Kazuharu Yamazaki

Kazuharu Yamazaki (山崎 一玄)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 173 lb.

• High School Shizuoka High School

• Born July 21, 1972 in Shizuoka, Shizuoka Japan

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Kazuharu Yamazaki pitched over 200 games in Nippon Pro Baseball.

The Hanshin Tigers took Yamazaki in the third round of the 1990 NPB draft, following Toshiro Yufune and Koichi Sekikawa. He was farmed out to the US in 1992, splitting time between the Bristol Tigers (2-1, 3.15 in 9 G) and Niagara Falls Rapids (1-1, 7 R in 5 IP). He made his NPB debut with Hanshin in 1993 and was 2-2 with a save and a 2.66 ERA. He was a regular in their rotation in 1994, going 7-4 with a 3.20 ERA and saving one game, but had nearly as many walks (52) as strikeouts (58) while allowing over a hit per inning. He missed the Central League top 10 in ERA by .02 behind Keiichi Yabu. He tied Yoshihisa Kondo and Kenjiro Kawasaki for 10th in the CL in walks and tied for 4th in shutouts (2, behind Masaaki Saito, Hiromi Makihara and Takashi Saito).

Yamazaki had a 2-3, 3.79 record in 1995 then faded to 3-4, 4.61 in 1996. In 1997, he was 2-2 with a save and a 4.79 ERA in 45 games. He was 0-1 with two runs in 2 2/3 IP in 1998. In 1999, he was a solid reliever for Hanshin (3-1, 2.40 in 37 G). He had a 4.78 ERA and no decisions in 17 games in 2000. He was then traded with Yufune and Hirotoshi Kitagawa to the Kintetsu Buffaloes for Tetsuji Mende, Koji Hirashita and Hiroki Sakai. He was 1-1 with a 4.95 ERA in 11 games for Kintetsu in 2001 though he did win an ERA title in the minor Western League that year. He did not pitch for Kintetsu in the 2001 Japan Series.

He finished his career 20-20 with three saves and a 3.69 ERA in 204 NPB games (57 starts). In 541 IP, he allowed 559 hits and 238 walks while striking out 283. He hit .170/.185/.217, respectable for a pitcher. He threw a fastball in the mid-80s and a forkball.

After his playing career ended, he was a batting practice pitcher for Hanshin.