Yoshi Tsutsugo has not lived up to his billing since leaving his native Japan to play professionally in the United States.

The Pittsburgh Pirates became the third major-league organization to take a shot at unlocking Tsutsugo’s talent after the infielder/outfielder washed out with the Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Pirates signed Tsutsugo as a free agent Monday night, and he was in uniform against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, though not in the starting lineup. First baseman John Nogowski was designated for assignment to clear space on the 26-man and 40-man rosters.

The 29-year-old, left-handed-hitting Tsutsugo asked for and was granted his release by the Dodgers over the weekend at Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton said Tsutsugo likely will play mostly first base as well as see some action in left field. During two seasons in the major leagues, Tsutsugo has started 18 games in left field and 11 each at first base and third base.

“I think we identified liking the impacting the ball,” Shelton said when asked what attracted the Pirates to Tsutsugo. “This is a guy that has been in the big leagues, has gone to the minor leagues and we’ve seen some definite improvements. That’s something that obviously intrigued us and led us to giving him the opportunity here in Pittsburgh.”

Having Tsutsugo aim for the short porch in right field at PNC Park also intrigues the Pirates.

“Obviously, I would like to take advantage of that right-field wall, but at the same time, whatever I can do to help the team out in any way is always going to be above,” Tsutsugo said.

The Rays signed Tsutsugo to a two-year, $12-million contract as a free agent Dec. 16, 2019, after he starred in Nippon Professional Baseball with the Yokohama BayStars.

In 10 seasons in the Japanese Central League, he slashed .285/.382/.528 with 205 home runs. Tsutsugo hit at least 22 homers in six straight seasons from 2014-19, including a career-high 44 in 2016.

However, that hitting ability has not translated to the major leagues.

During last year’s pandemic-shortened season, Tsutsugo hit .197/.314/.395 with eight home runs for the Rays in 51 games. He then went 2 for 16 in the postseason as the Rays reached the World Series, where they lost to the Dodgers.

Perhaps a precursor of what was to come occurred during the first day of spring training last year when Tsutsugo swung and missed at the first pitch he saw in batting practice.

Tsutsugo was even worse this season with a .167/.244/.218 line while failing to homer for the Rays in 26 games before being traded to the Dodgers on May 15 for a player to be named. He played in 12 games with Los Angeles, hitting .120/.290./.120 before being optioned to Oklahoma City on June 17.

Two talent evaluators from MLB teams who have watched Tsutsugo during his time in the United States both say his biggest problem is he has a hard time catching up to good fastballs. That is a fatal flaw in today’s game when pitchers are throwing high fastballs at a higher rate than ever.

“He’s not the first hitter to come from Japan who can’t hit a big league fastball,” an evaluator from a National League club said. “It’s a different game there. Most pitchers don’t throw as hard there as they do here. It’s more of a finesse league. Some guys make the adjustment, and some guys don’t. (Tsutsugo) looks overmatched with the fastball up in the zone.”

Tsutsugo fared better at Oklahoma City as he belted 10 homers in 43 games. He also had a .257/.361/.507 slash line, including .367/.462/.700 in his last 19 games.

“I made no real big changes, but small things here and there … to go down to the minors and work on some things and come back up has been good,” Tsutsugo said.

The Pirates have little to lose financially by looking at Tsutsugo.

The Rays are on the hook for all of his salary this season except the prorated MLB minimum.

Nogowski hit .261 with one home run in 33 games for the Pirates, joining the team July 5 after being acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals in a cash transaction. He had seen a dip in playing time since first baseman Colin Moran was activated from the injured list Aug. 5.

“I think with the fact that we got Colin back, and he’s been playing at first and the fact of signing Yoshi there, it just came down to lack of at-bats there,” Shelton said. “When you make moves and you make roster moves, he ended up unfortunately being the casualty.”

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