Kakeru Narita

Kakeru Narita (成田 翔)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 7", Weight 154 lb.
• High School Akita Municipal Commercial High School

• Born February 3, 1998 in Akita, Akita Japan

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Diminutive lefthanded pitcher Kakeru Narita had played in the Nippon Pro Baseball for 5 years.

Narita led Akita Municipal Commercial High School to the quarter finals of the 2015 Spring Koshien, the best showing in the school's history. He also represented Japan in the 2015 U-18 Baseball World Cup; he pitched five shutouts innings (2 H, 1 BB, 8 K) for the second-place team - four against Mexico and one against Cuba. He started playing in NPB in 2016 and made his first appearance in the top level with the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Pacific League in 2017. Most of his appearances however have been with Chiba's ni-gun squad in the Eastern League. He is mostly a relief pitcher.

On September 29, 2017, he made his first start at the top level and gave up the 100,000th home run in NPB history, to Chris Marrero of the Orix Buffaloes in a 4-0 loss. Earlier in that game, he had also given up home run #99,999, to Takahiro Okada. He was a late addition to Japan's team for the 2018 Nichi-Bei Series, replacing Shuta Ishikawa.

However, Narita still couldn't stayed with the big club. He only played 11 games in the next five seasons combined, and he stayed in the NPB Farm Leagues for the entire 2022 season. Even he recorded a solid 2.27 ERA in 46 appearances there, he still couldn't had a chance to pitched in the major league. The Yakult Swallows then selected him in the 2022 NPB Active draft. He only pitched 3 games for the Swallows in 2023, and Narita announced his retirement.

Sources

• Japanese wiki
• NPB.com Bio