Yoshinori Tateyama

Tateyama was buried in the Texas bullpen late in the year following a string of five appearances where he allowed homers in four games, but he was otherwise decent (43:11 K:BB in 44 innings) and figures to be part of a deep Texas bullpen in 2012. If that case of gopheritis proves to be an aberration, Tateyama should be able to deliver similar results in his second big league season at age 36.

Tateyama was primarily a middle reliever over the course of his career in Japan. And by many measures, 2010 was his most successful campaign: in 58 games, he posted a 1.80 ERA, 0.982 WHIP, 9.7 K/9IP and 5.36 K/BB ratio. The secret to his success in 2010 was his dominance against right-handed hitters: 140 of the 202 hitters he faced were righties, and he held them to a .186 batting average, with 44 strikeouts against only five walks. The 62 lefties he saw hit a more respectable .274, with a 15:6 K:BB ratio. Tateyama hadn't seen such a split in recent memory, in terms of usage or results. Tateyama throws from a side-arm slot and features a 88-91 mph fastball and a slider. He'll compete for a spot in the Texas bullpen this spring after coming over from the Nippon Ham Fighters.