Yomiuri Giants reliever Scott Mathieson is no longer the pitcher he was when he turned up on these shores in 2012 as a 28-year-old, he's better.
With 15 major league games to show for 10 seasons in the Philadelphia Phillies organization, Mathieson was brought to Japan to blow pitches past batters unused to 160 kph fastballs. But through exposure to different approaches — and embracing many of the differences — he has transformed himself.
"I was a rock thrower," he told Kyodo News recently. "And now I can actually pitch."