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 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

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles The , often shortened as the , are a baseball team based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It has played in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League since the team's formation in November 2004. The team is owned by the Internet shopping c ...

Professional career

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

On October 26, 2017, Watanabe was drafted by the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 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 ...

. In 2018 season, he played in the Eastern League of NPB's second league. On July 25, 2019, Watanabe pitched his debut game 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 2019 season, he pitched in one game 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 ...

. In 2020 season, he never got a chance to pitch in the first league. On December 8, 2020, the Eagles re-signed him as a

developmental player In Major League Soccer, in addition to the senior roster, each team can carry a developmental roster of a certain number of young players whose contracts do not count against the salary cap. The allowable size of developmental rosters has varied th ...

with an estimated salary of 5 million yen. In 2021 season, Watanabe changed his pitching form to sidearm last offseason and it paid off. On March 1, 2021, the Eagles re-signed him as a registered player under control. He pitched in nine games with a 5.40

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. Compa ...

and two

holds A hold (abbreviated HLD, H or HD) is awarded to a relief pitcher who meets the following three conditions: :1. Enters the game in a save (baseball), save situation; that is, when all of the following three conditions apply: :: (a) He appears i ...

. In 2022 season, Watanabe had a 2.13 ERA and one hold in 13 appearances and 12.2 innings, but the Eagles announced on October 22, that he was a free agent.

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks

On November 21, 2022, the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks announced that they had signed Watanabe as a developmental player.

References

External links

Career statistics - NPB.jp

- Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles Official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Watanabe, Yuki 1995 births Living people Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks players Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles players Japanese baseball players Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Baseball people from Yamanashi Prefecture