Seiya Suzuki’s interpreter dismissed by the Cubs

CHICAGO (AP) — The Japanese interpreter of Chicago Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki was dismissed by the team prior to Friday’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Interpreter Toy Matsushita had been with the organization since Suzuki’s arrival in 2022.

“Essentially, we just made the decision moving forward that we could be in a good spot without Toy,” Chicago manager Craig Counsell said on Friday. “We’ve built a pretty good support system around Seiya with some other people that can just move the situation forward and nothing will really change.”

Counsell said the decision to move on from Matsushita did not have to do with getting more out of Suzuki.

Cubs staffers Nao Masamoto and Edwin Stanberry will work with Suzuki in Matsushita’s place, according to a report from The Athletic.

Matsushita’s dismissal comes one month after Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter of Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, pleaded guilty in federal court to bank and tax fraud for stealing nearly $17 million from the player’s bank account.