is a professional Japanese

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

player. He plays

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. They compete in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as a member of the Pacific League. The team was formerly known as the Nankai Hawks and was based in Osaka. ...

Professional career

Kagawa Olive Guyners

On December 13, 2012, Matayoshi signed with the

Kagawa Olive Guyners The are a professional baseball team in the Shikoku Island League Plus of Japan. Established in 2005, the Guyners play at Olive Stadium in the Kagawa Prefectural Baseball Complex in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture. They won the 2006, 2007, 2008, 2 ...

of the independent league

Shikoku Island League Plus The is an independent professional baseball league on the island of Shikoku in Japan. (None of the teams in Nippon Professional Baseball are based in Shikoku.) The league currently has four teams, and has its league headquarters in Takamatsu. Th ...

. On June 22, 2013, His shutout win against the

Kochi Fighting Dogs Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of Ke ...

caught the attention of the

Chunichi Dragons The are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chūbu region of Japan. The team plays in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. They have won the Central League pennant nine times (most recently in 2011) ...

scouts. In 2013 season, he finished the regular season with 24 Games pitched, a 13–4 Win–loss record, a 1.64 ERA, and a 101 strikeouts in 131.1 innings.

Chunichi Dragons

On October 24, 2013, Matayoshi was drafted by the Chunichi Dragons in the 2013 Nippon Professional Baseball draft.

2014–2015 season

On March 29, 2014, Matayoshi debuted in the

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consi ...

against the

Hiroshima Toyo Carp The is a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda ...

as a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...

, and recorded Holds. On April 17, he pitched against the

Yokohama DeNA BayStars The are a professional baseball team in the Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its current ...

and recorded his first win. In 2014 season, he finished the regular season with 67 Games pitched, a 9–1 Win–loss record, a 2.21 ERA, a 24 Holds, a 2 Saves, and a 104 strikeouts in 81.1 innings. In 2015 season, Matayoshi finished the regular season with 63 Games pitched, a 6–6 Win–loss record, a 3.36 ERA, a 30 Holds, and a 82 strikeouts in 72.1 innings.

2016–2021 season

In 2016 season, Matayoshi broke the team record of pitching in at least 60 games for three consecutive seasons as a

setup man In baseball, a setup man (or set-up man, also sometimes referred to as a setup pitcher or setup reliever) is a relief pitcher who regularly pitches before the closer. They commonly pitch the eighth inning, with the closer pitching the ninth. A ...

. And he recorded a 62 Games pitched, a 6–6 Win–loss record, a 2.80 ERA, a 16 Holds, and a 55 strikeouts in 54.2 innings. On April 27, 2017, he scored his first win as a starting pitcher against the

Tokyo Yakult Swallows The Tokyo Yakult Swallows () are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the ...

. On July 4, Matayoshi was the first pitcher from an independent league to be named an My navi All-Star Game 2017. In 2017 season, he finished the regular season with 50 Games pitched, a 8–3 Win–loss record, a 2.13 ERA, a 21 Holds, and a 78 strikeouts in 110 innings. On August 9, 2018, he achieved his 100th career Holds against the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. In 2018 season, he finished the regular season with 40 Games pitched, a 2–5 Win–loss record, a 6.53 ERA, a 9 Holds, and a 28 strikeouts in 41.1 innings. In 2019 season, Matayoshi finished the regular season with 26 Games pitched, a 3–3 Win–loss record, a 4.06 ERA, a 3 Holds, and a 37 strikeouts in 44.1 innings. On June 27, 2020, Matayoshi was diagnosed with a left oblique muscle injury and recuperated. He returned to the mound on September 1 after two months of rehabilitation. In 2020 season, he finished the regular season with 26 Games pitched, a 4–0 Win–loss record, a 2.77 ERA, a 7 Holds, and a 18 strikeouts in 26 innings. On July 16, 2021, Matayoshi was named an All-Star for the second time and pitched in My Navi All-Star Game 2021. In 2021 season, he had a career-high 33 holds in 66 games and recorded a 1.28 ERA, a 8 Saves, and a 41 strikeouts in 63.1 innings. On November 29, he announced that he would exercise his free agent rights( :ja:フリーエージェント (日本プロ野球)).

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks

On December 14, 2021, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks announced that they had signed Matayoshi to a four-year contract. His annual salary, including incentives, was estimated at 650 million yen in total for four years.

2022 season–present

On March 26, 2022, Matayoshi made his first start as a pitcher for the Hawks. On April 26, he became the ninth player in NPB history to reach 150 holds against the

Saitama Seibu Lions The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based north of Tokyo in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. Before 1979, they were based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture in Kyushu. The team is owned by a subsidiary of Seibu Railway ...

. After that, he contributed to the team as a setup man, but on August 9, he was diagnosed with a broken right leg and spent the rest of the season in rehabilitation. In 2022 season, he finished the regular season with 31 Games pitched, a 3–3 Win–loss record, a 2.10 ERA, a 14 Holds, a one Saves, and a 22 strikeouts in 30 innings. In 2023 season, he finished the regular season with a 32 Games pitched, a 2-2 Win–loss record, a 225 ERA, a 10 Holds, and a 15 strikeouts in 28 innings.

International career

On February 16, 2015, Matayoshi represented the

Japan national baseball team The is the national team representing Japan in international baseball competitions. It won the World Baseball Classic in 2006 and 2009, as well as WBSC Premier12 in 2019. The team is currently ranked 1st in the world by the World Baseball Softb ...

at the GLOBAL BASEBALL MATCH 2015. On October 12, 2017, he was selected as the Japan national baseball team in the 2017 Asia Professional Baseball Championship.

References

External links

Career statistics - NPB.jp

- Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Official site 1990 births Living people Baseball people from Okinawa Prefecture Japanese expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Chunichi Dragons players category:Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks players Tigres del Licey players {{Japan-baseball-pitcher-stub