(born March 8, 1984) is a Japanese professional

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 ...

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 Orix Buffaloes of

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 ...

(NPB). He previously played for the Buffaloes from 2006-2007, 2009-2017, and the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

in 2018 and 2019, and the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

in 2020 in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). Hirano is a right-handed pitcher with a three-quarters delivery. As a reliever, he throws a fastball topping out at mid-90s and a

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 th ...

as his primary pitches.

Career

Orix Buffaloes

The Orix Buffaloes selected him with the first overall selection in the 2005

draft. Hirano made his professional debut in 2006, pitching 172.1 innings of 3.81 ERA ball. The next year, Hirano logged an 8-13 record and 3.72 ERA in 27 appearances with the team. In 2008, Hirano did not make an appearance with the major club, pitching in 6 games for Orix's minor league club. He returned to Orix in 2009, pitching to a 3-12 record and 4.72 ERA in 20 appearances. In 2010, Hirano improved on his performance from the previous year, recording a stellar 7-2 record and 1.67 ERA with 101 strikeouts in 80.2 innings of work. He continued his success in 2011, logging a 6-2 record and 1.94 ERA in 83.2 innings of work. He also won NPB’s best middle reliever award in 2011. His fine work continued in 2012, with an ERA of 2.15 paired with a record of 7-4 in 70 appearances. Hirano carried his success into 2013 as well, pitching to a 1.87 ERA with 71 strikeouts in 62.2 innings pitched for Orix. He was not as successful in 2014, but still had a solid year, registering a 3.43 ERA with 70 strikeouts in 60.1 innings pitched. Hirano also led 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 cons ...

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in saves, with 40. In 2015, Hirano posted a 3.82 ERA with 43 strikeouts in 33.0 innings across 33 appearances for the team. In 2016, Hirano had a strong year, posting a 4-4 record and 1.92 ERA in 58 appearances for Orix. During the 2017 season, his last before signing with a

team, the right-handed Hirano saved 29 games and pitched to a 2.67 ERA with 47 strikeouts in 57 1/3 innings. Hirano pitched 12 seasons of professional ball in Japan with Orix. He became a full-time reliever in 2010 and was the Buffaloes closer from 2012–2017. In his time with the Buffaloes, he recorded a total of 156 saves.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On December 22, 2017, Hirano agreed to a two-year, $6 million contract with the

. In his first season with Arizona, Hirano finished with a record of 4-3 with a 2.44 ERA in 75 appearances. He collected 3 saves in innings. In 2019, Hirano could not replicate his success, posting a less appealing 5-5 record and 4.75 ERA across 62 contests.

Seattle Mariners

Hirano agreed to a one-year, $1.6M contract with the

on January 30, 2020. On July 14, 2020, Hirano mentioned that he had tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

. On August 22, 2020, he made his Mariners debut. In 13 appearances for the Mariners in 2020, Hirano pitched to a 5.84 ERA with 11 strikeouts in 12.1 innings pitched. On October 28, 2020, Hirano became a free agent.

Orix Buffaloes (second stint)

On February 6, 2021, Hirano signed a one-year, $1.4MM contract to return to the Orix Buffaloes of

, the team with which he had begun his career and pitched for from 2005 to 2017. On February 10, 2021, he held press conference.

International career

Hirano played for the Japanese National Team at the 2017 World Baseball Classic. After advancing to the championship round, Japan lost to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

2–1 in the semifinal, finishing the tournament in third place. Hirano earned a bronze medal for his performance in the games.

References

External links

NPB official site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hirano, Yoshihisa 1984 births Living people Arizona Diamondbacks players Baseball people from Kyoto Japanese expatriate baseball players in the United States Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Japan National baseball team players Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Orix Buffaloes players Seattle Mariners players 2017 World Baseball Classic players