Kota Nakagawa

Kota Nakagawa (中川 皓太)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 183 lb.

• School Tokai University
• High School Sanyo High School

• Born February 24, 1994 in Tondabayashi, Osaka Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Kota Nakagawa has pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball and for the Japanese national team.

Nakagawa was a 7th-round pick of the Yomiuri Giants in the 2015 NPB draft. He starred in the minors in 2016 (6-1, 2.49) but struggled in two games with the big club (3 R in 2 IP). He tied for 7th in the minor Eastern League in wins while Yomiuri won its first farm title in 21 years. In 2017, he split time between the top team (1-0, Sv, 5.02 in 20 G) and the farm (4.32 ERA in 18 G). the next year, he saw increased time in the Central League (1-0, Sv, 5.02 in 30 G) and decreased farm work (2-2, 3 Sv, 1.35 in 15 G, 4 BB in 26 2/3 IP). Manager Shinnosuke Abe advised him to adjust his delivery.

In 2019, he was with the top team the whole year and was a solid reliever (4-3, 16 Sv, 2.37 in 67 G). He tied Geronimo Franzua for 5th in the CL in games pitched and tied Kyuji Fujikawa for 3rd in saves. He got one third-place vote for the 2019 CL MVP. He pitched 2 2/3 innings in the 2019 Japan Series, allowing one hit, but Yomiuri was swept by the dynastic Softbank Hawks.

He made Japan's squad for the 2019 Premier 12. He pitched 3 1/3 innings for the team, allowing no runs. In his debut, he relieved Kan Otake in the 6th with two outs, one on and a 3-2 deficit against Venezuela. Herlis Rodríguez singled in a run then he retired Alí Castillo. He allowed a Luis Castro one-out single in the 7th but retired Juniel Querecuto, got Balbino Fuenmayor to hit into a force and fanned José Godoy. Hiroshi Kaino relieved in the 8th. His last game came in the finale, relieving Kazuto Taguchi in the 6th with a 4-3 lead over South Korea, the defending champs. He struck out Jae-hwan Kim and Byung-ho Park. Hyun-soo Kim reached on an error but Eui-ji Yang grounded out. Kaino relieved him in the 7th.

Nakagawa relies heavily on his slider and fastball (peak 93.8 mph).