Last week, Marlins manager Don Mattingly called Junichi Tazawa "another guy that we identified that we like."
This week, Tazawa is a Marlin.
Tazawa agreed Thursday to a two-year, $12 million deal to come to Miami, according to multiple reports, continuing the Marlins' offseason theme of reuniting free agents with noteworthy figures from earlier in their baseball careers. In the case of Tazawa, a right-handed reliever, that figure is pitching coach Juan Nieves.
Tazawa thrived under Nieves when the two were in Boston in 2013-14, with the pitcher totaling a 3.02 ERA and 1.20 WHIP while striking out more than a batter per inning and walking only two batters per nine innings. Tazawa pitching in 71 games in each of those seasons, and in 2013 he was a key cog in a bullpen that helped the Red Sox to a World Series championship.
In Miami, Tazawa figures to jump into the mid-to-late-inning mix, joining Kyle Barraclough, David Phelps, Nick Wittgren and Brian Ellington as reliable arms behind closer A.J. Ramos. He is one of what will likely be multiple additions to a relief corps that president of baseball operations Michael Hill is looking to bulk up, with the Marlins planning to lean heavily on the bullpen in 2017.
Tazawa, 30, has struggled in recent years to find the same degree of effectiveness as he did earlier in his career. In 2016, he had career-highs in ERA (4.17) and FIP (4.23) while maintaining walk and strikeout rates similar to his career norms.
He seemed to lose a tick off his fastball, too, averaging 93.4 mph, at least 1 mph slower than his mark each of the four previous seasons.
The Marlins will be Tazawa's second professional organization. He signed with the Red Sox as a 22-year-old out of Japan in late 2008. Tazawa had Tommy John surgery in 2010, and he became a full-time reliever in 2012.
Tazawa throws a four-seamer about half of the time, using his splitter as a primary secondary pitch. He also mixes in a fair number of curveballs and sliders.
The Marlins' offseason signings have all been players their staff _ be it front office or field _ have previous experience with. In addition to Tazawa (Nieves), the club has also signed former Pirates Edinson Volquez and Jeff Locke (vice president of pitching development Jim Benedict, among others) and catcher A.J. Ellis (Mattingly). Reliever Dustin McGowan is also back after pitching well for the 2016 Marlins.
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