Tomohiro Nagai

Tomohiro Nagai (永井 智浩)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 187 lbs.

• High School Akashi High School

• Born August 11, 1975 in Akashi, Hyogo, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Tomohiro Nagai pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 14 years.

Nagai was drafted by the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks in the first round of the 1997 NPB draft, and he spent his first season primarily in the NPB Farm Leagues, only pitching 7 games with the big club. He joined the rotation in 1999, and he was 10-5 with a 3.06 ERA. Nagai was 5th in ERA in the Pacific League, between Hidetaka Kawagoe and Takashi Ishii. In the 1999 Nippon Series, he threw 6 hitless innings in Game 3 and got the win over Masahiro Yamamoto. The Hawks beat the Chunichi Dragons in 5 games, and Nagai won his first Nippon Series title.

The Akashi native slumped to 9-7 with a 5.20 ERA in 2000, and he led the league in homers allowed and hit-by-pitches. Nagai started in 2000 Nippon Series Game 2, and he allowed 3 runs in 3 innings and ended up with a no-decision. He was then named the starter of Game 6, but he only pitched 2 2/3 innings with 3 runs allowed. Darrell May outdueled him, and the Hawks lost the title to the Yomiuri Giants. Nagai suffered from an elbow injury in 2001, so he only pitched 13 games with a 6.49 ERA. He struggled in 2002 as his ERA was 5.05 in 17 appearances, and he had a 3-1 record with a 5.74 ERA in 2003. After staying in the ni-gun for 2 years, Nagai announced his retirement after the 2006 season.

Overall, Nagai was 28-21 with a 4.67 ERA, struck out 339 and pitched 439 2/3 innings in 14 years in NPB.