Nao Fukuda

Nao Fukuda (福田 夏央)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 180 lb.

• School Kansas City Kansas Community College
• High School Napier Boys' High School

• Born August 30, 1999 in Yamaguchi (per BR Register) or Fukuoka, Fukuoka Japan (per Japanese Wikipedia)

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Nao Fukuda has pitched for the New Zealand national team,

Fukuda was born in Japan and moved to New Zealand when he was in second grade. He went to junior college in the US. While there, his fastball improved from 80 mph to 90 mph.

He signed with Japan's Ryukyu Blue Oceans team for 2021. In '22, he joined the Ibaraki Astro Planets in the higher Baseball Challenge League, going 7-5 with a 4.09 ERA for the independent team. He then pitched for New Zealand in the 2022 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, one of two Japanese-born hurlers on the squad (alongside Ryota Okumoto) but did not get into a game.