Jason Coskrey is a sports writer for The Japan Times. His primary focus is Japanese baseball, but he has also covered soccer, American football, boxing and basketball. He previously worked for the Marietta Daily Journal in Marietta, Ga. A native of Detroit, he is a graduate of the University of Alabama-Birmingham.
For Jason Coskrey's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
One thing the current conversation about a possible universal DH in MLB is showing is that a lot of people have great disdain for the concept of pitchers hitting. Like, a lot. So it's sort of amusing to recall the time NPB flipped the DH rule ...
Chihiro Kaneko, as a 35-year-old veteran of 13 seasons, probably possesses a fair amount of wisdom he can impart on the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters pitchers younger than him. Even those who have already moved on. Former Fighters ace and current Chicago Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish ...
The Yomiuri Giants are often referred to as Japan's answer to the New York Yankees — the "Evil Empire" version of the Bronx Bombers anyway — and the offseason they've had makes it easy to see why. After finishing a fourth straight season without winning ...
Eddie Alvarez is here to fight. That's it. "The Underground King" isn't interested in playing a character or engaging in over-the-top WWE-style promotion. The selling point of a fight should be the fight, according to the Philadelphia native. That's why he says he's felt so ...
Yoshitomo Tsutsugo was struck by a strange thought while playing for Samurai Japan during the 2017 World Baseball Classic. There were pitch limits in effect during that tournament, which features professional players, adults from MLB, NPB and other leagues. Meanwhile at the high school level ...
It's one thing for another year to pass with Tuffy Rhodes not yet even within shouting distance of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. But there has to be something in the voters' water for the American slugger to be left in the dust ...
Kazuyoshi Tatsunami began his career with a double and by the end of his 22 pro seasons had racked up more two-baggers than any NPB player before or since. "I wasn't really much of a home run hitter," he said. Not that it slowed him down ...
The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles want you to leave your cash at home. The Pacific League club late last week unveiled a plan to make its home stadium, Rakuten Seimei Park Miyagi, completely cashless in 2019. The Eagles say it will be the world's first ...
Why would an NPB team post its best players now? If the going rate for someone like Yusei Kikuchi, one of the best pitchers in Japan, is only just over $10 million, how long before NPB clubs see the value in just keeping their top ...
Offseasons in NPB are about change, just not exactly the type that immediately springs to mind. Japanese baseball has seen some big-name players change teams this winter. Two-time reigning Central League MVP Yoshihiro Maru is suiting up for the Yomiuri Giants next season and All-Star ...
