Masashi Ito

Masashi Ito (伊藤 将司)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 10", Weight 187 lbs.

• School International Budo University
• High School Yokohama High School

• Born May 8, 1996 in Sanbu-gun, Chiba, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Masashi Ito has pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Ito represented Japan in the 2017 Universiade. He was drafted by the Hanshin Tigers in the second round of the 2020 NPB draft, and he soon joined the rotation. He was 10-7 with a 2.44 ERA in his rookie year, and ranked 5th in the Central League in wins (3 behind Koyo Aoyagi). He was the first rookie southpaw to win 10 games in Hanshin's history since Yutaka Enatsu did it in 1967. He got 4 votes for the 2021 Central League Rookie of the Year Award, finishing sixth behind Ryoji Kuribayashi's 201 votes, Shugo Maki's 76, Yasunobu Okugawa's 12, Teruaki Sato's 8 and Takumu Nakano's 5.

The Chiba native extended his solid performance in 2022, having a 9-5 record with a 2.63 ERA, and led the Central League in both shutouts and complete games. He was also selected into the 2022 NPB All-Star Games, and relieved Yudai Ohno in the 5th inning of Game 2. He struck out Kou Matsukawa first then retired Kotaro Kiyomiya and Hiroto Kobukata to complete a shutout inning. Suguru Iwazaki then took over. Ito was qualified for the ERA title the first time in his career in 2023 as he went 10-5 with a 2.39 ERA. He ranked 5th in wins (6 behind Katsuki Azuma), 2nd in complete games (1 behind Shosei Togo and Azuma) and 4th in ERA (.64 behind Shoki Murakami). He started in Game 2 of the 2023 CLCS, pitched 7 innings with only one run allowed (by Kaito Kozono's RBI single), and ended up with a no-decision. The Tigers swept the Hiroshima Carp to advance to the 2023 Nippon Series, and Ito started in Game 3 against the Orix Buffaloes. The young southpaw pitched 5 innings, allowed 4 runs included Yuma Tongu's solo shot, and lost to Kohei Azuma. He then relieved Hiroya Shimamoto in Game 7, pitched 3 shutout innings to get a win over Hiroya Miyagi and helped the Tigers win the Nippon Series title, their first in 38 years.

Ito's repertoire features a fastball that peaks at 91.3 mph, a forkball, changeup, curveball and a slider.