Kazuki Kondo

Kazuki Kondo (近藤 一樹)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 176 lbs.

• High School The Third High School of Nihon University

• Born July 8, 1983 in Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Kazuki Kondo played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 17 years.

Kondo was drafted by the Kintetsu Buffaloes in the seventh round of the 2001 NPB draft, and he spent most of his first four seasons in the NPB Farm Leagues, only pitched 21 games combined with the big club. He joined the rotation of the Orix Buffaloes (Kintetsu and the Orix BlueWave merged in 2005) in 2008, and went 10-7 with a 3.44 ERA. Kondo slumped to 9-12 with a 4.78 ERA in 2009, and he faced a control problem as he walked a Pacific League-leading 80 batters. The young righty improved to 5-10 with a 4.35 ERA in 2010, but this season would be his last productive season as a regular starter.

The Sagamihara native suffered a right elbow osteophytes, and his ERA rose to 6.36 ERA in 63 2/3 innings in 2011. Kondo then underwent right elbow injuries for four consecutive years, so he only pitched 18 games combined from 2012 to 2015 with the big club. Orix then traded him to the Yakult Swallows for Ryosuke Yagi in the middle of the 2016 season. Kondo came back as a reliever in 2017, and he notched 14 saves with a 4.72 ERA. He dramatically collected his first career save when Ryo Akiyoshi was injured on June 30. Kondo replaced him, used one pitch to strike out Fumihito Haraguchi and became the only player ever in NPB history to pitch a single ball and got the save by a strikeout.

Kondo had his career year in 2018. He set the team record when he pitched 74 games, notched 35 holds and won the Central League Most Valuable Setup Pitcher Award. The veteran was still reliable as he collected 19 holds in 59 appearances ‎with a 3.57 ERA in 2019. However, he only pitched 20 games with a 4.74 ERA in 2020, then the Yakult released him. He then joined the Kagawa Olive Guyners of the Shikoku Island League plus and announced his retirement after the 2022 season.

Overall, Kondo was 43-57, collected 71 holds with a 4.50 ERA, struck out 657 and pitched 842 1/3 innings in 17 years in the NPB.

Related Sites

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio