Scott McGough is coming home.
The 33-year-old Plum native who got his start in professional baseball in 2015 after being drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers will return to Major League Baseball for the 2023 season.
McGough, a reliever who helped the Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball League capture the 2021 league championship and finish runner-up this past season, recently agreed to a contract to pitch with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
He said everything is close to completion, and he is looking forward to getting things started in February.
McGough, who originally plied his trade in four MLB organizations and made his big-league debut with the Miami Marlins in 2015, said he was grateful for the opportunity to show his ability in Japan with the Swallows the past four years.
“Every team has international scouts, and once I became a free agent Dec. 1, I had a bunch of teams reach out to me,” said McGough, who has made his US home in Phoenix the past two years. “There are the (Major League Baseball) winter meetings and the general manager meetings, and my agent talked to teams about me. There was interest from a number of teams. Then it came down to who was willing to make an offer.
“It feels great to be back in the league. When I first went over to Japan, the first thought was to play there for a year and kind of propel myself back to the major leagues. But once I got to Japan, I loved it so much and I realized it was such a fantastic place. I considered spending the rest of my career there. The baseball was better than I expected. The fans were awesome. The Swallows treated me great. The whole experience was amazing. But if you throw well enough, there are scouts everywhere. Now, I am coming back a little older and, I feel, both a little smarter and a better pitcher.”
The Swallows, the Central League Champions, met Pacific League Champion Orix Buffaloes in October’s Japan Series for the second year in a row.
Yakult defeated Orix, 4-2, to capture the 2021 crown, but the Buffaloes won this year, 4-2-1.
“We had the same team this year and didn’t lose anyone to free agency,” McGough said. “Going into spring training last year, we all had that same confidence that we could do it again. We worked hard and focused and went on a pretty good run in the summer.
“It was super fun to be in an environment like that and pitch in front of 50,000 fans just having a great time. We came up short in the series, but it was another great experience I will never forget.”
McGough had a front-row seat to history this season as Swallows slugger Munetako Murokami set the record for the most home runs by a Japanese-born player in a single season with 56, surpassing the legendary Sadaharu Oh.
The record-breaking home run came on the final day of the regular season Oct. 3.
Murokami also captured the NPB Triple Crown.
Murokami signed a three-year contract extension with the Swallows, and under the terms of the contract, the team must make him available to Major League Baseball after the 2025 season.
“He is a fantastic hitter,” McGough said. “It was super cool to watch him hit every game. Every at-bat, every swing, he had a chance to hit it out. He did so much to help us get to the playoffs and to the championship series. It’s going to be interesting to see what he can do in Japan over the next couple of years and then go over to America to see what he can do there.”
While Murokami hit the long ball, McGough worked to keep the ball off the bat of opposing hitters as the Swallows closer.
He collected 38 saves in 53.2 innings of work over 55 appearances in 2022. He surrendered just five home runs and 13 walks while striking out 59.
“As the closer, it was always fun to finish off games, and when you’re on a good team, you’re pitching a lot,” said McGough, a three-time NPB all-star (2019, 2021, 2022) . “It was a lot of fun, and I felt like I did a pretty good job this year. The whole entire bullpen did a really good job. We all kind of fed off each other and pushed each other to get better throughout the year.”
McGough, who signed with the Swallows in 2019, capped his Japan tenure with a 15-8 record, 80 saves, 251 strikeouts and 73 walks in 236 innings.
This year’s Fighting Spirit Award, which goes to the MVP from the losing team in the Japan Series, went to Jose Osuna, known to Pittsburgh Pirates fans for his tenure with the club from 2017-2020.
McGough also shared a Swallows dugout with Nori Aoki, a six-season Major League Baseball veteran who spent time with Milwaukee, Kansas City, San Francisco, Seattle, Houston, Toronto and the New York Mets.
Aoki, who will turn 41 on Jan. 5, is in his second run with the Swallows.
Travel restrictions because of the covid pandemic limited McGough’s ability to have his wife, Lauren, and daughter Dakota, now 2, with him during the 2021 season.
But both were in Japan with McGough for the entire 2022 season.
“We had a great time in and around Tokyo, and everyone was able to experience Japan to the fullest,” McGough said. “My daughter was able to get around, and she is starting to understand what baseball is all about and what dad does for a living. It was just a great time with our friends and teammates.”
Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Michael at 724-226-4665, [email protected] or via Twitter .