Shōta Imanaga began 2023 by starting the World Baseball Classic gold medal game against Team USA.

He could end the year with a move to Major League Baseball.

Imanaga’s Nippon Professional Baseball club, the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, will post him for MLB clubs after the ’23 season, sources told MLB.com Wednesday.

Imanaga, 30, has been one of the top starting pitchers in Japan since reaching NPB in 2016. The left-hander is having a career year in 2023, posting an otherworldly 8.21 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

The determination that Imanaga will be posted doesn’t guarantee that he will sign with an MLB team, but that is viewed by industry sources as very likely given his ability level and the overall demand for pitching. Imanaga, who threw a no-hitter last year, is 7-4 with a 2.57 ERA in 20 starts for Yokohama this season. He allowed two runs and fanned seven in six innings over three outings (one start) in the World Baseball Classic.

Imanaga’s ability to miss bats will appeal to MLB scouts, and he’s poised to enter the market at an opportune time. The Yankees, Dodgers and Cardinals are among the notable teams with significant rotation vacancies to fill this offseason.

Imanaga is well-known among MLB scouts through his performances at the club and international level. He helped Team Japan win gold at the 2019 WBSC Premier12 and this year’s World Baseball Classic.

Imanaga joins Orix Buffaloes ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto as the top Japanese pitching stars available to MLB clubs through the posting process. Yamamoto and Imanaga will benefit from not being tied to Draft-pick compensation, whereas some MLB free agents will be.

The posting dates for Yamamoto and Imanaga are not yet clear; it is unlikely that they will be made available on the same date this winter. Once they are formally posted, the pitchers and their representatives will be able to negotiate with any MLB team for a 45-day period.

If and when Imanaga signs with an MLB team, the BayStars will receive a release fee from the MLB club, which is an additional cost beyond Imanaga’s salary. The release fee accumulates based on the size of the contractual guarantee: 20 percent of the initial $25 million; 17.5 percent of any amount between $25 million and $50 million; and 15 percent for any amount beyond $50 million.