Jo Matumoto

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Jo Matumoto (born February 5, 1971 in São Paulo, Brazil) is a left-handed starting pitcher currently signed to a minor-league contract within the Toronto Blue Jays organization.^[1]

Matumoto was born in Brazil but is of Japanese descent. He emerged from relative baseball obscurity, signed to his first professional contract as an undrafted free agent at the age of 36, by the Toronto Blue Jays.

While in Japan, Matumoto was part of an "industrial league" team in Japanese professional baseball, essentially the Japanese equivalent of the Minor League Baseball circuit. Signed by the Nippon Blue Jays (a team unaffiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays, but founded by a former Toronto Blue Jays farm team player, fellow Brazilian Jose Pett^[2]). Matumoto would play in Japan from 1996 until 2001.^[3]

Matumoto returned to Brazil and has seen action playing for the national baseball team since 2001 and was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the 2005 South America Championship.^[4]

Matumoto has a sidearm pitching action with good velocity and movement on all his pitches. He throws a fastball, a slider, and a changeup that resembles a screwball due to his sidearm delivery.