is a Japanese

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They ...

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

(NPB). He previously played for the Yokohama BayStars/Yokohama DeNA BayStars of the

(NPB), and for the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He is the first Japanese player to make his MLB debut with the Blue Jays, and also the first MLB player who had never played for any baseball teams in the United States.

Career

Yokohama DeNA BayStars

The

Yokohama BayStars The are a professional baseball team in the Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its curren ...

selected Yamaguchi in the first round in the 2005 Nippon Professional Baseball draft. He began his professional career with the Yokohama BayStars in 2006. In 2007, Yamaguchi recorded a 6.30 ERA in only 6 appearances for the main club. He improved in 2008, registering a stellar 0.76 ERA across 16 appearances. In 2009, he pitched in 51 games, recording a 5–4 record and 3.27 ERA. In 2010, Yamaguchi pitched to a 2.62 ERA with 78 strikeouts in 68.2 innings pitched, earning all-star honors for the first time. In 2011, he logged a 2.49 ERA with 48 strikeouts in 61.1 innings of work, and notched his second all-star selection. The next year, Yamaguchi pitched to a neat 1.74 ERA with 62 strikeouts in 60 games. He struggled in 2013, however, notching a 5.40 ERA across 44 appearances. He improved his performance the next year, recording a 8–5 record and 2.90 ERA in 33 games for Yokohama. In 2015, Yamaguchi pitched to a 3–6 record and 4.49 ERA in 20 appearances for the BayStars. In 2016, Yamaguchi earned all-star honors for the third time, notching an 11-5 record and 2.86 ERA on the year. He became a free agent after the season.

Yomiuri Giants

Yamaguchi signed with

in 2017 for the ensuing season. On the year, he logged a 6.43 ERA in only 4 games. On July 27, 2018, Yamaguchi threw a no-hitter against the

Chunichi Dragons The are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chūbu region of Japan. The team plays in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. They have won the Central League pennant nine times (most recently in 2011) ...

. On the season, he recorded a 3.68 ERA and 9-9 record in 30 games for Yomiuri. In 2019, he posted a 15–4 record (.789 winning percentage) that led Japan's

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consi ...

, along with a 2.91 ERA and 188 strikeouts over 170 innings.= After the season, on October 1, 2019, he was selected for the

Japan national baseball team The is the national team representing Japan in international baseball competitions. It won the World Baseball Classic in 2006 and 2009, as well as WBSC Premier12 in 2019. The team is currently ranked 1st in the world by the World Baseball Softb ...

at the

2019 WBSC Premier12 The 2019 WBSC Premier12 was an international baseball championship featuring the 12 highest-ranked national teams in the world, held by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). It was the second WBSC Premier12 event. The championship ...

. After the 2019 WBSC Premier12, on November 18, 2019, Giants held a press conference announcing the team has allowed Yamaguchi to enter the

posting system The is a baseball player transfer system that operates between Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and Major League Baseball (MLB). Despite the drafting of the United States – Japanese Player Contract Agreement, unveiled in 1967 to regulate ...

to play in

(MLB). Paperwork for the posting was completed on December 3, 2019, and Yamaguchi became the first player in Giants history to be posted.

Toronto Blue Jays

On December 28, 2019, Yamaguchi signed a two-year, $6.35 million contract with the

. On January 15, 2020, he held a press conference in Toronto. After the press conference, he stayed in Toronto, and attended a fan meeting. On March 26, he returned to Japan due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. He returned to Toronto after the MLB announcement of the 2020 regular season. Yamaguchi was issued uniform # 1, being only the fifth Toronto pitcher (not initially listed as a

position player In baseball, a position player is a player who on defense plays as an infielder, outfielder, or catcher. In Major League Baseball (since 1973 in the American League and since 2022 in the National League), there is also a designated hitter, who ...

) to ever pitch in a game wearing a single digit uniform number after

Josh Towers Joshua Eric Towers (born February 26, 1977) is a former right-handed professional baseball pitcher. Towers stands at 6 ft 1 in tall, and weighs 188 lb. Professional career Baltimore Orioles Towers was drafted by the Baltimore Orio ...

, Kyle Drabek,

Marcus Stroman Marcus Earl Stroman (born May 1, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Mets. Stroman is listed at , making him o ...

, and

Clayton Richard Clayton Colby Richard (born September 12, 1983) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox, San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, and Toronto Blue Jays. High school Richard w ...

. On July 27, 2020, Yamaguchi made his MLB debut. He became the first Japanese player who made his MLB debut as a Blue Jays member. On August 26, 2020, he earned his first MLB win. With the 2020 Toronto Blue Jays, Yamaguchi appeared in 17 games, compiling a 2–4 record with 8.06 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 25 innings pitched. On February 11, 2021, Yamaguchi was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must within seven days, return the pla ...

. On February 13, Yamaguchi was released by the Blue Jays.

San Francisco Giants

On February 20, 2021, Yamaguchi agreed to a contract with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

, reportedly a split major league/minor league deal. On June 2, Yamaguchi announced via Instagram that he would be leaving the Giants organization to return to Japan. He was officially released by San Francisco the next day. In five games for the Triple-A

Sacramento River Cats The Sacramento River Cats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to 2015, the River Cats were the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics for 15 ...

, he had a 0–3 record and 6.17 ERA.

Yomiuri Giants (second stint)

On June 10, 2021, Yamaguchi agreed to a contract to return to the

Playing style

Yamaguchi is a 6 ft 2 in, 225 lb right-handed pitcher. He throws a fastball averaging 90 mph (tops out at 95 mph) as a starter. The

forkball The forkball is a type of pitch in baseball. Related to the split-finger fastball, the forkball is held between the first two fingers and thrown hard, snapping the wrist. The forkball differs from the split-fingered fastball, however, in th ...

is his primary secondary pitch and he also has a slider.

Personal life

His father is Hisashi Yamaguchi, a former champion sumo wrestler. On December 25, 2014, Yamaguchi married Japanese

gravure idol A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Thou ...

and actress Kaori Takagi (高木加織, ''Takagi Kaori'', born July 23, 1985). The marriage was only announced on March 14, 2015, by Takagi in her official blog and less than a week later, their daughter was born on March 20, 2015. Takagi gave birth to their second child, a son, on August 20, 2016. Yamaguchi was suspended for the second half of the 2017 season, after being charged with causing bodily harm to a hospital security guard as well as heavy damage to hospital property, while intoxicated. He reportedly was at the hospital to receive treatment on his pitching hand.

References

External links

Career statistics - NPB.jp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yamaguchi, Shun 1987 births Living people Baseball people from Ōita Prefecture Japanese baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Japan National baseball team players Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Yokohama BayStars players Yokohama DeNA BayStars players Yomiuri Giants players Toronto Blue Jays players 2019 WBSC Premier12 players