The Los Angeles Dodgers have made Japanese talent an important part of their roster-building strategy in recent years, and they may already be targeting the country’s next rising star.

The movement began during the winter of 2023, when the Dodgers signed two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani. Los Angeles added Japanese sensation Yoshinobu Yamamoto only days later.

After winning the eighth World Series title in franchise history in 2024, the Dodgers returned to the Japanese market and signed right-handed pitcher Roki Sasaki.

Those additions have played significant roles in the Dodgers’ recent success, but the organization is likely far from finished when it comes to pursuing talent from Japan.

According to Dylan Hernandez from the California Post, people around MLB expect the Dodgers to pursue and ultimately sign 18-year-old Japanese pitching prospect Shoki Oda.

“And while people familiar with his situation insist he hasn’t made a decision, the widespread expectation around the industry is that 18-year-old Shoki Oda of Japan will end up with the Dodgers,” Hernandez wrote.

“If Oda sticks to the plan he unveiled earlier this month, the hard-throwing right-hander will do something no Japanese superstar before him has ever done by moving to the United States without first playing in Nippon Professional Baseball.”

Earlier this month, Oda announced that he would bypass Nippon Professional Baseball and move to the United States to advance his baseball career.

Oda will either sign with an MLB team as an international free agent or attend an American college.

The 18-year-old’s decision to forgo the NPB Draft places him on a very short list of Japanese players who have chosen the same route.

Fellow Japanese teenage sensation Rintaro Sasaki became the first notable player to move to the United States and pursue an MLB career rather than begin one in NPB.

The Miami Marlins selected Rintaro in the eighth round of this past summer’s draft.

Oda possesses the tools and potential to develop into an elite MLB pitcher. He combines high velocity with a deep arsenal featuring a slider, curveball, changeup, splitter and cutter.

The young right-hander also dominated at his level, recording 395 strikeouts in 303.2 innings during his high school career.

Adding Oda would give the Dodgers another premium development project rather than an immediate answer for their MLB pitching staff.

Oda’s age gives the organization time to refine his delivery, determine which pitches should anchor his repertoire and gradually prepare him for increasingly advanced competition.

His decision to leave the traditional NPB path also demonstrates ambition. Oda is willing to enter an unfamiliar environment and accept the uncertainty attached to building his career in the United States.

The variety within his arsenal could become particularly valuable as he develops. Oda already has several ways to attack hitters, giving coaches multiple options when determining the combination that works best against professional competition.

Los Angeles has also created an environment featuring Ohtani, Yamamoto and Sasaki, providing Oda with established Japanese players who understand the transition he would be making.

Should the Dodgers sign Oda this winter, he could eventually become one of the organization’s leading prospects. Reaching his considerable potential could make him a cornerstone of the Los Angeles pitching staff for years.