Tatsuya Sato

Tatsuya Sato (佐藤 達也)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 169 lb.

• School Hokkaido Tokai University
• High School Omiya Musashino High School

• Born July 26, 1986 in Saitama, Saitama Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Tatsuya Sato was a two-time All-Star in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Sato played for Honda in the industrial leagues after college. The Orix Buffaloes took him in the third round of the 2011 NPB draft. He was 2-1 with five saves and a 1.86 ERA as a rookie for Orix in 2012, posting a 0.98 WHIP. His first strikeout victim was Saburo Omura. He was 2-4 with a 1.73 ERA and 1.12 WHIP in 67 games in 2013, fanning 88 in 78 innings. He allowed only 46 hits but walked 41. He got four votes for the 2013 PL Rookie of the Year, tying Shohei Ohtani for second, a distant 219 behind Takahiro Norimoto. He also pitched in the 2013 NPB All-Star Game. His 67 appearances were second in the Pacific League, one behind Naoya Masuda.

The right-hander set a team record with 11 holds in April of 2014. In 2014 NPB All-Star Game 1, he relieved Michael Crotta in the 8th with a 6-0 deficit against the Central League. He struck out Yuhei Dakai, allowed a Shota Dobayashi single, whiffed Yuhei Nakamura and retired Yoshihiro Maru on a fly. In the 9th, he gave up a Tetsuto Yamada single, got Hayato Sakamoto on a fly, served up a RBI double to Tony Blanco, then retired Matt Murton and Shinnosuke Abe to end the 9th. He was 6-4 with a save and a 1.09 ERA in 67 games that year, fanning 85 in 74 1/3 IP and allowing only 39 hits and a 0.93 WHIP. He led the PL in appearances, two ahead of Hiroyuki Fukuyama. He was 10th in voting for the 2014 Pacific League Most Valuable Player Award, between Akira Nakamura and Nobuhiro Matsuda.

He battled back injuries in 2015 and finished only 2-7 with 13 saves and a 3.22 ERA, though he still fanned 77 in 58 2/3 IP. He was 6th in the PL in saves, between Tomomi Takahashi and Yoshihisa Hirano. He was 1-4 with a 5.01 ERA in 2016, still K'ing batters (53 in 41 1/3 IP) but walking 36. He was 0-1 with a 7.30 ERA in 12 games for Orix in 2017, spending most of the year in the minors. He remained there in '18, doing okay against the weaker competition (1-1, 6 Sv, 2.64) to end his playing career. He tied Diego Moreno for 4th in the Western League in saves.

Sato had gone 11-21 with 14 saves and a 2.71 ERA in 262 NPB games, allowing 198 hits and 144 walks in 285 2/3 IP while striking out 338. He threw a fastball (peaked at 96.3 mph), forkball and slider.