Kyuji Fujikawa

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Kyuji Fujikawa
Hanshin Koshien Stadium
Pitcher
Born: (1980-07-21) July 21, 1980 (age 43)
Kōchi, Kōchi, Japan
Batted: Left
Threw: Right
Professional debut
NPB: March 31, 2000, for the Hanshin Tigers
MLB: April 1, 2013, for the Chicago Cubs
Last appearance
MLB: May 14, 2015, for the Texas Rangers
NPB: November 10, 2020, for the Hanshin Tigers
NPB statistics
Win–loss record60–38
Earned run average2.08
Strikeouts1,220
Saves243
MLB statistics
Win–loss record1–1
Earned run average5.74
Strikeouts32
Saves2
Teams
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's baseball
Representing  Japan
World Baseball Classic
Gold medal – first place 2006 San Diego Team
Gold medal – first place 2009 Los Angeles Team
Asian Baseball Championship
Gold medal – first place 2007 Taichung Team

Kyuji Fujikawa (藤川 球児, Fujikawa Kyūji, born July 21, 1980) is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher.[1] He pitched for the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Fujikawa pitched in the 2006 and 2009 World Baseball Classics as well as the 2008 Beijing Olympics. A prototypical power pitcher, Fujikawa is said to have one of the most explosive fastballs in all of Japanese professional baseball and is one of Japan's premier relievers.[2]

Early life and high school career

Fujikawa was born in

high school baseball player. It was reportedly given to him by his father because he had thrown a no-hitter in a sandlot baseball game the day before Fujikawa was born.[citation needed] He began playing baseball for the Little League team "Kodakasa White Wolf", first as a shortstop, then later as a pitcher
.

Fujikawa went on to

National High School Baseball Championship in his second year (the equivalent of eleventh grade in the United States). His older brother, Junichi, was the team's starting catcher
. While his team lost in the second round to Heian High School, Fujikawa clocked 144 km/h (89 mph) in the regional Kochi Tournament and had been regarded as one of the better high school prospects in the prefecture.

Professional career

Hanshin Tigers

Fujikawa was picked in the first round of the 1998 NPB draft [jp] by the Hanshin Tigers, one of only four high school pitchers to be selected in the first round (along with Daisuke Matsuzaka, Nagisa Arakaki and Katsutoshi Ishidoh, though Arakaki did not end up signing that year).

Early years: 1999–2003

Fujikawa's rookie season was uneventful, his perhaps most humorous moment of 1999 occurring during Spring training when he was forced to miss part of the team's workouts to attend remedial classes at his high school because his grades had been so poor. It was a unique situation made possible by the fact that the Tigers' Spring training site, Aki, happened to be close to the city of Kochi where Fujikawa's high school was located.

Fujikawa was

record and a 3.71 ERA
. However, while the Tigers had hoped that he would blossom as a starter and used him exclusively in that role that season, his career numbers up until 2003 were largely unspectacular.

2004

Relegated to the nigun team ("

middle reliever than as a starter, and appeared in 26 games, striking out 35 in 31 innings
with a 2.61 ERA.

2005

The 2005 season was a breakout year in every sense for Fujikawa, who became a

NPB All-Star Game.[5] He recorded his first career save on September 9 against the Hiroshima Toyo Carp
.

Fujikawa played an integral role in the Tigers'

MVP consideration (teammate and cleanup hitter Tomoaki Kanemoto eventually won the award).[6]

2006

In 2006, Fujikawa was named to the Japanese national team to play in the inaugural World Baseball Classic. He began the regular season as the Tigers' eighth-inning setup man, but was promoted to closer when Kubota missed playing time due to injury in June. He set a new NPB record for consecutive games pitched without allowing a run on July 5 against the BayStars with 35 (Kiyoshi Toyoda held the previous record) and set a franchise record for most consecutive scoreless innings pitched on July 11 (320-win pitcher Masaaki Koyama held the previous record of 47). His streaks stopped at 38 and 472⁄3, respectively, when he gave up a run in a game against the Carp on July 12.

