Veteran pitcher José Ureña is heading overseas! The Rakuten Golden Eagles of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball have just announced they've signed right-handed pitcher José Ureña to a one-year contract for the 2026 season. This marks a new chapter for Ureña, who has previously played for 11 major league clubs, including a whirlwind five teams in 2025 alone!
At 34 years old, Ureña's journey has been nothing short of eventful. In 2025, he split his time between the Mets, Twins, Blue Jays, Dodgers, and Angels. Across those teams, he pitched a combined 55 innings with a 4.58 ERA. His stats show a 13.9% strikeout rate and a 9.4% walk rate. Interestingly, the average speed of his four-seam fastball reached 96.2 mph, the second-highest of his career.
Looking back, Ureña once showed promise as a reliable back-of-the-rotation pitcher. From 2017-2018, while with the Marlins, he pitched 343 2/3 innings with a 3.90 ERA. He maintained a below-average 17% strikeout rate, a solid 8% walk rate, and an above-average 46.3% ground-ball rate. He was known for his hard-throwing sinker, which kept the ball on the ground and limited home runs.
But here's where it gets controversial... Ureña's performance took a downturn starting in 2019. While he's shown decent results in the last two seasons (4.06 ERA, 164 innings), his underlying stats have continued to decline. Metrics like SIERA (4.89) and FIP (4.81) suggest his current ERA might be hard to maintain. Overall, since 2019, Ureña has a 5.04 ERA across 514 1/3 innings.
And this is the part most people miss... Given the declining stats and the challenge of playing for multiple teams in a single season, Ureña likely welcomes the stability of a guaranteed contract. A strong season in Japan could open doors for another contract there. Furthermore, if he makes significant changes to his pitching style, he could potentially return to the major leagues next year, either on a non-roster deal or a short-term contract.
What do you think? Do you believe Ureña can revitalize his career in Japan? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
