Shota Takeda

Shota Takeda (武田 翔太)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 185 lb.

• High School Miyazaki Nihon University High School

• Born April 3, 1993 in Beppu, Oita Japan

BR Japan page

Biographical Information

Shota Takeda has been an All-Star pitcher in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Takeda was a first-round pick of the SoftBank Hawks in the 2011 NPB draft out of high school. He started 2012 well in the minors and earned the call up when Nagisa Arakaki was struggling. Takeda went 8-1 with a 1.07 ERA in 11 starts, fanning 67 in 67 innings and allowing only 40 hits (one home run). Had he qualified, he would have easily led the Pacific League in ERA (Mitsuo Yoshikawa led at 1.71). He was only the third rookie pitcher fresh from high school to win four straight starts to open their NPB career, following Masaaki Koyama and Tsuneo Horiuchi. Due to only playing half the season in NPB, he fell short in the 2012 Pacific League Rookie of the Year Award voting, with 80 votes to Naoya Masuda's 116.

The right-hander had a sophomore slump in 2013, going 4-4 with a 3.48 ERA and walking 68 in 93 innings (to 56 K). He led the PL in walks, 10 more than Chihiro Kaneko, and finished the season back in the minors. Shoulder trouble limited his action in 2014 but he did well once healthy: 3-3, 1.87, 43 K in 43 1/3 IP, 22 BB. He got the call for game 2 of the 2014 Japan Series and tossed a gem (7 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 R) to beat Atsushi Nohmi 2-1. That tied the Series and Softbank would sweep the next three from the Hanshin Tigers. He was named one of the Series' three Outstanding Players (a step below Series MVP) alongside Yuki Yanagita and Dennis Sarfate.

In the 2014 Nichi-Bei Series, he beat the MLB All-Stars in the finale despite 4 hits and 4 walks in 3 innings, giving up just one unearned run in a 6-4 Japan victory. He also pitched two shutout innings against the All-Euro team when they beat Japan 6-2 in early 2015.

Takeda was finally healthy and in NPB for a full season in 2015 and turned in a 13-6, 3.17 record with 163 whiffs in 164 2/3 innings. He was 4th in the PL in ERA (between Takahiro Norimoto and Kenichi Nakata), 3rd in wins (two shy of Hideaki Wakui and Shohei Otani), 4th in walks and 3rd in strikeouts (well back of Otani and Norimoto). He would finish 6th in voting for the 2015 Pacific League MVP. In 2015 NPB All-Star Game 2, he relieved Tatsushi Matsuda in the 7th with a 7-3 deficit and retired 2015 CL MVP Tetsuto Yamada, 2015 CL batting champion Shingo Kawabata and former MVP Shinnosuke Abe in order. Tomomi Takahashi relieved in the 8th.

Shota again came up big in the 2015 Japan Series. He got the nod in the opener and shut out the Yakult Swallows for 8 innings before a two-run homer by Kazuhiro Hatakeyama in the 9th; he beat Masanori Ishikawa to set the pace as the Hawks took the Series, 4 games to 1. He was the youngest pitcher (22 years old) in Hawks franchise history to win a Japan Series opener. He again won an Outstanding Player Award, joining Kenji Akashi and Rick van den Hurk (Dae-ho Lee was MVP). He then accompanied Japan for the 2015 Premier 12. He got a start against the Dominican national team and pitched four shutout innings but allowed 7 baserunners and was relieved by Yasuhiro Ogawa, who got the 4-2 win. He also started the Bronze Medal game against Mexico and worked 3 shutout frames (1 H, 2 BB) before Ogawa relieved and again credit for the win (Japan was up 8-0 when Takeda left).

Takeda throws a fastball that has peaked at 95.6 mph but is just as noted for his curveball.

Sources

• Yakyubaka
• World Baseball and Softball Confederation
• Japanese Wikipedia