Orlando City
2024 Orlando City Season in Review: Yutaro Tsukada
The young winger spent most of the season with OCB but made his first-team debut in 2024.
Orlando City selected West Virginia left winger Yutaro Tsukada with the 25th overall in the first round of the 2024 MLS SuperDraft. The Lions nabbed Tsukada just a few spots after selecting midfielder Jeorgio Kocevski, who did not have his option picked up in this week’s roster announcements. The club then signed Tsukada to an MLS NEXT Pro deal on March 15 with an eye on having him develop with OCB. Things went well for Tsukada with the Young Lions, as he quickly established himself as one of the team’s most threatening attacking players. Orlando City rewarded Tsukada for the promise he was showing the club by signing him to a first-team contract through the 2025 season on Aug. 15. The deal included option years in 2026 and 2027.
Let’s look back at Tsukada’s first season of professional soccer.
Statistical Breakdown
As mentioned above, Tsukada spent the bulk of the 2024 season with Orlando City B, where he finished third for the team in goals (7) and second in assists (7). His standout play was rewarded with three first-team appearances (all off the bench) during the regular season. The Tokyo, Japan, native logged a total of 20 minutes without recording a goal contribution. He attempted one shot that was off target and passed at an 83.3% rate without a key pass. He recorded one tackle, committed one foul, drew none, and was not booked.
In Leagues Cup play, Tsukada played six minutes off the bench in his lone appearance July 26 at home against CF Montreal. He touched the ball only twice, did not manage an attacking or defensive stat, completed both of his two passes, and did not commit or draw a foul or receive a booking.
Tsukada did not appear in Orlando City’s playoff run or in the Concacaf Champions Cup.
Best Game
It’s tempting to take the game in which he attempted his only shot of the season as Tsukada’s best game, but that was only a one-minute appearance (officially) and included no complete passes in a 0-0 home draw against Inter Miami back on May 15. His second appearance consisted of eight minutes Aug. 24 at Sporting Kansas City, and he completed a season-high passing percentage (86%) on a career high six attempts, but that was one of the team’s worst performances of the year.
There aren’t many options, so I’ll go with his longest outing of the year with the first team — an 11-minute runout on Sept. 14 in Orlando City’s 3-0 home win over the New England Revolution. Tsukada completed four of his five passes in the match (80%) in six touches, reccorded a tackle, and committed his first MLS foul in his brief outing.
2024 Final Grade
Clearly, Tsukada did not log enough minutes with the first team to earn a grade from The Mane Land in 2024. If we were evaluating OCB grades, the 23-year-old would have one of the highest grades among the Young Lions. As it is, his first professional season results in an incomplete grade.
2025 Outlook
Tsukada is under contract for 2025, but I would expect that — much like Jack Lynn did — he will spend the bulk of his second season with OCB. Orlando has a lot of talent returning on the wings, and barring some injuries, it will be difficult to break through to getting minutes. That said, the Japanese winger has talent that, if developed, could see him get a lot more minutes in his second season. My expectation is that he sees more than 20 minutes in 2025, and perhaps will have one or two appearances that each eclipse that number. However, he’ll continue to be a depth piece next season, barring something unforeseen. Hopefully, he can build on a promising first professional season.