Masaki Oyokawa

Masaki Oyokawa
Oyokawa with the Hanshin Tigers
Hanshin Tigers – No. 37
Pitcher
Born: (2001-04-18) April 18, 2001 (age 22)
Sōsa, Chiba
Bats: Left
Throws: Left
NPB debut
2021, for the Hanshin Tigers
Career statistics
(through 2021 season)
Games13
Holds2
Earned run average1.76
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

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

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

References

  1. ^ a b "阪神、Ｄ３位・及川と合意". Sankei Sports. 2019-11-07.
  2. ^ "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.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "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.
  5. ^ "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.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ "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.
  8. ^ "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.
  9. ^ "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.
  10. ^ "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.
  11. ^ "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.