MLB Players Who Started in Japan

Timo Perez.

There are many foreign players who played in Japan first before making their MLB debut. Among current players, there are, of course, Soriano and White Sox outfielder Timo Perez.

There are others who are either retired or are in the minors now who've also done the same thing. There are:

Ty Van Burkleo (Seibu '87-'90, Carp '91 - MLB debut '93 Angels),
Travis Driskill (late '90s Swallows - MLB debut with the Orioles a couple of years ago), and
Alan Zinter ('99 Seibu - MLB debut '02 Astros).

Another player who did that is Larry Raines, who played in Japan in the late 1950s or early '60s and later played for the Indians.

One of the biggest names to perform big in Japan then in the Majors was Boomer Wells.

Greg "Boomer" Wells played in the majors with the Blue Jays and Twins before playing in Japan, but he never returned to MLB after his NPB career ended.

I think you might have confused him with current Red Sox pitcher David Wells, who goes by the nickname "Boomer" also.

Odd. I thought it was a big Pacific League slugger. If not Boomer, then Bryant?

Cecil Fielder played with the Hanshin Tigers in 1989, before coming back to the majors in 1990. Though Fielder already had some major league experience with the Blue Jays.

Boomer Wells was a big Pacific League slugger, but he didn't start his career in NPB and then go to MLB, and neither did Ralph Bryant - they both had a cup of coffee in MLB before going to Japan to play in NPB.

I forgot two players who played in NPB before making their MLB debut.

Robinson Checo (1995-'96 Carp - MLB debut '97 Red Sox)
Rafael Betancourt (2000 BayStars - MLB debut '03 Indians)

Betancourt is still with the Indians. He was supposed to replace Kaz Sasaki as the closer in 2000 with the BayStars, and was even issued #22, but he never panned out with Yokohama and was released after one season.

Buddy Carlyle played for the Hanshin Tigers in 2001 (or was it 2002?). He did have some major league experience before reaching the Tigers in 1999-2000 with the Padres. [Link - Yahoo! Sports (English)]

However, it seems like that's the only experience he had at the Majors before coming to Japan, and now he's on the top team with the Dodgers. With the limited experience he had in the Majors before leaving for Japan, I would assume he still qualifies as a "rookie" in the Majors.

I was a little surprised by the fact that Carlyle played in Japan. Firstly, he was younger than most American players when he came to Japan. He was probably only 23 or 24. Also, he's a former round two pick.

I would say he came to Japan not for that "second chance" but as a way to build up his resume and experience, while earning some extra money on the way.

And now, in 2005, although he hasn't started too well, he'd actually made his way into the Dodgers bullpen, which shows he's come a long way, given the strength of their bullpen.

Alan Zinter was a #1 draft pick with the New York Mets in 1989 and spent a decade in the minors before coming over to play with Seibu. He was one of those "AAAA" players who are no worse than the backups in MLB, but for some reason never get the call. I was really happy to see him finally make the majors with Houston - he played in spring training and was on the travel roster when the Cubs came over to play exhibitions in 2000, but was then left off the opening day roster when the season began against the Mets in Tokyo.

He moved to Arizona last season, but it looks like he's not on the Diamondbacks this year.

His stats are here [Baseball-Reference].