Yamamoto's three years: a unanimous Sawamura Award in 2021, a first ever back-to-back sweep in 2022, and a third in a row

The Sawamura Award has seven published criteria, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto's first one in 2021 did not meet all of them. Baseball Channel listed his season: 26 appearances, 193 2/3 innings, 18-5, six complete games, 206 strikeouts and a 1.39 ERA. He cleared five of the seven. He missed the 10 complete games and 200 innings standards, a common problem in an era of bullpen use. Nikkan Gendai reported that the selection committee chose him unanimously, and called it a five-title season; Baseball Channel counted four, ERA, wins, winning percentage and strikeouts.

By 2022 the discussion was about history. Nikkan Gendai's Oct. 2022 piece gave him 26 games, 15-5, a 1.68 ERA, 205 strikeouts and a .705 winning percentage, a second straight Sawamura and the first time any NPB pitcher had swept the four titles in consecutive years. The same article placed him with fourth-round picks such as Ichiro and Norichika Aoki, a reference to his 2016 draft slot that the Japanese press made often.

The third year was the strongest on paper. BASEBALL KING and SPAIA gave 23 starts, 164 innings, 16-6, a 1.21 ERA, 169 strikeouts and a .727 winning percentage, with a third straight sweep of the four titles. The Sawamura made him the first Pacific League pitcher to win it three years running, and the first in NPB since Masaichi Kaneda in 1956-58. He also threw a no-hitter against Lotte on Sept. 9, which BASEBALL KING called the first back-to-back-year no-hitters since the war.

At the NPB Awards on Nov. 28, he was Pacific League MVP for a third straight year, joining only Hisashi Yamada and Ichiro, Daily Sports reported. After the Sawamura he stayed measured. He said, per BASEBALL KING, that he still had not pitched well in every game. Orix won three straight pennants, and Daily Sports reported he was headed to the majors the next season.