Takuma Kirishiki

Takuma Kirishiki (桐敷 拓馬)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 10", Weight 198 lbs.

• School Niigata University of Health and Welfare
• High School Honjo Higashi High School

• Born June 20, 1999 in Konosu, Saitama, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Takuma Kirishiki has pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Kirishiki was drafted by the Hanshin Tigers in the third round of the 2021 NPB draft. He spent his first season primarily in the NPB Farm Leagues, only pitching 7 games with a 5.02 ERA with the big club. Kirishiki joined the Hanshin bullpen in 2023, and he had a 1.79 ERA in 27 appearances while collecting 14 holds. In the 2023 CLCS, he struck out the side against the Hiroshima Carp to notch a hold in Game 1 of the final stage, then pitched 2 shutout innings with 3 strikeouts to get the win in Game 3 and helped the Tigers advance to the 2023 Nippon Series. Kirishiki pitched a shutout inning in Game 3 of that Series, but struggled in Game 4. He relieved Hiroto Saiki in the 6th inning and retired three straight batters, but Taishi Hirooka then reached first due to 3B Teruaki Sato's error in the 7th inning. Leandro Cedeno added a hit, and Keita Nakagawa completed a sacrifice bunt. Yuma Mune then drove in two runs with a single, and Daichi Ishii replaced him after he gave up another single to Tomoya Mori. He pitched 2/3 of a shutout inning in Game 7, and the Tigers beat the Orix Buffaloes to win the Nippon Series title. Kirishiki won a vote in 2023 CL Rookie of the Year voting, finishing fifth behind Shoki Murakami's 285 votes, Shota Morishita's 10, Yuto Akihiro's 6 and Shinya Matsuyama's 4.

The Saitama native then made it onto Japan's roster for the 2023 Asia Professional Baseball Championship. He relieved Haruka Nemoto in the 8th inning against Chinese Taipei, and he completed a shutout inning with a strikeout of Cheng-Hua Yueh; Kazuto Taguchi replaced him. Kirishiki then relieved Nemoto in the 8th inning against South Korea in the Gold Medal game. He completed a shutout inning with a strikeout against Hyung-jun Kim, and helped Japan beat South Korea to win Gold.

Kirishiki's repertoire features a fastball that peaks at 93.2 mph, a forkball, a changeup and a slider.