Takehiko Oshimoto

Takehiko Oshimoto (押本 健彦)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 205 lb.
• High School Chuo Gakuin High School

• Born October 28, 1982 in Nagareyama, Chiba Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Takehiko Oshimoto has pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Oshimoto won an industrial league national title with Nissan Motors. The Nippon Ham Fighters picked him in the 4th round of the 2003 NPB draft. As a rookie in 2004, he was 7-8 with a 4.47 ERA. The right-hander went 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA and .371 opponent average in 2005. Moving full-time to relief in 2006, he showed good strides at 5-0, 1.50. He did not pitch in the 2006 Japan Series, which was won by Nippon Ham. Takehiko went 2-1 with a 4.60 ERA and fanned 49 in 47 innings in 2007. In the 2007 Japan Series, he allowed two runs and fanned six in 5 2/3 innings but the Fighters lost to the Chunichi Dragons.

Nippon Ham traded Oshimoto, Yoshitaka Hashimoto and Keizo Kawashima to the Yakult Swallows for Shugo Fujii, Hajime Miki and Yataro Sakamoto. He did not allow an earned run in his first 24 appearances of 2008. He finished the season 5-6 with a save and a 3.34 ERA, walking 14 in 72 2/3 innings. He pitched 67 games, tying Tetsuya Yamaguchi for third in the Central League, two behind leader Tomoyuki Kubota and one behind Daisuke Ochi. He remained sharp (2-6, Sv, 2.67, .225 opponent average, 1.08 WHIP) in 2009.

Oshimoto went 3-4 with a 2.66 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in 61 games in 2010. He tied Ryo Watanabe for 9th in the CL in games pitched. In 2011, the Chiba native was 3-2 with a save and a 3.28 ERA. His 65 outings tied Chang-yong Lim and Shintaro Ejiri for 7th in the league.

Oshimoto's repertoire includes a slider, curveball, changeup, forkball and fastball (peak 94 mph).

Source: Japanbaseballdaily