When Kenta Maeda took the mound for one of his final starts with the Hiroshima Carp, about three dozen major league scouts made their way to Koshien Stadium to watch. That's three dozen, as in more than 30, meaning on that September afternoon some big league teams had more than one set of eyes watching the 27-year-old right-hander.
And that was for just one of Maeda's 29 regular-season starts in 2015.
"He's probably been scouted as much as any [Japanese pitcher]," one American League scout said last week. "I don't think there's any mystery."
Oh, but yes there is.