Koji Aoyama

Koji Aoyama (青山 浩二)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 176 lb.

• School Hachinohe University
• High School Hakodate Kogyo High School

• Born August 12, 1983 in Hakodate, Hokkaido Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Koji Aoyama has been an All-Star reliever in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Aoyama won 20 games in college. The Rakuten Golden Eagles took him in the third round in the 2005 NPB draft. He struggled in 2006 (1-3, 5.89, .326 opponent average in 42 G) and also had right knee surgery. He was a swingman in 2007 (4-8, 4.68, .302 opponent average) then was 3-8 with four saves and a 3.89 ERA in 2008, tying for 8th in the Pacific League in losses. He went 3-5 with 5 saves and a 5.49 ERA in 2009, tying for 8th in saves; he got the win that clinched the first playoff spot in Rakuten history.

Koji was 5-1 with a save, 1.72 ERA and .241 opponent average in 2010. He pitched 51 games for the 2011 Golden Eagles (3-4, 2 Sv, 2.79). He took over the closer's role in 2012 when Darrell Rasner struggled and went 5-5 with 22 saves, a 2.51 ERA and 1.04 WHIP for the year. He made his first PL All-Star team and finished 4th in saves behind Hisashi Takeda, Hideaki Wakui and Yasuhiko Yabuta. Rasner was closer again for part of 2013 but battled injuries, giving Aoyama a fair number of opportunities. He went 3-5 with 11 saves and a 3.53 ERA, finishing 6th in the PL in saves as Rakuten went to the 2013 Japan Series, their first Japan Series.

Aoyama throws a fastball (peak 92 mph), curveball, slider, forkball and shuuto.