Masaru Nakamura

Masaru Nakamura (中村 勝)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 165 lb.
• High School Kasukabe Kyoei High School

• Born December 11, 1991 in Kasukabe, Saitama Japan

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Masaru Nakamura became a pitcher in Nippon Pro Baseball in 2010 when he played part of the season with the Nippon Ham Fighters in the Pacific League (after being their #1 pick in the 2009 NPB draft) while only 18 years old, going 1-2, 5.50 in 4 games. He played for Nippon Ham until 2017, although he spent part of every season with the team's ni-gun squad in the minor league Eastern League. After spending all of 2018 in the minors, he returned to the top level for just one game in 2019, giving up 6 runs in 2 innings. His career appeared to be over at that point, but after stints in the Australian Baseball League, where his main purpose was to perfect his English, and then in the Mexican League, where he won Pitcher of the Year honors after going 8-0, 3.25 for the Mariachis de Guadalajara in 2021, he resurfaced with the Orix Buffaloes' ni-gun team in 2022. He even made 3 appearances at the top level for the Pacific League champions that season.

He had some good years in NPB after his precocious start. In 2012 at age 20, he went 2-2, 1.79 in 8 starts for the Fighters after spending most of the season in the minors. He was given the ball to start Game 4 of the 2012 Japan Series against the Yomiuri Giants, where he faced another promising 20-year-old hurler in Ryosuke Miyaguni on October 31st. The two went toe-to-toe for seven innings, without allowing a run, and the game was not decided until the bottom of the 12th inning, when the Fighters finally scored to win, 1-0. It was his only appearance of the series, which Nippon Ham lost four games to two. He had his best season in 2014, when he was 8-2, 3.79 in 18 games, but he only appeared sparingly at the top level after that.

Not surprisingly for a player who reached the top level at such a young age, he was a youth star, playing on the Japanese national youth team and leading his high school team to the Summer Koshien quarterfinals in 2009. He again played for the Japanese team in the 2014 U21 Baseball World Cup. In high school, he was called the "Saitama Darvish" due to his pitching style and his general appearance that resembled that of Yu Darvish. He then became the first pitcher since Darvish to earn a win for Nippon Ham after coming straight from high school.