Atsushi Nomi

Atsushi Nomi (能見 篤史)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 11", Weight 165 lb.

• High School Tottori Johoku High School

• Born May 28, 1979 in Izushi-gun, Hyogo Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Atsushi Nomi has pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Nomi pitched for Osaka Gas in the industrial leagues after high school, battling injuries during that time. He was 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA for Japan in the 2004 Haarlem Baseball Week. He began his pro career with the Hanshin Tigers in 2005, going 4-1 with a 5.57 ERA and .302 opponent average but struck out 64 in 64 2/3 IP. In the 2005 Japan Series, he pitched twice in relief, allowing one hit and no runs in 1 2/3 IP, but Hanshin was swept by the Chiba Lotte Marines.

In 2006, the lefty bounced between Hanshin (2-4, 4.98, almost entirely in relief) and the minors. Sent to the Waikiki BeachBoys of the Hawaii Winter League, he excelled, going 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA and .205 opponent average. He finished second in the pitcher-friendly league in ERA (behind Marco Estrada) and tied for third in wins, one behind Kanehisa Arime and Scott Koerber. He was named to the league All-Star team as a pitcher alongside Arime, Rick van den Hurk and Joba Chamberlain.

Nomi improved to 4-4, 4.38 for the 2007 Tigers. For the fourth straight year, he moved between the minors and Hanshin (6 R in 11 1/3 IP) in 2008. He stepped up in 2009, with a 13-9, 2.62 record. He finished among the Central League leaders in ERA (4th after Wei-Yin Chen, Kazuki Yoshimi and Dicky Gonzalez), wins (tied for 4th with Masanori Ishikawa and Seth Greisinger), innings (165, 9th, between Colby Lewis and Chen), losses (tied for 10th), strikeouts (154, 2nd, 32 behind Lewis) and walks (44, 10th), turning it to be Hanshin's ace.

The southpaw had a 8-0, 2.60 record in an injury-plagued 2010. He was back as Hanshin's Opening Day starter for 2011 ,though, and had another big year (12-9, 2.52, .214 opponent average, 1.02 WHIP, 186 K in 200 1/3 IP). He struck out 7 in a row on April 19 against the Yomiuri Giants. He was among the CL's leaders in ERA (8th, between Kenta Maeda and Maximo Nelson), innings (4th, between Bryan Bullington and Hirokazu Sawamura), wins (tied for 4th with Randy Messenger), complete games (5, tied for second with Sawamura and Yoshimi, behind Shohei Tateyama), hits allowed (151, 7th, between Tetsuya Utsumi and Sawamura), strikeouts (again 2nd, this time only 6 behind Maeda), walks (55, tied for second with Shun Tohno, behind Yuya Fukui), runs allowed (59, 8th), opponent average (4th, between Sawamura and Tateyama) and WHIP (tied for 6th with Chen).

Nomi was 10-10 (for a 55-75 team) with a 2.42 ERA and 172 K in 182 IP in 2012. He made his first CL All-Star team and was among the leaders in wins (tied for 8th), losses (tied for 9th), complete games (3, tied for 4th), shutouts (2, tied for first), ERA (7th, between Kan Otake and Soma Yamauchi), innings (5th, between Daisuke Miura and Bullington), hits allowed (157, tied for 8th with Minoru Iwata), homers given up (14, tied with Ishikawa for second, one behind Miura) and strikeouts (tied for first with Toshiya Sugiuchi).

Nomi was then put on Japan's preliminary roster for the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

Nomi throws a slider, forkball, changeup and a fastball (tops out at 93 mph).

Sources

• Japanbaseballdaily by Gary Garland
• Taiwan Baseball Wiki
• 2004 Haarlem Baseball Week
• 2006 Hawaii Winter League