I was inclined to say no, but I wanted to see from a historical standpoint. So, I looked at the best seasons of every Asian pitcher (born in an Asian country, which eliminates players such as Bruce Chen, of Chinese descent but born in Panama) to have pitched at least one year in the major leagues. You will find this lengthy amount of information below, after the jump.
My sense of this is that some part of the problem is the astronomic expectations that get placed on many of these pitchers when they are brought from overseas. Hideo Nomo, Hideki Irabu, Chan Ho Park, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Kei Igawa, etc.; the pressure placed on each was enormous upon arrival.
Unfortunately, tables cannot be posted in a Blogger blog post, so I am listing this information sorted solely by WAR (FanGraphs WAR, as opposed to Baseball-Reference WAR).
Best seasons by Asian [Japanese, South Korean, Taiwanese] pitchers (sorted by single-season WAR) [* = season currently in progress]:
Starters:
Yu Darvish (2012): 2012 Rangers: 11-8, 191.1 IP, 3.90 ERA (3.29 FIP, 3.52 xFIP), 1.28 WHIP, 10.4 K/9 (229 Ks), 4.19 BB/9 (89 BBs), 0.66 HR/9, +5.1 WAR (out of a career total of +5.1 WAR)
Hideo Nomo ('95-'08): 1995 Dodgers: 13-6, 191.1 IP, 2.54 ERA (2.89 FIP), 1.06 WHIP, 11.10 K/9 (236 Ks), 3.67 BB/9 (78 BBs), 0.66 HR/9, +4.9 WAR (out of a career total of +24.9 WAR), 4 CG, 3 SHO, Dodgers single-season K/9 record (breaking Sandy Koufax's 10.54 K/9 set in 1962), started '95 ASG
Chien-Ming Wang ('05-'12): 2006 Yankees: 19-6, 218 IP, 3.63 ERA (3.91 FIP, 4.19 xFIP), 1.31 WHIP, 3.14 K/9 (76 Ks), 2.15 BB/9 (52 BBs), 0.50 HR/9, +4.7 WAR (out of a career total of +12.9 WAR), 1 SV, 2 CG, 1 SHO
Hiroki Kuroda ('08-'12): 2010 Dodgers: 11-13, 196.1 IP, 3.39 ERA (3.26 FIP, 3.43 xFIP), 1.16 WHIP, 7.29 K/9 (159 Ks), 2.20 BB/9 (48 BBs), 0.69 HR/9, +4.1 WAR (out of a career total of +15.1 WAR)
Daisuke Matsuzaka ('07-'12): 2007 Red Sox: 15-12, 204.2 IP, 4.40 ERA (4.23 FIP, 4.17 xFIP), 1.32 WHIP, 8.84 K/9 (201 Ks), 3.52 BB/9 (80 BBs), 1.10 HR/9, +3.9 WAR (out of a career total of +10.8 WAR), 1 CG
Chan Ho Park ('94-'10): 2001 Dodgers: 15-11, 234 IP, 3.50 ERA (3.89 FIP), 1.17 WHIP, 8.38 K/9 (218 Ks), 3.50 BB/9 (91 BBs), 0.88 HR/9, +3.7 WAR (out of a career total of +19.4 WAR), 2 CG, 1 SHO