Fujikawa was named to the Central League All-Star team for the second straight year, commenting before the All-Star Series that he wanted to "create a baseball world like the one you see in comic books." He came on in relief in Game 1 (held July 21) at

Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters first baseman Michihiro Ogasawara (after he fouled off several pitches).[7] In Game 2, held at Sun Marine Stadium Miyazaki on July 23, he again came on in relief, striking out Orix Buffaloes slugger Kazuhiro Kiyohara
swinging and causing Kiyohara to remark after the game, "I give up... he was throwing a fireball out there."

That season, the Central League had become a two-way race for the league title between the Tigers and the

swept by the Dragons in a head-to-head three-game series that month. Fujikawa, who had been scratched from the roster since August 12 due to a neck injury,[8]
returned to the team on August 27, taking the mound in the eighth inning against the Giants and getting the win. He shed tears in his post-game interview, saying to fans, "Please understand that we players are giving it everything we've got."

Fujikawa appeared in 63 games that year, striking out 122 in 791⁄3 innings (for a strikeout rate of 13.84) with a meagre 0.68 ERA. He led the league in holds for the second straight year with 30 despite also recording 17 saves as the closer in the latter half of the season.

2007

Fujikawa was officially appointed the team's closer for the start of the 2007 season. He was consistent throughout the season, making his third consecutive All-Star appearance (striking out two and closing the game for the Central League team in Game 1) and recorded his 100th strikeout of the season on September 7 in a game against the Giants, the first time a pitcher had ever recorded 100 strikeouts as a reliever in three consecutive seasons in Japan. During the Tigers' 10-game win streak in the second half of the season, he pitched in all 10 games, setting a Central League record for most consecutive games pitched and earning two wins and seven saves (with a 1.80 ERA) in that span. Fujikawa recorded his 46th save in the Tigers' last game of the season on October 3, tying the NPB record for saves in a single season and leading the league (along with Dragons closer Hitoki Iwase, who also recorded 46 that year) in that category for the first time.[9] He put up a 5–5 record in 71 appearances with a 1.63 ERA, striking out 115 in 831⁄3 innings.

2008

Fujikawa continued to dominate hitters in 2008, setting a franchise record for consecutive save conversions (11) to begin the season and racking up 30 by the All-Star break. He was chosen to the Japanese national team to play in the 2008 Beijing Olympics[10] and named one of the team's three closers (along with Iwase and then-Giants right-hander Koji Uehara).[11][12] However, Fujikawa gave up the tying run after coming on in the seventh inning of the semi-finals against South Korea,[13] failing to lead the team to a medal.

Fujikawa pitched well after returning to the Tigers despite often being called on to pitch two innings or when the game was tied. He recorded his 100th career save against the BayStars on September 25, finishing the year with an 8–1 record, 38 saves (second to only Giants closer Marc Kroon), 90 strikeouts and a career-best 0.67 ERA in 672⁄3 innings (63 appearances).

2009

Fujikawa was named to the national team to play in the World Baseball Classic in 2009, his second time playing in the tournament.

baserunners and struggled with his fastball velocity. Manager Tatsunori Hara opted to appoint Yu Darvish the closer for the semi-finals and finals
instead of Fujikawa, declining to use Fujikawa at all in Japan's last two games of the tournament.

Despite this, Fujikawa found a way to contribute to the team, providing Darvish (who had no prior experience as a closer) advice regarding how a closer was to mentally and physically

prepare
himself prior to games. He vehemently denied reports by the media that he would no longer play for the national team because he was dissatisfied by the way he was used, saying, "I have never said anything to that effect."

Fujikawa pitching for the Hanshin Tigers at Yokohama Stadium.

