Taichi Ishiyama

Taichi Ishiyama (石山 泰稚)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 165 lbs.

• School Tohoku Fukushi University
• High School Kanaashi Nogyo High School

• Born September 1, 1988 in Akita, Akita Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Taichi Ishiyama has played in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Ishiyama was drafted by the Yakult Swallows in the first round of the 2012 NPB draft, and he soon became an important part of their bullpen. He pitched 60 games with 21 holds and a 2.78 ERA as a rookie, ranked 6th in holds (19 behind Scott Mathieson) and 6th in appearances (11 behind Kentaro Nishimura). He was also selected into the 2013 NPB All-Star Game as a rookie, and relieved his teammate Yasuhiro Ogawa in the 5th inning in Game 1. He allowed back-to-back singles to Toshiaki Imae and Hikaru Ito, retired Kazuo Matsui then struck out the next two batters (Daichi Suzuki and Shohei Ohtani) to escape the jam.

The Akita native was turned into a starter on July in 2014, but he didn't adapt well to that role right away and ended up 3-8 with a 4.53 ERA. He was a full-time starter in 2015, and he was 5-5 with a 3.64 ERA in 19 starts. In the 2015 Nippon Series, he relieved Masanori Ishikawa in the 5th inning, but he allowed a single to Dae-ho Lee and a double to Nobuhiro Matsuda. Ishiyama retired Akira Nakamura and Yuki Yoshimura to end the inning, but he then gave up a leadoff single to Kenta Imamiya in the next inning. Hiroaki Takaya bunted, and Kenji Akashi doubled for a 4-0 lead. Ishiyama then relieved Orlando Roman in the 6th inning of Game 3, pitched 1 2/3 shutout innings with 3 strikeouts and got a hold. He relieved Ishikawa again in the 5th inning in Game 5, pitched 2/3 of a shutout inning but couldn't stop the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks from beating them in this game.

Ishiyama only pitched 13 games in 2016 due to right elbow injury, and he came back in 2017. He recorded a 3.03 ERA in 66 appearances, and notched 24 holds. He also ranked 9th in holds (15 behind Kentaro Kuwahara) and 5th in appearances (2 behind Yasuaki Yamasaki). He replaced Matt Carasiti to become the Swallows' closer in 2018, and he had his career year. Ishiyama attended 2018 NPB All-Star Game 2, and relieved Koji Uehara in the 7th inning. Ishiyama retired Tomoya Mori and Yuki Yanagita, but then allowed three straight singles to Hideto Asamura, Masataka Yoshida and Toshiaki Imae, so he was charged with an earned run. He retired Shogo Akiyama to escape further damage. Ishiyama ended up collecting 35 saves with a 2.08 ERA in 71 appearances, ranked 2nd in saves (2 behind Yasuaki Yamasaki) and 2nd in appearances (3 behind Kazuki Kondoh).

The Tohoku Fukushi alumni only collected 10 saves and 5 holds with a 2.73 ERA in 2019,and he bounced back to notch 20 saves with a 2.04 ERA in 2020. He ranked 3rd in saves in this season, 5 behind Robert Suarez). Scott McGough replaced him as Yakult's new closer in 2021, but he still collected 9 holds and 10 saves with a 3.60 ERA in 58 appearances. He pitched 1 1/3 shutout innings to win over Ryo Yoshida and the Orix Buffaloes in Game 3 of the 2021 Nippon Series, and collected a hold with a shutout inning in Game 4. he struggled in Game 5 as he relieved Kazuto Taguchi in the 7th inning, but Kotaro Kurebayashi hit a leadoff single and scored with Ryota Ota's triple. Steven Moya then hit a RBI single, and Ishiyama was replaced by Ryuta Konno. the Swallows still beat the Orix Buffaloes in 6 games, and he won his first Nippon Series title.

Ishiyama was still a reliable reliever in 2022, and he recorded a 1.75 ERA with 16 holds in 38 appearances. He pitched 1/3 of an inning against the Hanshin Tigers in Game 1 of the first stage in the 2022 CLCS, then allowed back-to-back singles to Koji Chikamoto and Yusuke Ohyama in the 7th inning of Game 2. Jefry Marte drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, then Ishiyama retired Naomasa Yokawa and Kento Itohara to end his work. He pitched a shutout inning in Game 1, Game 3, Game 5, Game 6 and Game 7 of the 2022 Nippon Series while he struck out 8 and collected a hold in Game 5, but couldn't stop the Buffaloes from winning the title this time. Ishiyama slumped to 4.40 ERA in 50 appearances in 2023, but still ranked 6th in holds, 15 behind Sotaro Shimauchi.

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