Shohei Tateyama

Shohei Tateyama (館山 昌平)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 205 lb.
• School Nihon University
• High School Nihon University Fujisawa High School

• Born March 17, 1981 in Atsugi, Kanagawa Japan

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Shohei Tateyama has been an All-Star pitcher in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Tateyama pitched 4 shutout innings (3 H, 7 K) in the 2001 Baseball World Cup; Japan won the Bronze Medal. He was picked by the Yakult Swallows in the third round of the 2002 NPB draft. He was 0-3 with a 5.19 ERA as a rookie in 2003 then missed 2004 due to elbow surgery. He returned in 2005 and fared well as a member of the Yakult rotation (10-6, 3.95, 28 BB in 150 1/3 IP). He tied for 9th in the Central League in wins and just missed the top 10 in ERA.

The right-hander was 2-5 with 5 saves and a 3.95 ERA in 44 games (6 starts) in 2006, allowing a hefty .312 average. He was 3-12 with 5 saves and a healthier 3.17 ERA in 2007. He tied Hayato Terahara for second in the CL in losses, one behind Daisuke Miura. The Nihon alumnus improved to 12-3, 2.99 in 2008, walking 31 in 153 1/3 IP and making the All-Star team for the first time. He was 4th in ERA (behind Masanori Ishikawa, Colby Lewis and Tetsuya Utsumi), tied for 4th in wins (with Ishikawa and Utsumi) and 9th in innings (between Yuya Ando and Miura).

#25 was an All-Star again in 2009 which he finished at 16-6, 3.39. He tied Kazuki Yoshimi for the league lead in wins, was 5th in innings (188 1/3, between Yoshimi and Kan Otake), second in hits (195, 8 behind Ishikawa), tied for 4th in shutouts (2, even with Minoru Iwata), 5th in homers allowed (20), tied for second in complete games (5, one behind Miura), tied for 4th in hit batsmen (11, even with Tom Mastny), tied for 6th in runs allowed (77, even with Seth Greisinger), walks (45, tied for 8th with Kenta Asakura), tied for 9th in strikeouts (126, even with Hisanori Takahashi) and tied for 4th in earned runs allowed (71, same as Ando). From May 2008 to June 2009, he won 14 decisions in a row, breaking a record held for decades by the legendary Masaichi Kaneda.

Tateyama posted a 12-7, 2.93 record in 2010. He was third in the CL in ERA behind Kenta Maeda and Wei-Yin Chen, tied for 6th in wins, led in shutouts (4), tied for second in complete games (4, two behind Maeda), was 8th in homers allowed (17), 9th in strikeouts (112) and 4th in WHIP (1.16, between Chen and Yoshimi).

An All-Star for the fourth time in 2011, he was 11-5 with a 2.04 ERA and only 29 walks in 180 2/3 innings. Offensive levels were down all over Japan as a new standard baseball was being used. He made the top 5 in ERA for the third time in four years, behind Yoshimi, Utsumi and Hirokazu Sawamura this year. He tied Sawamura for 5th in wins, was 5th in innings (between Utsumi and Ishikawa), led with 7 complete games, tied Yoshimi for the most shutouts (3), tied for 7th with 12 homers allowed (even with Maximo Nelson), placed 9th in hits allowed (146, between Sawamura and Yoshimi), finished 8th with 130 strikeouts and was second with a 0.97 WHIP (second to Yoshimi).

Through 2011, his career record in NPB is 66-47, 3.22.

With a low three-quarters delivery, Tateyama has a wide repertoire which includes a fastball (peak 95 mph), shuuto (two-seamer), cutter, slider,and splitter.

Sources

• Japan Baseball Daily
• Taiwanese Baseball Wiki