Masao Morinaka

Masao Morinaka (森中 聖雄)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 9", Weight 176 lb.

• School Tokai University
• High School Tokai University Shoyo High School

• Born April 9, 1974 in Mishima, Shizuoka Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Masao Morinaka pitched in the Olympics and Nippon Pro Baseball.

Morinaka struck out 19 Musashi University batters one game to tie a league record. Overall, he had 21 wins and a 1.86 ERA in college. In the 1996 Olympics, he pitched four games for Japan. He went 0-1 with a 3.72 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 9 2/3 IP. He led Japan in ERA, .78 ahead of Masahiko Mori, and was second in strikeouts (four behind Jutaro Kimura). His loss came in a strong effort, as he held eventual champion Cuba to two runs in four innings; he took the loss in a 10-inning game when Mori replaced him with men aboard and gave up the losing blow to Miguel Caldés. In the Gold Medal game, he allowed Cuba's 11th run in a 13-9 loss.

The Yokohama BayStars took Morinaka in the second round of the 1996 NPB draft. He was 0-4 with a 7.94 ERA, .307 opponent average, 19 walks in 22 2/3 IP and 2.03 WHIP in an atrocious rookie year in 1997. In 1998, he tossed 4 2/3 shutout innings, with one hit and three walks. He went 6-2 with two saves, a 2.16 ERA, .193 opponent average and 1.00 WHIP in a superb 1999. Only closer Kazuhiro Sasaki had a better ERA for the '99 BayStars; fellow 1996 Olympian Takeo Kawamura was 3rd at 3.00.

Morinaka made a career-high 53 appearances in 2000 and remained sharp (6-2, 2 Sv again, 2.38 ERA, .181 opponent average, .81 WHIP, 64 K in 64 1/3 IP). He was 7th in the Central League in games pitched. He faded to 3-2, 5.23 with a .288 opponent average in 2001. In 2002, he went 2-5 with a 4.85 ERA. In his final season, 2003, he gave up four homers and eight runs in 11 innings.

Overall, Morinaka was 17-15 with 4 saves and a 3.97 ERA in 189 NPB games. He struck out 193 in 244 2/3 IP and allowed a .236 opponent average and 1.22 WHIP.

He later served as a batting practice pitcher.