Masaki Oyokawa
| Masaki Oyokawa | |
|---|---|
 Oyokawa with the Hanshin Tigers | |
| Hanshin Tigers – No. 37 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born: April 18, 2001 Sōsa, Chiba | |
Bats: Left Throws: Left | |
| NPB debut | |
| 2021, for the Hanshin Tigers | |
| NPB statistics (through 2023 season) | |
| Games | 73 |
| Win–loss record | 5-4 |
| ERA | 3.07 |
| Strikeouts | 78 |
| Saves | 0 |
| Holds | 17 |
| Teams | |
| |
Masaki Oyokawa (及川 雅貴, Oyokawa, Masaki, born April 18, 2001 in Sōsa, Chiba) is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher who currently plays for the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball.[1]
He is nicknamed "Oyoyo" by his teammates.[2]
Early baseball career
[edit]He started playing little league baseball in 3rd grade for Suka Elementary, and was chosen to play for the Chiba Lotte Marines Junior team in his 6th year.[3] He continued playing baseball for Yokaichiba Daini Junior High, and was selected to pitch for the national team in the 2016 WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup.[4] He helped Japan finish 2nd overall, and he earned the lowest ERA pitcher award as well as a "Super Junior High pitcher" reputation for his 140 km/h fastball.[5]
He entered Yokohama High School, a known baseball powerhouse in Kanagawa prefecture, and became the team's ace in his 2nd year.[6] But despite his team making it to national tournaments for 3 years in a row, he failed to pitch well in several games that at one point he was stripped of the ace jersey (#1).[7] In his final year, his team almost made it to the summer prefectural finals but lost to the opponent when he gave up 3 runs in less than 2 innings of relief. This was the first time his school was defeated by a public high school in the prefectural tournaments, last occurred in 1997 when Daisuke Matsuzaka was a sophomore pitcher there.[3] Nevertheless, his 153 km/h (95 mph) fastball was enough to gain scout attention and he was one of the top high school prospects of the 2019 draft, along with Junya Nishi, Rōki Sasaki and Yasunobu Okugawa.[8]
Hanshin Tigers
[edit]He was the Tiger's 3rd round pick during the 2019 NPB draft.[6] He signed a 50 million yen contract with Hanshin, for an estimated annual salary of 6 million yen.[1] He was assigned jersey number 37.
2020 He spent his first year playing in Western League games (farms). He finished with a 2-4 record in 9 outings with a 6.0 ERA.[9]
2021 He debuted as a middle reliever in the May 25 game against the Lions and pitched a scoreless 2/3 innings.[10] Two days later, he earned his first career win as a reliever after pitching 2 scoreless innings.[11]
Career statistics
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "阪神、Ｄ３位・及川と合意". Sankei Sports. 2019-11-07.
- ^ "阪神３位及川は桂三枝？「オヨヨと呼んでほしい」". Nikkan Sports. 2019-10-23.
- ^ a b "【神奈川】横浜まさか…及川急きょ登板も４連覇ならず". Sports Hochi. 2019-07-26.
- ^ "阪神３位及川「打たれてしまった」西武森に雪辱誓う". Nikkan Sports. 2019-10-23.
- ^ "阪神ドラ3及川、奪三振も四球も多い「スーパー中学生」の実像". Sports Nippon. 2019-12-06.
- ^ a b "阪神、横浜・及川投手を3位指名 高校「BIG4」の一角 潜在能力の高い153キロ左腕". Sports Nippon. 2019-10-17.
- ^ "自己最速149キロをマーク！"世代NO.1"横浜高の2年生左腕・及川雅貴". Weekly Baseball Online. 2018-04-16.
- ^ "阪神Ｄ３位・及川よ、高校ＢＩＧ４の実績は忘れろ！高橋建２軍Ｃが裸一貫のススメ". Sankei Sports. 2019-10-20.
- ^ "2020年度 阪神タイガース 個人投手成績（ウエスタン・リーグ）". NPB official website. Retrieved 2021-05-30.
- ^ "阪神・及川 プロ初登板で2/3回を無失点「中継ぎの厳しさを実感した」". Daily Sports. 2021-05-28. Retrieved 2021-05-30.
- ^ "プロ初勝利の阪神及川「自分だけの初勝利じゃない」中継ぎで1勝／一問一答". Nikkan Sports. 2021-05-30.