Ren Kajiya

Ren Kajiya (加治屋 蓮)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 178 lbs.

• High School Fukushima High School

• Born November 25, 1991 in Kushima, Miyazaki Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Ren Kajiya has played in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Kajiya was drafted by the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in the first round of the 2013 NPB draft, and he spent almost his enitre first four seasons in the NPB Farm Leagues, only pitching 4 games combined with big club in this period. He broke out in 2018, when he tied Sho Iwasaki's team record by pitching 72 games in a season, and notching 31 holds with a 3.38 ERA. He led the Pacific League in appearances and ranked 3rd in holds (6 behind Naoki Miyanishi). Kajiya pitched for the PL in 2018 NPB All-Star Game 2. He relieved Naoyuki Uwasawa and pitched one inning and allowed a run on Ryosuke Kikuchi's single and Kento Itohara's double in the 8th inning. He retired the next three and then was replaced by Yuito Mori. In the 2018 PLCS first stage, he pitched a shutout inning in Game 1 and Game 3 against the Nippon-Ham Fighters, but allowed two runs with Taishi Ota and Kensuke Kondo's RBI doubles and got the loss in Game 2. In the final stage, he pitched 1/3 of a inning in Game 1 and recorded a shutout inning in Game 4. He relieved Shuta Ishikawa in the 7th inning in Game 5, gave up a double to Shogo Akiyama and Hideto Asamura drove in a run with a double. Kajiya still retired Hotaka Yamakawa to get the hold, and helped the Hawks beat the Seibu Lions to advance to the 2018 Nippon Series. In that Series, he pitched a shutout inning to earn a hold in Game 1 against the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, but struggled in Game 3. He relieved Shota Takeda in the 8th inning, then Seiya Suzuki blasted a leadoff homer. Kajiya gave up three straight singles to Xavier Batista, Takayoshi Noma and Tsubasa Aizawa, then Tomohiro Abe blasted a grand slam. Kajiya was replaced by Shinya Kayama immediately. He bounced back and pitched a shutout inning to win over Shota Nakazaki in Game 5, and won his first Nippon Series title. He won one vote in the 2018 Pacific League Rookie of the Year Award voting.

However, the overuse ruined Kajiya's shoulder, and his ERA rose to 6.00 in 30 games in 2019. He only pitched 6 games in 2020, and the Hawks released him. The Hanshin Tigers picked him up, but he still only had 7 appearances with the big club. He finally came back and notched 7 holds with a 2.43 ERA in 39 games in 2022, then had 51 appearances with 16 holds and a 2.56 ERA in 2023. Kajiya broke Tatsuhiro Yuminaga and Makoto Yoshino's team record for 22 straight appearances without allowing any run since opening day. He ranked 10th in appearances in the Central League, 12 behind Sotaro Shimauchi. He pitched a shutout inning in Game 1 in the 2023 Nippon Series, and relieved Hiroya Shimamoto in Game 2. Kajiya retired Keita Nakagawa first, then Koji Oshiro reached the first with SS Seiya Kinami's error. Tomoya Mori hit a double, then Yuya Oda drove in a run because 1B Yusuke Ohyama committed another error. Kajiya then walked Takahiro Okada, and he retired Yuma Mune and Kotaro Kubayashi to escape the jam. Because of his terrible performance, he didn't have any appearances in the rest of this series, but still won his second Nippon Series title, his first with the Tigers.

Kajiya's repertoire included a fastball (peak 95 mph), slider, curve, cutter and forkball.