Kenta Abe

Kenta Abe (阿部 健太)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 167 lb.
• High School Matsuyama Commercial High School

• Born September 8, 1984 in Matsuyama, Ehime Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Kenta Abe has pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Abe was a fourth-round pick of the Kintetsu Buffaloes in 2002 NPB draft. He pitched five games in 2003, going 2-0 with a 2.16 ERA; he struck out 23 in 25 innings. He was 0-1 in 2004 with 12 hits and 8 runs in 5 1/3 IP, including four homers. On September 27, he became the last pitcher to lose a game for Kintetsu. The team merged with the Orix BlueWave over the offseason to form the Orix Buffaloes. Abe allowed 4 runs in 5 innings in 2005 and 3 runs in 6 1/3 IP in 2006. He spent 2007 in the minors. He was then traded to the Hanshin Tigers with Keiichi Hirano for Makoto Yoshino and Osamu Hamanaka in November 2007.

With Hanshin in 2008, the 23-year-old was 0-1 with a 2.96 ERA in 32 games, walking only 9 in 51 2/3 IP. He was 0-1 with a 3.27 ERA in 19 games in 2009. Abe was assigned to the Scottsdale Scorpions in the 2009 Arizona Fall League. In his first outing on November 6, he allowed two hits (one homer), two walks and three runs while retiring no one. He only pitched 3 games for the Scorpions with 4 hits, 3 walks and 3 runs in 1 1/3 IP for a 20.25 ERA. He didn't appear in any games with the big club in 2010 and 2011, and the Tigers released him after the 2011 season. The Yakult Swallows then picked him up. Abe struck out nine and allowed 6 runs in 15 innings in the 2012. On July 3, 2013, the Matsuyama native relieved in the 4th inning and collected the first win since his rookie year. He broke the NPB league record for most interval years between two wins with 3,580 days. Abe ended up collected 18 strikeouts with a 4.50 ERA in 20 innings in the 2013 season. He didn’t pitch well in 2014, allowed 22 runs in 14 1/3 innings. The Swallows released him after that season, and his career ended.

Overall, Abe was 7-1 with a 4.51 ERA and pitched 175 2/3 innings in nine seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Japan Baseball Daily by Gary Garland
• MILB.com
• Wiki Japan