Yui Tomori

Yui Tomori (友利 結) (Denney)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 4", Weight 200 lbs.

• High School Konan High School

• Born September 21, 1967 in Urasoe, Okinawa, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yui Tomori pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 16 years.

Tomori was drafted by the Yokohama Taiyo Whales in the first round of the 1986 NPB draft, but he didn't have many chances at first. He only pitched 46 games combined in his first ten seasons. The Hawks traded him with to the Seibu Lions for Kenji Nagami after the 1996. Yui changed his registered name to "Denney Tomori" after changing team, and he finally broke out and joined the bullpen of the Lions. He recorded a 3.38 ERA in 31 appearances in 1997. He appeared in four of the Lions' five games in the 1997 Nippon Series, and pitched 4 2/3 innings. The Lions were beaten by the Yakult Swallows in 5 games.

The Okinawa native improved further and he was selected for the Pacific League team into the 1998 NPB All-Star Games. Tomori relieved Kazuhiro Takeda in the 9th inning of Game 1 with a 5-1 deficit to the Central League, but he gave up a leadoff single to Daisuke Motoki then Tomonori Maeda hit a double. Tomori then retired Akira Eto and Norihiro Komada, and struck out Toshihisa Nishi to escape the jam. He ended up collecting 8 saves with a 2.60 ERA in 53 games in 1998, and ranked 6th in saves (27 behind Akinori Otsuka). The Lions won the Pacific League pennant again, and he relieved Takehiro Hashimoto in the 8th inning of 1998 Japan Series Game 1. Tomori gave up a single to Hitoshi Nakane, and he scored due to third baseman Ken Suzuki's error. He then pitched 2/3 of an inning, with a strikeout against Bobby Rose, in Game 3. The Lions lost to the Yokohama BayStars in 6 games. He won 5 3rd-place votes in the 1998 Pacific League Most Valuable Player Award voting, tied for 11th with Takashi Ishii.

Tomori notched a career-high 12 saves with a solid 2.03 ERA in 1999. He ranked 4th in saves (18 behind Brian Warren) and 7th in appearances (13 behind Soichi Fujita). He was still a reliable reliever in the next two seasons, having a 3.38 ERA in 48 games in 2000 and a 3.48 ERA in 54 games in 2001. However, the veteran slumped in 2002 and he only pitched 6 games with the big club, then the Lions traded him to the BayStars for Kazuyuki Maeda.

The veteran still pitched 52 games in 2003, but his ERA was 4.40. He only pitched 21 games with 4.62 ERA in 2004, then he announced that he would become a free agent after this season; the Boston Red Sox signed him. He had a 3.42 ERA in 19 games in Portland Sea Dogs and a 5.03 ERA in 15 games for the Pawtucket Red Sox, then he decided to come back to Japan. The Chunichi Dragons signed him, and he had a 3.10 ERA in 2006. He only had 7 appearances in 2007, and Tomori announced his retirement. He was the pitching coach for the BayStars from 2012 to 2013 and for the Dragons from 2014 to 2017.

Overall, Tomori was 18-29 with a 3.89 ERA and 30 saves, struck out 420 and pitched 441 2/3 innings in 16 years in NPB.