Tomo Ohka ('99-'09): 2002 Expos: 13-8, 192.2 IP, 3.18 ERA (3.83 FIP, 4.01 xFIP), 1.24 WHIP, 5.51 K/9 (118 Ks), 2.10 BB/9 (45 BBs), .9 HR/9, +3.0 WAR (out of a career total of +11.6 WAR), 2 CG
Jay Seo ('02-'07): 2003 Mets: 9-12, 188.1 IP, 3.82 ERA (3.93 FIP, 4.60 xFIP), 1.27 WHIP, 5.26 K/9 (110 Ks), 2.20 BB/9 (46 BBs), 0.86 HR/9, +2.9 WAR (out of a career total of +4.5 WAR)
Mac Suzuki ('96-'02): 2000 Royals: 8-10, 188.2 IP, 4.34 ERA (5.04 FIP), 1.53 WHIP, 6.44 K/9 (135 Ks), 4.48 BB/9 (94 BBs), 1.24 HR/9, +2.8 WAR (out of a career total of +3.6 WAR), 1 CG SHO
Masato Yoshii ('98-'02): 2000 Rockies: 6-15, 167.1 IP, 5.86 ERA (5.55 FIP), 1.52 WHIP, 4.73 K/9 (88 Ks), 2.85 BB/9 (53 BBs), 1.72 HR/9, +2.5 WAR (out of a career total of +7.7 WAR)
Hideki Irabu ('97-'02): 1999 Yankees: 11-7, 169.1 IP, 4.84 ERA (4.48 FIP), 1.33 WHIP, 7.07 K/9 (133 Ks), 2.44 BB/9 (46 BBs), 1.38 HR/9, +2.4 WAR (out of a career total of +4.0 WAR), 2 CG, 1 SHO
Wei-Yin Chen (2012): 2012 Orioles: 12-11, 192.2 IP, 4.02 ERA (4.42 FIP, 4.34 xFIP), 1.23 WHIP, 7.19 K/9 (154 Ks), 2.66 BB/9 (57 BBs), 1.35 HR/9, +2.2 WAR (out of a career total of +2.0 WAR)
Kenshin Kawakami ('09-'10): 2009 Braves: 7-12, 1 SV, 156.1 IP, 3.86 ERA (4.21 FIP, 4.55 xFIP), 1.34 WHIP, 6.04 K/9 (105 Ks), 3.28 BB/9 (57 BBs), 0.86 HR/9, +1.7 WAR (out of a career total of +2.5 WAR)
Hisanori Takahashi ('10-'12): 2010 Mets: 10-6, 53 games, 122 IP, 3.61 ERA (3.65 FIP, 3.83 xFIP), 1.30 WHIP, 8.41 K/9 (114 Ks), 3.17 BB/9 (43 BBs), 0.96 HR/9, +1.6 WAR (out of a career total of +2.1 WAR), 8 SV, 3 HLD
Cha Seung Baek ('04-'08): 2007 Mariners: 4-3, 73.1 IP, 5.15 ERA (3.66 FIP, 4.41 xFIP), 1.38 WHIP, 6.01 K/9 (49 Ks), 1.72 BB/9 (14 BBs), 0.74 HR/9, +1.6 WAR (out of a career total of +2.8 WAR)
Kaz Ishii ('02-'05): 2003 Dodgers: 9-7, 147 IP, 3.86 ERA (4.73 FIP, 5.00 xFIP), 1.56 WHIP, 8.6 K/9 (140 Ks), 6.2 BB/9 (101 BBs), 1 HR/9, +0.8 WAR
(out of a career total of +0.8 WAR)
Hisashi Iwakuma (2012): 2012 Mariners: 9-5, 20 games, 125.1 IP, 3.16 ERA (4.35 FIP, 3.76 xFIP), 1.41 WHIP, 7.55 K/9 (54 Ks), 4.20 BB/9 (30 BBs), 1.68 HR/9, +0.8 WAR (out of a career total of +0.8 WAR), 2 SV, 1 BSV
Masao Kida ('99-'05): 2003 Dodgers: 0-1, 12 IP, 3.00 ERA (2.45 FIP, 3.91 xFIP), 1.50 WHIP, 6.00 K/9 (8 Ks), 2.25 BB/9 (3 BBs), +0.3 WAR (out of a career total of +0.7 WAR)
Jin-Ho Cho ('98-'99): 1999 Red Sox: 2-3, 39.1 IP, 5.72 ERA (5.40 FIP), 1.35 WHIP, 3.66 K/9 (16 Ks), 1.83 BB/9 (8 BBs), 1.60 HR/9, +0.3 WAR (out of a career total of +0.5 WAR)
