Masahiko Kaneda

Masahiko Kaneda (金田 政彦)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 10", Weight 136 lbs.

• High School Takada High School

• Born April 30, 1969 in Bungotakada, Oita, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Masahiko Kaneda pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 14 years and won a ERA title.

Kaneda was drafted by the Orix BlueWave in the second round of the 1992 NPB draft. He joined the bullpen in his rookie year, but he struggled and his ERA was 5.26 in 28 appearances. Kaneda's ERA rose to 7.96 in 1994, and he was demoted to the NPB Farm Leagues. He pitched well here, led the Western League in wins in 1995, and won a spot of the rotation in 1996. Kaneda was 6-8 with a 4.23 ERA in that season, and Orix won the Pacific League pennant. In the 1996 Nippon Series, he relieved Jiro Toyoda in Game 4, pitched 3 innings, allowed a solo shot to Takeshi Omori and ended up with a no-decision. The BlueWave beat the Yomiuri Giants in 5 games, and Kaneda won his only title.

The Oita native only started 7 games with a 2.98 ERA in 1997, and he was 4-2 with a 2.79 ERA in 1998. Kaneda finally broke out in 1999, having a 11-10 record with a 3.49 ERA and led the Pacific League in starts with 29. He ranked 8th in wins (5 behind Daisuke Matsuzaka) and 8th in strikeouts (80 behind Kimiyasu Kudo). Kaneda was also selected into the 1999 NPB All-Star Game, and he relieved Fumiya Nishiguchi in the 7th inning of Game 2. He pitched two shutout innings, allowing two singles (to Tsuyoshi Shinjo and Atsuya Furuta) but struck out Hideki Matsui to escape the jam. He suffered from injury in 2000, so he only started 18 games with a 3.51 ERA and a 6-6 record.

Kaneda was named the opening day starter in 2001, but he slumped to 8-5 with a 4.94 ERA. He bounced back soon, and attended the 2002 NPB All-Star Game. Kaneda relieved Kenichi Wakatabe in the 5th inning in Game 2, and struck out 3 batters (Kosuke Fukudome, Kazuhiro Kiyohara and George Arias) to completed two shutout innings. He ended up 4-9 with a 2.50 ERA for the last-place BlueWave, and won the PL ERA title. Kaneda's 4 wins are still the fewest for an ERA title winner as of 2023. He slumped to 4-5 with a 4.12 ERA in 2003, then his ERA rose to 5.35 in 2004. When the Rakuten Golden Eagles were founded, Kaneda was assigned there, but he still struggled as his ERA was 6.01 in 2005. Kaneda only pitched 2 games in 2006, then he announced his retirement.

Overall, Kaneda was 52-65 with a 4.16 ERA, struck out 638 and pitched 1,036 2/3 innings in 14 years in the NPB.

Related Sites

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio