the Arizona Diamondbacks, making this the third organization he had been with since he was drafted in the 30th round of the 2017 draft.

Beasley pitched 9.1 innings with the Jays in 2021, posting a 7.71 ERA and an 8.10 FIP. His stint in 2022 was much better, as he had a 4.80 ERA and a 5.45 FIP with an xERA of 3.27 and an xFIP of 3.95 in 15 innings pitched.

In the off-season, he signed with the Hanshin Tigers. His 2023 season saw him post a 2.20 ERA and a 1.91 FIP in 41 innings pitched, followed by a 2.47 ERA and a 2.98 FIP in 76.2 innings pitched in 2024. He re-upped with the team this past off-season.

Yoshi Tsutsugo

Yoshi Tsutsugo is the only position player on the list, and he’s one of just three players who never played for the Toronto Blue Jays on this list.

The first baseman signed with the Tampa Bay Rays after being posted in 2019, played for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2021, and the Pittsburgh Pirates the same year. He re-upped with the Pirates before the 2022 season but was eventually released.

In August 2022, the Blue Jays signed Tsutsugo to a minor-league deal with the team to finish out his season, slashing .265/.381/.459 with five home runs in 118 plate appearances. The first baseman spent the 2023 season with the Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants Triple-A teams before returning to Japan for the 2024 season.

In 2024, Tsutsugo played for Yokohama DeNA BayStars, where he slashed .188/.274/.409 with seven home runs in 168 plate appearances. Yokohama won the Japan Series in 2024, their first since 1998. Tsutsugo isn’t the only former Blue Jay on the championship-winning team.

Rowan Wick

Rowan Wick, a Canadian, never pitched for the Blue Jays but did pitch with the Buffalo Bisons in 2023.

Wick found success throughout his big league career, posting a 3.82 ERA and a 3.49 FIP in 146 innings pitched with 20 saves in 28 opportunities. However, he didn’t have great numbers with the Chicago Cubs’ Triple-A team in 2023 and was designated for assignment. 

The Blue Jays picked him up in early August of that season, where he had a 3.86 ERA and a 4 FIP in 21 innings pitched, with a 45.8 K%. Wick’s K% led all minor leaguers in the Blue Jays system with 20 or more innings pitched, even ahead of Ricky Tiedemann.

During the 2023-24 off-season, Wick signed with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, where he had a 2.60 ERA and a 2.74 FIP in 45 innings pitched. He’s still under contract to the reigning NPB champions.

Anthony Kay

Selected 31st overall in the 2016 draft, the Blue Jays acquired Anthony Kay in the Marcus Stroman trade ahead of the 2019 trade deadline, along with Simeon Woods Richardson. The latter was eventually traded for José Berríos, while Kay’s career in North America just fizzled out.

In parts of four seasons with the Jays, Kay had a 5.48 ERA and a 4.67 FIP in 70.2 innings pitched with a 23.5 K% and an 11.6 BB%. To make room for Chris Bassitt on the 40-man roster in late 2022, Kay was designated for assignment and was picked up by the Chicago Cubs.

After another unsuccessful season split between the Cubs and the Mets, Kay signed with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in January of 2024. In turn, he made 24 starts or 136.2 innings pitched with a 3.42 ERA and a 2.84 FIP and helped them with the Japan Series.

Emmanuel Ramírez

Lastly, Emmanuel Ramírez never pitched for the Jays, but made five appearances with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons where he had an 8.31 ERA and a 7.95 FIP in 4.1 innings pitched and was on their 40-man roster for a few months recently, so he gets a mention here.

Ramírez signed with the Saitama Seibu Lions after he was DFA’ed and released and has yet to make his NPB debut.