Keiji Uezono

Keiji Uezono (上園 啓史)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 181 lbs.

• School Musashi University
• High School Higashi Fukuoka High School

• Born June 30, 1984 in Ibaraki, Osaka, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Keiji Uezono played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 7 years.

Uezono was drafted by the Hanshin Tigers in the third round of the 2006 NPB draft, and he soon joined the rotation as a rookie. He was 8-5 with a 2.42 ERA in 2007, and won the CL Rookie of the Year Award. However, the 2007 season was the only productive season for Uezono as he only had 10 appearances combined in the next two seasons. He came back to the big club in 2010 and went 3-4 with a 4.75 ERA, then the Tigers traded him to the Rakuten Golden Eagles for Shingo Matsuzaki. The Osaka native struggled with Rakuten, and only pitched 15 games combined with the big club in the next four seasons, then he announced his retirement from NPB after the 2015 season. Uezono was the pitching coach for the De Glaskoning Twins of the Hoofdklasse in 2016 but still pitched, going 4-1 with a 1.68 ERA. He was 6th in ERA (between Orlando Yntema and Kevin Heijstek) and 5th in opponent average (.178, between Lars Huijer and Maickel Rietel). Returning to Japan, he managed the Shiga Unions of the Baseball Challenge League in 2017.

Overall, Uezono was 15-14 with a 3.88 ERA, struck out 189 and pitched 236 1/3 innings in 7 years in the NPB.

Related Sites

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio