Koji Onuma

Koji Onuma (大沼 幸二)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 179 lb.

• High School Jinsei Gakuen High School

• Born July 3, 1979 in Higashi-osaka, Osaka Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Koji Onuma is a pitcher for the Seibu Lions. He throws a forkball, slider and fastball (peak speed of 93.2 mph).

Onuma was drafted in the first round in the 2000 NPB draft by the Seibu Lions. In 2001, he walked 7 in 12 1/3 innings and had a 2.92 ERA. The next year, he was 0-1 with a 6.82 ERA. He also pitched for Japan in the 2002 Asian Games. In 2003, Onuma had a 0-1, 5.28 record for Seibu. Koji went 4-6 with a 4.42 ERA in 2004. He allowed 4 runs in 2 2/3 IP in the 2004 Japan Series but won the game 3 slugfest, 10-8, over Shinya Okamoto and the Chunichi Dragons.

In 2005, Onuma fell to 5-7, 6.20. With 7 starts in his 31 appearances, he was 5th on Seibu behind Daisuke Matsuzaka, Fumiya Nishiguchi, Kazuyuki Hoashi, Junichi Kawahara and Hideaki Wakui (Wakui had an even higher ERA than Onuma). Onuma was 0-1 with a 7.62 ERA in 2006, walking 13 in 13 innings. In 2007, the right-hander went 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA and walked 19 in 34 2/3 innings.

Onuma improved to 2-4, 3.69 with a save in 52 games in the 2008 season. He pitched one game in the 2008 Japan Series, then had one win during the 2008 Asia Series; Seibu won both events.

Primary Sources

• Japan Baseball Daily by Gary Garland
• Japanesebaseball.com by Michael Westbay
• Japanese Wikipedia entry