Kei Igawa ('07-'08): 2008 Yankees: 0-1, 2 games, 4 IP, 13.50 ERA (3.13 FIP, 6.10 xFIP), 3.25 WHIP, 0.00 K/9, 0.00 BB/9, 0.00 HR/9, +0.1 WAR (out of a career total of -0.2 WAR)
Takashi Kashiwada (1997): 1997 Mets: 3-1, 31.1 IP, 4.31 ERA (5.57 FIP), 1.69 WHIP, 5.46 K/9 (19 Ks), 5.17 BB/9 (18 BBs), 1.15 HR/9, -0.4 WAR (out of a career total of -0.4 WAR)
Relievers:
Takashi Saito ('06-'12): 2006 Dodgers: 6-2, 72 games, 78.1 IP, 2.07 ERA (1.87 FIP, 2.84 xFIP), 0.91 WHIP, 12.29 K/9 (107 Ks), 2.64 BB/9 (23 BBs), 0.34 HR/9, +3.2 WAR (out of a career total of +8.6 WAR), 24 SV, 7 HLD, 2 BSV
Byung-Hyung Kim ('99-'07) [note: technically Kim's highest-WAR season was his lone season as a starter in 2006 with the Rockies, but the discrepancy between that and his two best relief seasons is +0.3 WAR, and being that his career was forged as a reliever, I put him in the relief category]: 2002 Diamondbacks: 8-3, 72 games, 84 IP, 2.04 ERA (2.69 FIP, 3.04 xFIP), 1.07 WHIP, 9.86 K/9 (92 Ks), 2.79 BB/9 (26 BBs), 0.54 HR/9, +2.6 WAR (out of a career total of +12.5 WAR), 36 SV, 6 BSV
Hong-Chih Kuo ('05-'11): 2010 Dodgers: 3-2, 56 games, 60 IP, 1.20 ERA (1.81 FIP, 2.96 xFIP), 0.78 WHIP, 10.95 K/9 (73 Ks), 2.70 BB/9 (13 BBs), 0.15 HR/9, +2.2 WAR (out of a career total of +6.2 WAR)
Akinori Otsuka ('04-'07): 2006 Rangers: 2-4, 63 games, 59.2 IP, 2.11 ERA (2.78 FIP, 3.28 xFIP), 1.07 WHIP, 7.09 K/9 (47 Ks), 1.66 BB/9 (11 BBs), 0.45 HR/9, +2.0 WAR (out of a career total of +5.2 WAR), 32 SV, 7 HLD, 4 BSV
Kaz Sasaki ('00-'03): 2001 Mariners: 0-4, 69 games, 66.2 IP, 3.24 ERA (3.03 FIP), 0.89 WHIP, 8.37 K/9 (62 Ks), 1.49 BB/9 (11 BBs), 0.81 HR/9, +1.7 WAR (out of a career total of +4.3 WAR), 45 SV
Hideki Okajima ('07-'11): 2007 Red Sox: 3-2, 66 games, 69 IP, 2.22 ERA (3.33 FIP, 3.56 xFIP), 0.97 WHIP, 8.22 K/9 (63 Ks), 2.22 BB/9 (17 BBs), 0.78 HR/9, +1.5 WAR (out of a career total of +3.4 WAR), 5 SV, 27 HLD, 2 BSV, All-Star appearance, 2007 Setup Man of the Year Award winner
Koji Uehara ('09-'12): 2010 Orioles: 1-2, 43 games, 44 IP, 2.86 ERA (2.40 FIP, 2.70 xFIP), 0.95 WHIP, 11.25 K/9 (55 Ks), 1.02 BB/9 (5 BBs), 1.02 HR/9, +1.4 WAR (out of a career total of +4.6 WAR), 13 SV, 6 HLD, 2 BSV
Masanori Murakami ('64-'65): 1965 Giants: 4-1, 45 games, 74.1 IP, 3.75 ERA (2.81 FIP), 1.06 WHIP, 10.29 K/9 (85 Ks), 2.66 BB/9 (22 BBs), 1.09 HR/9, +1.0 WAR (out of a career total of +1.4 WAR), 8 SV
