Another Major Leaguer Heads to Japan

After a ten-year career in the big leagues, mainly with the Colorado Rockies and Chicago Cubs, his 2021 season was pretty much a disaster, so Tyler Chatwood is headed to Japan to try to restart his career. 

The 32-year-old right-hander has signed with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball. He joins fellow former major leaguer Freddy Galvis, who signed with the Hawks last month, and former Cubs teammate Colin Rea.

Old Friend Tyler Chatwood Headed to Japan - https://t.co/0P82vvtYmV pic.twitter.com/lin1pK6B9E

— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) January 1, 2022

A starter for the bulk of his career, Chatwood started the 2021 season signing a $3M contract to pitch out of the bullpen for the Toronto Blue Jays. After a solid start to the year, things quickly disintegrated, and the Jays released Chatwood in August.

He signed a minor-league deal with the San Francisco Giants, but only got into two games for the big league club. He finished '21 with a career-worst 5.63 ERA. 

Chatwood actually showed a lot of promise earlier in his career as a starter with the Colorado Rockies, where he held an ERA in the 3s for a stretch from 2013-2016, not an easy thing to do in the elevated air of Denver. He also showed promise out of the bullpen for the Cubs in 2019. 

He'll attempt to reclaim his talents facing opponents in the Nippon League in 2022. 

Photo Credit: Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports