Koya Fujii

Koya Fujii (藤井 皓哉)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 182 lbs.

• High School Okayama Sanyo High School

• Born July 29, 1996 in Kasaoka, Okayama, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Koya Fujii has pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Fujii was drafted by the Hiroshima Carp in the fourth round of the 2014 NPB draft. He didn't have many chances with the Carp, as he only pitched 14 games combined with the big club in 6 years. The Carp released him after the 2020, and he joined the Kochi Fighting Dogs of the Shikoku Island League Plus. Fujii dominated the league in 2021, having a 11-3 record with a league-leading 1.12 ERA. He also set the league record with his 180 strikeouts in a season. His solid performance earned him a contract from the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks.

The Okayama native was as dominant as with Kochi in 2022 despite facing much tougher competition. He recorded a incredible 1.12 ERA and 0.80 WHIP in 55 appearances, and collected 22 holds. Fujii ranked 7th in the Pacific League in holds (12 behind Kaima Taira) and 6th in appearances (6 behind Taira and Naoto Nishiguchi). In the second-to-last game of the season, the Hawks needed a tie to grab the PL pennant. Fujii was on the mound in the bottom of the 11th inning, but he allowed a walk-off homer to Hotaka Yamakawa, and the Orix Buffaloes claimed the pennant. In the first stage of the 2022 PLCS, Fujii pitched a shutout inning with strikeouts of Yuji Kaneko and Takeya Nakamura in Game 2, and the Hawks eliminated the Seibu Lions to advance to the final stage. He appeared in Games 2 ,3 and 4 in the final stage against Orix, and he pitched a shutout inning in each game while collecting a hold. The Buffaloes still beat the Hawks in 4 games. Fujii won 10 points in 2022 PL MVP voting, ranking 10th, between Yoshihisa Hirano and Shota Abe.

The Hawks decided to turned him into a starter in 2023, but he suffered a left abdominal internal oblique muscle injury and he came back to bullpen again. Fujii ended up 5-3 with a 2.33 ERA in 34 appearances, and notched 9 holds. In the first stage of the 2023 PLCS, he pitched a shutout inning with 2 strikeouts against the Chiba Lotte Marines to grab a hold in Game 2, then collected another hold with a shutout inning in Game 3. The Marines beat the Hawks in 3 games.

Fujii's repertoire features a fastball that peaks at 96.9 mph, a slider, curveball and a forkball.