Norihito Kaneto

Norihito Kaneto (金刃 憲人)

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

• School Ritsumeikan University
• High School Amagasaki Municipal High School

• Born April 10, 1984 in Amagasaki, Hyogo Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Norihito Kaneto has pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Kaneto won a national baseball title in Japan in 6th grade. He was on the Japanese squad in the 2006 World University Championship. The Yomiuri Giants drafted him in the first round that winter. He was a solid 7-6, 3.55 as a rookie in 2007 but faded as the year went on and did not win in the second half. His 20 homers allowed tied Hayato Terahara and Hiroki Kuroda for 4th in the Central League; had he qualified, he would have tied Kenshin Kawakami for 8th in ERA. He struggled for Yomiuri in 2008 (0-2, 7.99, .357 opponent average) but excelled in the minors, leading the Eastern League in wins (8) and ERA (1.66).

Kaneto only got into six relief outings (1-0, 3.60 ERA) in 2009, going 5-4 with a 1.80 ERA in the minors. He was 1-0 with a 5.03 ERA in 21 games for the 2010 Giants and 2-4, 3.92 in 2011. He spent all of 2012 in the minors then was dealt with Hiroki Nakazawa to the Rakuten Golden Eagles for Fuminori Yokogawa and Suguru Ino.

He was 1-0 with a 1.85 ERA in 39 games in 2013, providing solid lefty relief. He retired all three batters he faced in the 2013 Japan Series, pitching the 8th inning of a game 4 loss to his old Yomiuri club; Rakuten triumphed in seven for their first Japan Series title. Kaneto then won game one of the 2013 Asia Series over the EDA Rhinos.

Sources

• Japan Baseball Daily by Gary Garland
• Yakyu Baka
• Japanese Wikipedia