is a Japanese professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. They compete in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as a member of the Pacific League. Founded on February 22, 1938, as the Nankai Club, being the first Kansai t ...

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

(NPB). He has previously played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the Texas Rangers and in NPB for the

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters The are a Japanese professional Baseball in Japan, baseball team based in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaido, Kitahiroshima, Hokkaidō, in the Sapporo metropolitan area. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the major ...

Early baseball career

Arihara entered Koryo High School, participated in the spring 82rd Japanese High School Baseball Invitational Tournament and the summer 92rd Japanese High School Baseball Championship in his third year. He also entered

Waseda University Waseda University (Japanese: ), abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the fifth Prime Minister of Japan, prime ministe ...

, and won the Best

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

leader Award in the

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League The is an College baseball, intercollegiate baseball conference that features six prominent university, universities in the Tokyo area. It is the oldest collegiate baseball conference in Japan and the oldest baseball league overall in Japan. Be ...

in the fall of his junior year, and was selected for the

Best Nine Award The Best Nine Award is awarded annually to the best player at each position in both the Central League and Pacific League of Japanese professional baseball as determined by a pool of journalists. History While the Best Nine Award was first prese ...

in the spring of his senior year.

Professional career

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters

The

selected Arihara with the third selection in the 2014 NPB draft. On May 15, 2015, Arihara made his NPB debut. He won the Pacific League Rookie of the Year after pitching to an 8–8 record with 102 strikeouts. Arihara won the

Japan Series The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series between the winning cl ...

in the 2016 season, and was also a NPB All-Star after he posted a 2.94 ERA and 11–9 record in 22 appearances. In 2017, Arihara registered a 10–13 record and 4.74 ERA in 25 appearances. In 20 games in 2018, Arihara pitched to a 8–5 record and a 4.55 ERA with 87 strikeouts. In 2019, Arihara led the NPB in wins, with 15, and was named an All-Star for the second time in his career. In 2020, Arihara recorded an 8–9 record and 3.46 ERA in 20 games. After the 2020 season, on November 26, 2020, the Fighters announced they were allowing Arihara 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).

Texas Rangers

On December 26, 2020, Arihara signed a two-year contract worth $6.2 million with the Texas Rangers of MLB. On April 3, 2021, Arihara made his MLB debut as the starting pitcher against the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

, allowing 3 earned runs in 5.0 innings of work with 1 strikeout. On May 22, 2021, it was revealed that Arihara had a

posterior humeral circumflex artery The posterior humeral circumflex artery (posterior circumflex artery or posterior circumflex humeral artery) arises from the third part of the axillary artery at the distal border of the subscapularis. Anatomy Course and relations It passes p ...

aneurysm in his right shoulder, which required surgery, ruling him out for at least 12 weeks. On May 26, he was placed on the 60-day injured list. On September 1, Arihara was activated from the injured list. On September 19, Arihara was designated for assignment by the Rangers. He had his contract selected back to the major league roster on August 16, 2022. In a September 10 start against 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) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

, Arihara was clobbered for 11 earned runs on 12 hits and 5 walks in 3.0 innings pitched. The next day, Arihara was designated for assignment, with a cumulative 9.45 ERA in 5 games. He cleared waivers and was sent outright to the Triple–A

Round Rock Express The Round Rock Express are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Round Rock, Texas, and play their home ...

on September 14. He elected free agency on November 6.

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks

On January 6, 2023, Arihara returned to Japan, signing a deal with the

(NPB). In the

interleague play Interleague play in Major League Baseball refers to regular-season baseball games played between an American League (AL) team and a National League (NL) team. Interleague play was first introduced during the 1997 Major League Baseball season. ...

against the

Yokohama DeNA 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 current n ...

on June 6, Arihara pitched for the first time since returning to NPB. He also earned his first win with the Hawks on June 13 in the interleague play against the

Tokyo 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 in Tokyo, the other being the Yomiuri G ...

. In 2023 season, he finished the regular season with a 10–5 win–loss record, a 2.31 ERA, and a 74 strikeouts in innings. In 2024, Arihara had a 14–7 record and a 2.36 ERA with 137 strikeouts in innings pitched across 26 appearances. He started Game 1 of the

2024 Japan Series The 2024 was the championship series of Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) season. The 75th edition of the Japan Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of the Central League (CL) and the Fukuoka SoftBank H ...

References

External links

Career statistics – NPB.jp

– Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Arihara, Kohei 1992 births Living people Baseball people from Hiroshima Prefecture Frisco RoughRiders players category:Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks players Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters players Japanese expatriate baseball players in the United States Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Nippon Professional Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Japan 21st-century Japanese sportsmen Round Rock Express players Texas Rangers players Waseda University alumni