Kyosuke Takagi

Kyosuke Takagi (高木 京介)

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

• School Kokugakuin University
• High School Seiryo High School

• Born September 5, 1989 in Nomi, Ishikawa Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Kyosuke Takagi pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 10 years.

Takagi was drafted by the Yomiuri Giants in the 4th round of the 2011 NPB draft, and he soon joined their bullpen in his first season. He set the NPB record by not allowing a run in his first 23 straight games, and he also broke the Central League lefty record by pitching 29 straight scoreless games. He ended up having a 0.57 ERA with 10 holds in 34 appearances, and the 0.57 ERA was the lowest in NPB history for a rookie pitcher who pitched more than 30 games in his first year. Takagi pitched 2/3 of a shutout inning in the 2012 Nippon Series Game 3 against the Nippon Ham Fighters, and he notched a hold with a shutout inning in Game 4. He relieved Satoshi Fukuda in the 7th inning of Game 6, and he pitched 1/3 of a shutout inning. The Giants won that game thanks to Shinnosuke Abe's clutch RBI hit, and Takagi got the win and won his first title. He was the first pitcher who was born in the Heisei era to win a game in the Nippon Series. Takagi also got 12 votes for the 2012 Central League Rookie of the Year Award, finishing third behind Yusuke Nomura's 200 votes and Shinji Tajima's 40 votes.

The Ishikawa native got 6 holds in 46 appearances in 2013, but his ERA rose to 4.34. He then had a 4.76 ERA in 26 games in 2014, and he improved to a 2.20 ERA in 33 games in 2015. Takagi was involved in a gambling scandal in 2016, and he was suspended for a year. He only pitched two games in 2018, and he had a 3.83 ERA in 55 games with 10 holds in 2019. On June 14, 2019. Takagi allowed a game-winning home run to Po-Jung Wang, and his 164-game streak without a loss ended. That was the longest in NPB history. Takagi recorded a 3.65 ERA in 17 games in 2020, and he pitched 15 games with a 4.42 ERA in 2021. His ERA was 2.79 in 17 games in 2022, but he only pitched one game with the big club in 2023 then he announced his retirement.

Overall, Takagi was 10-3 with a 3.47 ERA, collected 38 holds and 2 saves in 247 appearances, struck out 227 and pitched 259 1/3 innings in 10 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan