What we’ve learned so far about Texas Rangers pitcher Kohei Arihara off the field

The observation tower on the Texas Rangers’ half of the Surprise Recreation Campus is serving as an observation area this spring training for members of the media.

On Wednesday, it was teeming with reporters from Japan.

They were there for another first for Kohei Arihara, the pitcher the Rangers signed away from the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in the offseason to fill an innings-eating role for a disjointed rotation.

The right-hander threw 23 pitches, and in the process struck out the lefty-hitting Rougned Odor, Ronald Guzman and Nate Lowe. Odor and Guzman chased off-speed pitches out of the strike zone, while Lowe was late on an elevated fastball.

“First and foremost, I was able to attack the zone against batters that we haven’t seen before yet, so that was good,” Arihara said. “I do think the off-speed pitches started to fall in the good location.”

Arihara was available to the media for the second time this camp, and he seems to be fine with it. He’s not quite present-day Yu Darvish, but is vastly more open than Darvish was during much of his time with the Rangers.

Slowly, the media is extracting information about Arihara off the field, both in the clubhouse and away from the team.

Let’s try to learn a little bit more about the Rangers’ latest pitcher from Japan.

Fitting in

Arihara said that his transition to the Rangers’ clubhouse is going well, or as well as it can without being able to speak English. However, translator Hiro Fujiwara is excellent at his job.

Arihara has been able to process the data the Rangers are giving him and make adjustments on the field. His new teammates are buddying up to him. Manager Chris Woodward wants to learn some Japanese from him.

“All my teammates, they’re really nice people,” Arihara said. “They talk to me and communicate with me a lot along with my coaches. They also communicate with me really well. I’m able to be in a really comfortable environment.”

Safe at home

Arihara traveled to the United States with his wife, Haruka, and she is keeping them well fed and from making any costly food experiments at the finest of Surprise’s restaurants.

So, no Chili’s, Applebee’s, Red Lobster or McDonald’s just yet. (Just kidding, Surprise. Many quality options are available, like Saigon Kitchen, Rito’s and Booty’s.)

How does rice and miso soup for breakfast sound? Great, to Arihara.

“Having her around is really nice getting used to the new place, either the living and especially the food,” he said. “She makes great Japanese food for me, so I’m really thankful for her.”

But the Ariharas haven’t ventured out on the town too much. MLB health and safety protocols have confined the players to their homes and the ballpark, though they can get outside for activities and to run vital errands.

Media-aware

Nothing is likely to compare to the media horde that pursued Darvish on his first day in spring training in 2012, subsequent outings and just about every regular-season start.

However, Japanese media members are badly outnumbering the normal outlets that cover the Rangers. Arihara is aware of them and that him coming to the United States is a big story in Japan.

He said he was thankful for their presence, which might have been the last thing Darvish would have ever said back then.

“I know that without all you guys, none of this information will be going out to the public,” Arihara said. “So I’m thankful for all the media, and it’s helping me being motivated as well.”

Sold on Rangers

Arihara held a media availability last month in Japan and said that he doesn’t want to embarrass himself or the Hokkaido team with a lousy MLB showing.

He felt that the Rangers give him the best chance to be a quality MLB pitcher.

They didn’t just tell him what he wanted to hear in the courtship. There were platitudes, of course, but the Rangers gave a thorough presentation on what their data says.

It says he can be better, and that was the Rangers’ best selling point.

“They, obviously, pointed out the good points in my pitching, but in addition to that, they also pointed out places that I could improve on,” he said. “And that was really interesting to me. If I could work on the things that they pointed out, I thought I could grow as a player and play at a higher level.”

MLB dreaming

Arihara never reached free agency in Japan, which comes with the right to choose an MLB team without having to be posted by the Fighters. He spent only six seasons pitching in Japan after four years at Waseda University in Tokyo.

That’s where he got the MLB itch.

“I first started to think about it in my fourth year in college and playing in the pros,” Arihara said. “I had always thought in the future I’d be playing in the MLB, and that was my goal for a long time.”

Arihara went 60-50 with a 3.74 ERA with the Fighters and is two years removed from his finest season (15-8, 2.46 ERA).