Shingo Takatsu ('04-'05): 2004 White Sox: 6-4, 59 games, 62.1 IP, 2.31 ERA (3.80 FIP, 4.31 xFIP), 0.98 WHIP, 7.22 K/9 (50 Ks), 3.03 BB/9 (21 BBs), 0.87 HR/9, +1.0 WAR (out of a career total of +0.2 WAR), 19 SV, 4 HLD, 1 BSV
Shigetoshi Hasegawa ('97-'05): 2003 Mariners: 2-4, 63 games, 73 IP, 1.48 ERA (3.78 FIP, 4.27 xFIP), 1.10 WHIP, 3.95 K/9 (32 Ks), 2.22 BB/9 (18 BBs), 0.62 HR/9, +0.8 WAR (out of a career total of +4.8 WAR), 16 SV, 12 HLD, 1 BSV
Sun-Woo Kim ('01-'06): 2004 Expos: 4-6, 43 games, 135.2 IP, 4.58 ERA (4.90 FIP, 4.71 xFIP), 1.47 WHIP, 5.77 K/9 (87 Ks), 3.65 BB/9 (55 BBs), 1.13 HR/9, +0.6 WAR (out of a career total of +1.8 WAR), 2 HLD
Kazuhito Tadano ('04-'05): 2004 Indians: 1-1, 14 games (4 starts), 50.1 IP, 4.65 ERA (4.30 FIP, 4.76 xFIP), 1.45 WHIP, 6.97 K/9 (39 Ks), 3.22 BB/9 (18 BBs), 1.07 HR/9, +0.5 WAR (out of a career total of +0.6 WAR)
Keiichi Yabu ('05, '08): 2008 Giants: 3-6, 60 games, 68 IP, 3.57 ERA (4.06 FIP, 4.76 xFIP), 1.55 WHIP, 6.35 K/9 (48 Ks), 4.24 BB/9 (32 BBs), 0.4 HR/9, +0.4 WAR (out of a career total of +0.4 WAR), 9 HLD, 1 BSV
Junichi Tazawa ('09-'12): 2012 Red Sox: 1-1, 37 games, 44 IP, 1.43 ERA (1.82 FIP, 2.59 xFIP), 0.95 WHIP, 9.2 K/9 (45 Ks), 1.02 BB/9 (5 BBs), 0.2 HR/9, +1.3 WAR (out of a career total of +1.3 WAR), 1 SV
Yoshinori Tateyama ('11-'12): 2011 Rangers: 2-0, 39 games, 44 IP, 4.50 ERA (4.32 FIP, 3.38 xFIP), 1.09 WHIP, 8.80 K/9 (43 Ks), 2.25 BB/9 (11 BBs), 1.64 HR/9, +0.2 WAR (out of a career total of +0.1 WAR), 1 SV, 4 HLD
Fu-Te Ni ('09-'12): 2009 Tigers: 0-0, 36 games, 31 IP, 2.61 ERA (4.16 FIP, 4.94 xFIP), 1.00 WHIP, 6.1 K/9 (21 Ks), 3.19 BB/9 (11 BBs), 0.87 HR/9, +0.2 WAR (out of a career total of +0.1 WAR)
Jung Bong ('02-'04): 2002 Braves: 0-1, 6 IP, 7.50 ERA (2.63 FIP, 4.24 xFIP), 1.67 WHIP, 6.00 K/9 (4 Ks), 3.00 BB/9 (2 BBs), 0.00 HR/9, +0.2 WAR (out of a career total of -0.1 WAR)
Masa Kobayashi ('08-'09): 2008 Indians: 4-5, 57 games, 55.2 IP, 4.53 ERA (4.55 FIP, 3.99 xFIP), 1.42 WHIP, 5.66 K/9 (35 Ks), 2.26 BB/9 (14 BBs), 1.29 HR/9, +0.1 WAR (out of a career total of +0.0 WAR), 6 SV, 2 HLD, 3 BSV
Chin-Hui Tsao ('03-'07): 2004 Rockies: 0-0, 10 games, 9.1 IP, 3.86 ERA (3.80 FIP, 2.08 xFIP), 0.86 WHIP, 10.61 K/9 (11 Ks), 0.96 BB/9 (1 BB), 1.93 HR/9, +0.1 WAR (out of a career total of -0.3 WAR), 1 SV, 1 HLD, 1 BSV
