Sakai Phraechai

Sakai Phraechai (นายสกาย แพรชาย)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 7", Weight 139 lb.

• Born May 23, 1997 in Suphan Buri Thailand

Biographical Information

Sakai Phraechai has pitched for the Thai national team.

Phraechai was on Thailand's roster for the 2014 Asian Games but did not get into a game. In the 2018 East Asian Baseball Cup, he pitched five shutout innings (3 H, 3 BB, 2 K) as the most-effective Thai hurler.

The lone southpaw hurler on Thailand's team in the 2018 Asian Games, he got into all seven of their games, five as a pitcher and two as a batter. Against Laos, he played left field and went 1 for 4 with 3 steals and 3 runs, with his hit coming off Cola Phouangkeo. The next game, he relieved Kevin Kawin Irwin with a 13-3 lead over Sri Lanka in the 6th inning. He retired Hena Kanakanamge Kasthuri Akala Ranasinghe, gave up a single to Wadumesthrige Subas Isara Gunasiri, fanned Sahan Avishka Dias Gunasekara Gangoda Gamage, surrendered a single to Krishna Hapuarachchi but got Amila Pushpa Kumara Galbokka Hewage to escape damage. Chanatip Thongbai took over in the 7th. He tied Thongvanh Her for the preliminary round lead in steals. In the first game of the main round, he was Thailand's best hurler in a 15-0, 6-inning mercy rule loss to China. He relieved Siraphop Nadee with one on and a 9-0 deficit. Fujia Chu singled and Chen Chen drew a walk. Xiaolei Du hit a sacrifice fly but Chu was thrown out trying for third on the play. Chenchen Luan then grounded out. In the 5th, Phraechai got Yunqi Song out. Jin Yang singled and Zhenhong Lu hit into a force. Ning Li reached on an error then Phanuwat Sukmuang relieved Phraechai. Against Pakistan, he pinch-hit for Alexander Clark with two outs in the 9th and struck out against Inayat Ullah Khan in a 8-1 loss. Versus Silver Medal-bound Japan, he relieved Clark in the 3rd with a 8-0 deficit. Yuki Jibiki tripled, Takehiro Tsujino grounded out, Takeshi Hosoyamada walked and Asahi Sato doubled in a run. A throwing error by Chanatip Thongbai at catcher scored another run. Jumpei Horimai grounded out and Tsuyoshi Tamura walked. Kohei Sasagawa hit into a two-run error before Junya Kino ended the inning with a ground-out. Sukmuang relieved in the 4th. In the game with Hong Kong, he replaced Sukmuang with a 4-3 lead in the 5th, two outs and a runner on second. Ho-Lam Andy Lo singled but the runner was gunned down at home. In the 6th, he walked both Kin-Chung Tsang and Matthew Holliday before Nadee relieved him and let one of the inherited runners score. In their final contest, against Indonesia, he relieved Wissaroot Sihamat with two outs, one on and a 11-3 deficit in the 5th. He got Ranjani on a fly, then Thailand closed it to 11-5 in the top of the 6th. In the bottom of the 6th, he served up a homer to Hakeem Yatim but struck out Muharom, Yana Gerhana and Zidney Fahmidyan in order; Fahmidyan reached on a strike three wild pitch then Phraechai got Rizki Ramadan to hit into a force. In the 7th, Thongbai relieved him. He finished the main round of the event with a 8.31 ERA, but it was the 2nd-best among qualifiers on Thailand after Irwin. His four games pitched tied Yudai Aranishi for 2nd, one behind Nanda Dwi Saputra.

He won a Silver Medal with Thailand in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.