Mitsunori Kakehata

Mitsunori Kakehata (欠端 光則)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 195 lbs.

• High School Fukuoka High School

• Born January 10, 1963 in Ninohe, Iwate, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Mitsunori Kakehata pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 12 years.

Kakehata was drafted by the Lotte Orions in the third round of the 1980 NPB draft, but he spent his first year in the NPB Farm Leagues. He was 1-6 with a 5.46 ERA in 1982, then he recorded a 5.24 ERA in 32 games in 1983. The Orions traded him with Yoshitaka Shinya to the Taiyo Whales for Kazuhiko Migita and Toru Takenouchi after the 1983 season. Kakehata was 4-8 with a 4.64 ERA in 1984, and he had a 9-5 record with a 5.07 ERA in 1985. Kakehata broke out in 1986, having a 7-11 record with a 3.74 ERA. He tied Hikaru Takano and Akimitsu Ito for 7th in losses in the Central League.

The Iwate native then went 7-9 with a 4.58 ERA in 1987, and he was 11-8 with a 3.22 ERA in 1988. He ranked 4th in appearances (51, between Ito and Tsunemi Tsuda), 10th in ERA (between Manabu Kitabeppu and Tatsuo Komatsu) and 8th in wins (tied with Kitabeppu). Kakehata then had a 9-10 record with a 3.31 ERA, and he was 10th in ERA again (between Masahiro Yamamoto and Hisao Niura). He slumped to 3-5 with a 6.08 ERA in 1989, then he had a 5.60 ERA in 11 games in 1990. The Whales then turned him into a full-time reliever in 1991, and he recorded a 3.10 ERA in a league-leading 55 appearances. However, he suffered from a shoulder injury, and he only pitched two more games with the big club before he announced his retirement in 1995. He then scouted for the Whales after retiring.

Overall, Kakehata was 57-71 with a 4.36 ERA, struck out 669 and pitched 1,164 2/3 innings in 12 years in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio