is a Japanese professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

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 dr ...

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 ...

of the

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).

Career

College career

Sugano went to Tokai University, where he had a 37–4

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

and a 0.57

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the numb ...

(ERA). In 2010, he set a career-high in college.

2011 NPB draft

Sugano was a top pitching prospect for the October 2011 NPB draft. Prior to the draft selection, he declared his desire to join the

and play under the guidance of his uncle, the present Giants manager Tatsunori Hara. The

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters The are a Japanese professional Baseball in Japan, baseball team based in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaidō. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the majority of their home games at ES CON Field Hokkaido. The Figh ...

also decided to select him as their first pick. The two teams fought it out via lottery, but the Fighters drew the lucky straw in the end, to the surprise and disappointment of Manager Hara and the Giants for they had assumed no other team would dare pick Sugano. Giants_Sugano_19

Both Sugano's father and grandfather were disappointed because they were not notified of the Fighters' intention to draft him, the latter even quoted saying it was a violation of human rights. The Fighters did admit to having intentionally kept their intention to draft Sugano unannounced, and apologized for the surprise and the commotion they caused. After long consideration and deliberation with his family, Sugano finally announced on November 21 his decision to turn down the Fighters' offer and instead take the year off and re-enter the 2012 NPB draft. "I may be taking a longer route (to becoming a professional ballplayer), but my childhood dream (of playing for the Giants) was stronger," he said, hinting at his intention to wait until the Giants win the rights to negotiate with him. He also mentioned that he wasn't as upset about not being informed by the Fighters ahead of time that they might select him, but rather because they promised they wouldn't select him. Only two players in NPB history have turned down the Fighters: Shinji Kuroda in 1976 and Ikuo Takayama in 1980. Having no team to play for, he then stayed with Tokai University for another year using the "graduation postponement system" established for students who are unable to land post-graduation jobs while they are still in college. He was not allowed to play in Tokai's official games, but this did not sway him enough to join the Industrial League for it would have taken at least two years before he could have been drafted again.

Yomiuri Giants

Sugano was selected as the Giants' first pick in 2012. In his rookie year, Sugano was named

Climax Series The is the current annual playoff system implemented by Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). It determines which team from the Central League (CL) and from the Pacific League (PL) will advance to compete for the championship in the Japan ...

MVP and made his first of six consecutive NPB All star games. In 2014, Sugano won the Central League MVP and his first ERA title. In 2017, Sugano won his first Eiji Sawamura Award, becoming the first Giants pitcher to ever win both the Eiji Sawamura Award and Central League MVP since

Masumi Kuwata Masumi Kuwata (桑田真澄 ''Kuwata Masumi'', born 1 April 1968 in Yao, Osaka, Japan) is a former Japanese right-handed pitcher who played the bulk of his career with the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball. He pitched 21 seasons wi ...

. In 2018, Sugano won his second consecutive Eiji Sawamura Award, and achieved the pitching triple crown, leading the league in strikeouts, ERA and wins. He threw a postseason no hitter against the

Yakult Swallows The Tokyo Yakult Swallows () are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Yo ...

, eliminating them from the postseason. In 2019 Sugano finished the season with an ERA of 3.89, the worst of his career. He also threw the fewest innings of his NPB career, had his fewest strikeouts and his home run rate was twice that of his career rate. After the 2020 season, on December 8, 2020, the Giants announced it was allowing Sugano 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

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 (A ...

(MLB). On January 7, 2021, Sugano's posting period ended and he didn't sign with an MLB team, re-signing with the Giants.

International career

Sugano played 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 2015 WBSC Premier12, winning a bronze medal. At the

2017 World Baseball Classic The 2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, composed of 16 competing nations, held from March 6 to March 22, 2017. It was the fourth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. The first-round hosts ...

Sugano tied with fellow Team Japan pitcher

Kodai Senga is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) debut in for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, and played for them until . He is a three-time NPB ...

for the tournament lead in strikeouts with 16; but Japan fell in the semi-finals to the eventual tournament winner Team USA, 2–1. Sugano was selected to participate in the

2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series The 2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series was the twelfth edition of the MLB Japan All-Star Series, a best-of-six series between an All-Star team from Major League Baseball (MLB) and for the second time in series history, the Japanese national team, Sam ...

, but declined due to concerns about his physical condition.

Playing style

Sugano is a 6 ft 1 in (186 cm), 210 lb (95 kg) right-handed pitcher. Although Sugano threw 98 mph in college, his fastball velocity was down since the beginning of his professional career. The Giants confirmed that he had ligament damage in his right elbow during the 2014 season. After rehab he set a pro career-high 96 mph in 2016. With a three-quarters delivery Sugano throws two fastballs (four-seam, shuuto/sinker) sitting 90-93 mph, a solid slider, a

curveball In baseball and softball, the curveball is a type of pitch thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball, causing it to dive as it approaches the plate. Varieties of curveball include the 12–6 curv ...

, and a

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 ...

. He has excellent command, posting a BB/9 of 1.8 in his NPB career.

References

External links

NPB stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sugano, Tomoyuki 1989 births Living people Baseball people from Kanagawa Prefecture Japanese baseball players National baseball team players Nippon Professional Baseball MVP Award winners Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Tokai University alumni Yomiuri Giants players 2015 WBSC Premier12 players 2017 World Baseball Classic players