Nippon Professional Baseball’s Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters are signing right-hander Kohei Arihara to a four year, ¥2.4 billion (about $15.4 million) deal, according to various reports.
Arihara, 33, returns to Japan’s northernmost franchise for the first time in six years after previously pitching for the Fighters from 2015 to 2020. His career peaked in 2019, when the Hiroshima native went 15-8 with a 2.46 ERA and a 25.2% strikeout rate across 164 1/3 innings, eventually earning a posting to Major League Baseball. He subsequently signed a two year, $6.4 million contract with the Texas Rangers.
Unfortunately, Arihara struggled mightily in North America, posting a 7.57 ERA across 60 2/3 big-league innings from 2021-22, punctuated by a brutal 11-run outing in his final start. Shoulder surgery in 2021 further derailed his tenure, and his results in Triple-A were similarly underwhelming, as he logged a 5.46 ERA over 85 2/3 innings.
In January 2023, Arihara returned to NPB with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, where he found his form again and re-emerged as a workhorse. He played a key role in two league pennants, compiling a 2.60 ERA across 478 1/3 innings overall.
After winning the Japan Series in 2025, Arihara somewhat surprisingly elected free agency with an eye toward a potential MLB return. Instead, he ultimately reunited with rival Nippon-Ham Fighters — who lost to SoftBank in the Pacific League Climax Series Final Stage — on a four-year pact with an AAV approaching $4 million, an exceptionally high figure by NPB standards.
Under manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo, Nippon-Ham now boasts arguably the deepest rotation in Japan, with an abundance of viable options, led by ace Hiromi Itoh alongside Koki Kitayama, Kota Tatsu, and Ruei-Yang Gu Lin.
Meanwhile, SoftBank faces a thinner outlook for stable innings after losing Arihara and missing out on top foreign free agent Jon Duplantier, who signed with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars. Much of the burden will now fall on Carter Stewart Jr. returning from injury, new Taiwanese import Jo-Hsi Hsu, and youngster Haru Matsumoto to back up reigning PL MVP Livan Moinelo and veteran Naoyuki Uwasawa.
Photo: Texas Rangers starting pitcher Kohei Arihara stands on the mound waiting to be pulled in the fourth inning of baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays in Arlington, Texas, Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