Fujikawa saw limited appearances the first month of the regular season, going 1–0 with two saves and a 1.29 ERA but pitching in only five games in all of April (the Tigers played few games in which they held a small lead in the late innings). He gave up a game-winning

loss of the year. The Tigers suffered another blow when Fujikawa reported pain in his right elbow and had to be removed from the active roster the following day. Though he returned to the ichigun team on May 13, he was charged with his second loss of the young season when he gave up a game-winning RBI double to Carp first baseman Kenta Kurihara
that very day.

Chicago Cubs

On December 2, 2012, Fujikawa agreed to terms on a two-year contract with a vesting option for a third year with the Chicago Cubs.[17]

On April 1, 2013, Fujikawa made his MLB debut. He struggled early on in the season, allowing six earned runs in 6.1 innings pitched. This led to him spending time on the disabled list due to an arm injury. He returned to the Cubs roster on May 10, but on May 27, Fujikawa suffered an elbow injury in the 9th inning in a game against the

Tommy John surgery on June 11, and missed the start of the 2014 season. Fujikawa made his season debut in August 2014, he made 15 appearances for the Cubs in 2014. His 2015 club option was declined by the Cubs on October 30, 2014.[18]

Texas Rangers

On December 12, 2014, Fujikawa agreed to a one-year deal with the Texas Rangers.[19] He was released on May 22, 2015.[20]

Kochi Fighting Dogs

After being released by the

Shikoku Island League.[21]

Return to Hanshin Tigers

On November 14, 2015, Fujikawa agreed to a two-year, 300-million-yen deal to return to the Hanshin Tigers.[1]

On August 31, 2020, Fujikawa announced he would retire at the conclusion of the 2020 season,[22] and next day, he held press conference.[23] He pitched a scoreless inning in his final game on November 10, 2020.[24]

Pitching style

Listed at 6 ft 0 in and 190 lb,[25] Fujikawa is a slender right-handed pitcher with a conventional overhand delivery. He hesitates momentarily after raising his left leg and loading his hips, a trait seen in many Japanese pitchers.

Though he has come to use his respectable repertoire of offspeed pitches more often in recent years, he is best known for his four-seam fastball.

Fastball

Fujikawa's fastball, which usually clocks 148 to 152 km/h (92 to 94 mph) but tops out at 156 km/h (97 mph), is often described in Japan using the term "Hi no tama sutorēto" (火の玉ストレート), which literally means "Fireball fastball" but can be loosely translated to "Four-seam fireball". His fastball velocity is down a bit from his peak years, but he will still sit 91-93 mph and touch 95-96 mph on occasion.[26]

While there are other pitchers in both Japanese professional baseball (Kroon, Kubota) and the

radar gun readings would suggest.[28] That hitters are frequently seen swinging and missing high fastballs by a distance of two to three balls even when they clearly end up caught out of the strike zone is a testament to how much the pitch appears to "jump" at them in front of the plate
.

On March 23, 2008, following an exhibition game between the Tigers and the Oakland Athletics held at Tokyo Dome in which he struck out swinging against Fujikawa, then Oakland Athletics outfielder Jeff Fiorentino commented that Fujikawa's fastball was similar in nature to the fastball of (then-teammate) Rich Harden.

Scientific studies

On November 23, 2006, major Japanese television network

high speed cameras
, it found that while the average four-seam fastball spins 37 times per second during its trajectory to the plate, Fujikawa's fastball spun 45 times per second (2700 rpm), more than either Daisuke Matsuzaka's (37) or Marc Kroon's (41). Moreover, they also found that while the spin axis of the average four-seam fastball is tilted approximately 30 degrees relative to its direction (trajectory) to the plate, the spin axis of Fujikawa's was only five degrees (Matsuzaka's and Kroon's were 10).

According to the principles of the Magnus effect, the faster an object spins and the less it is tilted about its vertical axis, the more lift it will create, causing the ball to travel in a trajectory more closely modeling a straight line than a typical fastball would. The program hypothesized that Fujikawa's fastball, if thrown from an identical release point at exactly the same target, would cross home plate a full 30 cm (12 in) higher than the average fastball. They concluded that was one possible explanation for why hitters felt Fujikawa's fastball appeared to "rise" as it approached the plate.

Secondary pitches

In addition to the fastball, Fujikawa also throws an effective

cutter and a changeup
that he rarely uses in game situations.) While the overwhelming majority of Fujikawa's pitches were fastballs when he first made a name for himself as a reliever in 2004 to 2006, often going entire innings without throwing a single offspeed pitch, he has since incorporated a larger share of forkballs and curveballs to reduce fatigue and possible injury over time.

Entrance music

It has become customary for "every little thing every precious thing", a song by a

Kyocera Dome Osaka.[29] Many Tigers fans can be seen waving their megaphones and thundersticks to the beat of the music and singing along as the song is played.[30]
Fujikawa has said that the song has had special meaning for him and his wife since before they got married.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "[11/14/2015] Hanshin Tigers reach agreement with Kyuji Fujikawa - Yakyu Baka". yakyubaka.com.
  2. ^ "Hashin Tigers Guide 2009!" Archived October 6, 2009, at the Wayback Machine – Mixed-Up Confusion.
  3. ^ "Foreign players showing the way among stats leaders" The Japan Times
  4. ^ "2008 Central League Preview – Team-by-Team Analysis: Hanshin Tigers" The Japan Times
  5. ^ 'Maeda drives CL to All-Star sweep" The Japan Times
  6. ^ "Kanemoto, Sugiuchi garner top honors in Central, Pacific" The Japan Times
  7. ^ "Central League captures opener" The Japan Times
  8. ^ "Lions triumph on walk in 10th" The Japan Times
  9. ^ "Will mercurial Tigers end slump?" The Japan Times
  10. ^ "Kyuji Fujikawa" Sports-Reference.com
  11. ^ "Hoshino makes gutsy decision by sticking with Uehara" The Japan Times
  12. ^ "Japan barely wins in Olympic tuneup" The Japan Times
  13. ^ "Korea 6, Japan 2" NPB Tracker
  14. ^ "Ichiro, Dice-K headline Japan WBC candidates" The Japan Times
  15. ^ "Japanese pitching trio impresses"The Japan Times
  16. ^ "Yamasaki backs Iwakuma in Rakuten victory" Archived August 2, 2009, at the Wayback Machine The Japan Times
  17. ^ Links, Zach (December 1, 2012). "Cubs To Sign Kyuji Fujikawa". Retrieved December 5, 2012.
  18. ^ "Cubs Decline Option On Kyuji Fujikawa". mlbtraderumors.com. October 30, 2014. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  19. ^ Short, D. J. (December 12, 2014). "Rangers agree to a deal with Kyuji Fujikawa". Retrieved December 15, 2014.
  20. ^ "Fujikawa given unconditional release from Rangers". ESPN.com. Associated Press. May 22, 2015. Retrieved May 23, 2015.
  21. ^ a b "Kyuji Fujikawa Signs With Independent Japanese Team". mlbtraderumors.com. June 1, 2015. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  22. ^ "藤川球児選手の引退について". 阪神タイガース 公式サイト (in Japanese). August 31, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  23. ^ "藤川球児選手が引退会見". 阪神タイガース 公式サイト (in Japanese). September 1, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  24. ^ "Kyuji Fujikawa Retires".
  25. ^ Kyuji Fujikawa – mlb.com.
  26. ^ Fujikawa, Ryu lead international class foxsports
  27. ^ "Non-News du Jour: Kyuji to Stay with Hanshin" NPB Tracker.
  28. ^ "Player Profile: Kyuji Fujikawa" NPB Tracker.
  29. ^ "Monday Adventures in Osaka – Card shops, Tiger shops, Skymark and Koshien" Marinerds, etc.
  30. ^ "WBC Game 1: China vs. Japan – Otoko Murata Strikes Again!" Marinerds, etc.

External links

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