is a Japanese

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

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. ...

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

Professional career

On October 26, 2017, Ogata was drafted as a developmental player by the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in the

2017 Nippon Professional Baseball draft The 2017 Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Draft was held on October 26, , for the 53rd time at the Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa to assign amateur baseball players to the NPB. It was arranged with the special cooperation of Taisho Pharmaceutical ...

. From 2018 to 2019 season, he played in informal matches against the

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 ...

's teams and amateur baseball teams, and played in the Western League of NPB second league. On March 16, 2020, Ogata signed a 6 million yen contract yen with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks as a registered player under control.) On June 23, Ogata debuted in the

Pacific League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series. It currently consis ...

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, wh ...

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

. In 2020 season, he pitched only one game in the Pacific League. In 2021 season, he finished the regular season with 8 Games pitched, a 0–0 Win–loss record, a 0.87 ERA, and a 9 strikeouts in 10.1 innings. On April 5, 2022, Ogata scored his first win against the

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 ...

as a relief pitcher. In 2022 season, he finished the regular season with 9 Games pitched, a 1–0 Win–loss record, a 5.56 ERA, and a 11 strikeouts in 11.1 innings. In 2023 season, Ogata finished the regular season with a 12 Games pitched, a 0-1 Win–loss record, a 4.00 ERA, and a 15 strikeouts in 18 innings. And he made 16 saves in the Western League and won the Western League Save Leader Award.

References

External links

Career statistics - NPB.jp

- Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Official site 1999 births Living people Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks players Japanese baseball players Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Baseball people from Miyagi Prefecture {{Japan-baseball-pitcher-stub