Dae-Sung Koo (2005): 2005 Mets: 0-0, 33 games, 23 IP, 3.91 ERA (4.11 FIP, 4.30 xFIP), 1.52 WHIP, 9.00 K/9 (23 Ks), 5.09 BB/9 (13 BBs), 0.78 HR/9, +0.1 WAR (out of a career total of +0.1 WAR), 6 HLD, 2 BSV
Ken Takahashi (2009): 2009 Mets: 0-1, 28 games, 27.1 IP, 2.96 ERA (4.12 FIP, 4.80 xFIP), 1.35 WHIP, 7.6 K/9 (23 Ks), 4.6 BB/9 (14 BBs), 0.66 HR/9, +0.0 WAR (out of a career total of +0.0 WAR)
Ryota Igarashi ('10-'12): 2011 Mets: 4-1, 45 games, 38.2 IP, 4.66 ERA (4.01 FIP, 4.54 xFIP), 1.84 WHIP, 9.78 K/9 (42 Ks), 6.52 BB/9 (28 BBs), 0.47 HR/9, +0.0 WAR (out of a career total of -0.3 WAR), 2 HLD, 1 BSV
Jae Kuk Ryu ('06-'08): 2007 Devil Rays: 1-2, 17 games, 23.1 IP, 7.33 ERA (5.08 FIP, 5.26 xFIP), 1.80 WHIP, 5.40 K/9 (14 Ks), 4.24 BB/9 (11 BBs), 0.77 HR/9, +0.0 WAR (out of a career total of -0.4 WAR), 1 HLD, 1 BSV
Satoru Komiyama (2002): 2002 Mets: 0-3, 25 games, 43.1 IP, 5.61 ERA (4.58 FIP, 4.27 xFIP), 1.50 WHIP, 6.85 K/9 (33 Ks), 2.49 BB/9 (12 BBs), 1.45 HR/9, -0.1 WAR (out of a career total of -0.1 WAR)
Sang-Hoon Lee (2000): 2000 Red Sox: 0-0, 9 games, 11.2 IP, 3.09 ERA (5.88 FIP), 1.37 WHIP, 4.63 K/9 (6 Ks), 3.86 BB/9 (5 BBs), 1.54 HR/9, -0.1 WAR (out of a career total of -0.1 WAR)
Mike Nakamura ('03-'04): 2003 Twins: 0-0, 1 SV, 12 games, 12.2 IP, 7.82 ERA (5.64 FIP, 3.83 xFIP), 1.74 WHIP, 9.95 K/9 (14 Ks), 1.42 BB/9 (2 BBs), 2.84 HR/9, -0.1 WAR (out of a career total of -0.3 WAR), 1 SV, 1 HLD
Yasuhiko Yabuta ('08-'09): 2008 Royals: 1-3, 31 games, 37.2 IP, 4.78 ERA (5.23 FIP, 4.70 xFIP), 1.54 WHIP, 5.97 K/9 (25 Ks), 4.06 BB/9 (17 BBs), 1.43 HR/9, -0.1 WAR (out of a career total of -0.3 WAR), 1 BSV
Kazuo Fukumori (2008): 2008 Rangers: 0-0, 4 games, 4 IP, 20.25 ERA (12.13 FIP, 8.27 xFIP), 3.75 WHIP, 2.25 K/9 (1 K), 9.0 BB/9 (4 BBs), 4.5 HR/9, -0.2 WAR (out of a career total of -0.2 WAR)
Takahito Nomura (2002): 2002 Brewers: 0-0, 21 games, 13.2 IP, 8.56 ERA (7.94 FIP, 7.96 xFIP), 2.12 WHIP, 5.93 K/9 (9 Ks), 11.85 BB/9 (18 BBs), 1.32 HR/9, -0.5 WAR (out of a career total of -0.5 WAR), 2 HLD, 1 BSV
Masumi Kuwata (2007): 2007 Pirates: 0-1, 19 games, 21 IP, 9.43 ERA (8.10 FIP, 6.17 xFIP), 1.90 WHIP, 5.14 K/9 (12 Ks), 6.43 BB/9 (15 BBs), 2.57 HR/9, -0.8 WAR (out of a career total of -0.8 WAR), 3 HLD
# = Not included: Tsuyoshi Wada (under contract for 2013 but yet to throw a pitch in the majors)
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