Red Sox sign submarine-style pitcher

When it comes to taking chances on Japanese players, the Boston Red Sox are notorious for doing so, as they have had five different Japanese pitchers pitch for them over the years. So seeing the Red Sox going out and signing a Japanese pitcher is not uncommon, but when they sign a pitcher that has a delivery like Shunsuke Watanabe, it surprises some people.

Watanable, 37, signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox last week, after spending 13 seasons with the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league. Mostly as a starter the submarine-style pitcher posted a career record of 87-82 with a 3.65 ERA and 846 strikeouts in 255 games, 244 of them as starts.

He will report to minor league camp this spring, and will work as a reliever the Red Sox reported. Although people should not expect him to break camp on the major league roster, if he performs well in the minors, there is a good chance fans could see him in midsummer.

It is rare to see a pitcher with a submarine delivery, and hopefully Watanable will appear in at least one game with the Red Sox next season because if he does, he will go down as having the most unorthodox delivery baseball has ever seen.