Takayuki Kishi

Takayuki Kishi (岸 孝之)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 154 lb.

• School Tohoku Gakuin University
• High School Natorikita High School

• Born December 4, 1984 in Sendai, Miyagi Japan

BR page

Biographical Information

Takayuki Kishi is a pitcher for the Seibu Lions.

Kishi went 23-11 in college. He pitched for Japan in the 2006 World University Championship. He was the first-round pick of the Seibu Lions in the 2006 NPB draft. He had a fine rookie year in 2007, going 11-7 with a 3.40 ERA; in 156 1/3 innings, he allowed 131 hits while fanning 142. He tied fellow rookie Masahiro Tanaka for 7th in the Pacific League in wins, tied for 4th in shutouts (2), was second to Tanaka in walks with 55 and was 6th in strikeouts. He lost PL Rookie of the Year honors to Tanaka.

In 2008, the 23-year-old had a 12-4, 3.42 record. He was 9th in the PL in ERA, tied Brian Sweeney for 6th in wins, was 9th in innings (168 1/3), tied for second in shutouts (2) and tied Kenji Otonari for 6th in strikeouts (138). In the 2008 Japan Series, the right-hander turned in a gem in game four to tie the Series at two. He threw 147 pitches and allowed only 4 hits and a walk in a complete game shutout of the Yomiuri Giants. He was the 12th player in Japan Series history to toss a shutout in his Series debut. He struck out 10, with at least one per inning; he was only the second pitcher ever to fan at least one batter per inning in a complete game in a Japan Series; the previous one was Takashi Nishimoto. He came back on two days' rest to win game six in relief of Kazuyuki Hoashi, going 5 2/3 shutout innings as Seibu tied the Series at three games. They went on to win and Kishi won MVP honors.

With an overhand delivery Kishi throws a high-80s four-seam fastball (tops out at 93 mph), changeup, slider, and a solid-average curveball around 70 mph.

Sources

• Japanese Wikipedia entry
• Japan Baseball Daily
• Japanesebaseball.com