, nicknamed "Tonarin", is a former Japanese baseball pitcher.

Professional career

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks

Otonari was drafted in 2007 and made his first starts late in the year as the Hawks prepared for the playoffs. His first start was an

Interleague Interleague play in Major League Baseball refers to regular-season baseball games played between an American League (AL) team and a National League (NL) team. Interleague play was first introduced during the 1997 Major League Baseball season. Pr ...

start against the

Hiroshima Toyo Carp The is a professional baseball team based in 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 founder Jujiro Matsuda ...

and he went seven innings, giving up two runs on seven hits, walking three and striking out four. He would be credited with the win, but could not duplicate his success as he gave up 3 runs or more in 5 of his next 7 starts. In his first full season in 2008, the young lefty had a successful season. The first two starts he made, Ōtonari notched

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

victories, also only giving up one run in 18 innings while recording 18 strikeouts. Despite losing the next two starts, Ōtonari still threw 8 innings in each start. The rest of the season was a roller-coaster ride, as his success seemed to hinge on how many batters he struck out. Late in the season, he suffered an elbow injury that prematurely ended his season. Still, Ōtonari finished with a respectable 11–8 with a 3.12

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

, spinning six complete games in 21 starts, striking out 138 batters in 155 and 2/3 innings. The elbow injury seemed to linger with Ōtonari in 2009, as he was slow to start and did not have a quality start until May 6. He was demoted to ''ni-gun'' in early June and did not return until later in the month. In September, Ōtonari was sent to the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if t ...

and after five appearances there, he seemed to respond at the end of the month, recording two consecutive quality starts. However, he was sent back to the bullpen for the

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

s, where his Hawks were knocked out in the first round. The 2010 season was also rough for Ōtonari, but mostly because in 13 of his 19 starts, the Hawks offense scored three runs or less in games that he started. He was doing very well in his lone playoff start, throwing five shutout innings, but he was lifted to go to the bullpen in a game the Hawks lost en route to a heartbreaking series loss that left them one game from the

Japan Series The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, :File:2014_JS_logo.png is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series ...

. In season, Ōttonari finished the regular season with a 3–0 record, a 2.34 ERA. In season, Ōttonari got a career high record. He finished the regular season with a 12–8 record, with a 2.03 ERA, spinning 6 complete games and 3 shutouts games in 25 starts, striking out 134 batters in 177 and 1/3 innings. On November 3, Ōttonari pitched for

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 Sof ...

in the "Samurai Japan Match 2012". On February 20, , Ōttonari was elected a member of Japan national baseball team of the

2013 World Baseball Classic The 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, held from March 2 to March 19, 2013. This was the third iteration of the WBC, following the two previous tournaments, held in 2006 and 2009. Unlike ...

. He pitched in Game 6 of the

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on Mar 6 against the

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

and Game 4 of the

Pool 1 Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky poo ...

on Mar 10 against the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. In June, Ōttonari was diagnosed as suffering from ossification of the yellow ligament of intractable disease. On June 21,he underwent surgery. After that he spent the regular season for rehabilitation. Ōttonari finished the regular season with a 3–3 record, a 3.38 ERA. On July 13, , Ōttonari returned and threw as

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 (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

against the

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaidō. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the majority of their home games at ES CON Field Hokkaido. The Fighters also host a ...

, for the first time in 408 days after the secession. On July 22, he threw and won as a

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

against

Orix Buffaloes The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team formed as a result of the 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball realignment by the merger of the Orix BlueWave of Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes of Osaka, Osaka Prefectur ...

, for the first time in 422 days after the secession. On October 2, Ōttonari took the mound for the final race of the season when Hawks and Buffaloes fight for the Pacific League championship. He threw six innings with four hits, seven strikeouts, no runs, and led the Hawks to Pacific League champion. On October 28, Ōttonari took the mound in Game 3 of the

against the

Hanshin Tigers The Hanshin Tigers (Japanese: 阪神タイガース ''Hanshin Taigāsu'') are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and is owned by Hanshin Electric Railway ...

. He became a winning pitcher at his professional career's first in Japan Series and contributed to the team's Japan Series champion. Ōttonari finished the regular season with a 3–1 record, a 1.64 ERA. In season, Ōttonari finished the regular season with a 5–4 record, a 2.34 ERA in 72 and 1/3 innings. In - season, Ōttonari could only board one game in the regular season. On November 3, 2017, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks released Ōttonari.

Pitching style

A left-handed junkballer, Ōtonari generally throws his

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. "Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have thro ...

in the mid to high-80s, but has shown that he can get strikeouts with his

breaking pitch In baseball, a breaking ball is a pitch (baseball), pitch that does not travel straight as it approaches the Batter (baseball), batter; it will have sideways or downward motion on it, sometimes both (see Slider (baseball), slider). A breaking b ...

es, very similar to former teammate

Toshiya Sugiuchi is a Japanese baseball player. He is a left-handed starting pitcher for the Yomiuri Giants. Sugiuchi was the Eiji Sawamura Award winner in . He has had some of the most international experience of any active Japanese baseball player, pitching ...

. However, Ōtonari does not have the same caliber of control that Sugiuchi does, and thus is prone to walks. The statistics on Ōtonari show that the more strikeouts that he gets, the better his start seems to go. Ōtonari throws a four-seam fastball,

slider Slider or Sliders may refer to: Arts * K.K. Slider, a fictional character within the ''Animal Crossing'' franchise * '' The Slider'', a 1972 album by T. Rex * ''Sliders'' (TV series), an American science fiction and fantasy television series * ...

changeup A changeup is a type of pitch in baseball and fastpitch softball. The changeup is a staple off-speed pitch often used in a pitcher's arsenal, usually thrown to look like a fastball but arriving much more slowly to the plate. Its reduced speed ...

, and

forkball The forkball is a type of pitch in baseball. Related to the split-finger fastball, the forkball is held between the first two fingers and thrown hard, snapping the wrist. The forkball differs from the split-fingered fastball, however, in tha ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Otonari, Kenji 1984 births Living people Chiba Lotte Marines players Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks players Japanese baseball coaches Japanese expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Nippon Professional Baseball coaches Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Baseball people from Kyoto Prefecture 2013 World Baseball Classic players Águilas Cibaeñas players