After over a decade in Nippon Professional Baseball, longtime Yomiuri Giants ace Tomoyuki Sugano will finally come to MLB in 2025, according to a report from ESPN's Jeff Passan on Friday.

Sugano would be an international free agent, so he will not need to be posted by Yomiuri, and he will not be subject to the contract negotiation rules of the Japanese posting system.

The veteran right-hander, who turns 35 on Oct. 11, has been one of the best pitchers in Japan over his 12-season career in NPB. And after an injury-plagued season in 2023, Sugano is having a resurgent season for the Giants in 2024.

Sugano is 15-3 with a 1.67 ERA and 111 strikeouts in 24 starts this season, leading the league in wins and ranking second in ERA. He's also led the Giants back to the playoffs -- Yomiuri finished in first place in the Central League, with the NPB postseason set to begin next weekend.

Even in his mid-30s, Sugano still has solid stuff, and a diverse pitch arsenal. He throws both a four-seamer and sinker, with his fastball averaging around 92 mph, as well as a low-80s slider, high-80s cutter, high-70s curveball and the wipeout, upper-80s splitter that is a signature of many Japanese aces.

Sugano would join an MLB free-agent class of starting pitchers headlined by Orioles ace Corbin Burnes, Braves left-hander Max Fried and potentially reigning Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell if he opts out of his contract with the Giants.

Sugano was actually posted by Yomiuri before, in 2020, with the intent of coming to the Major Leagues then. But he did not agree to a deal with an MLB team by the end of the posting window, and he returned to Japan to continue to pitch for the Giants, where he's been his entire professional career.

In his career, Sugano is 136-74 with a 2.43 ERA and 1,585 strikeouts in the NPB. He is a two-time MVP of NPB's Central League, winning in 2014 and 2020, and a two-time winner of the Sawamura Award -- Japan's version of the Cy Young -- in 2017 and 2018.

He also dominated against the Major League hitters of Team USA during the 2017 World Baseball Classic. Sugano faced the U.S. in the WBC semifinals and pitched six innings of three-hit, one-run baseball with six strikeouts. Sugano struck out Nolan Arenado three times, and Christian Yelich, Giancarlo Stanton and Adam Jones one time each.