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

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 h ...

in Japan's

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 ...

. He was drafted by the

Hanshin Tigers The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, next to their main stadium, Hanshin Koshien Stadium. The Tigers are owned by Hanshin Electric Railway Co., ...

Early baseball career

Kōsuke started playing little league baseball for the Shiogama Dragons when he was in 3rd grade, and went on to play for the Shichigahama Seniors when he was in junior high. He entered Sendai Ikuei Gakuen High School, a known baseball powerhouse in Miyagi. He spent the first two years as a benched player, but finally got the chance to take the mound against Waseda Jitsugyo in the 3rd round of the 2013 Spring Koshien tournaments. He pitched 7 innings and gave up only a single run to secure the win. Despite pitching four scoreless innings in relief during the quarter-finals, his team lost 0-2 against Kochi High's Ren Wada. During the same year's Summer Koshien Tournament, he was suddenly called to pitch in relief after the starter's shaky start in the 1st round against Urawa Gakuin High. After pitching five innings and scores tied at 10-10, his future Tigers teammate Takahiro Kumagai notched a walk-off hit in the bottom of the 9th to secure the win. They lost the 2nd round match against Joso Gakuin and didn't make it to the finals. During the two tournaments, he recorded 21 strikeouts and a 2.14 ERA in 4 games and 21 innings. He progressed to

Sendai University is a private university in Shibata, Miyagi, Japan, established in 1967. It is the only university specializing in physical education in northern Japan. History Sendai University was established in 1967. The predecessor of the school was founde ...

and regularly pitched in the Sendai Big 6 Universities Baseball League. He spent his freshman year pitching in relief to then-sophomore and ace pitcher Kento Kumabara, and helped his school win the autumn league championship with an ERA of 0.93. He then became a regular starter from his 2nd year, and became the team's ace pitcher in his 4th year. In his final autumn league, he notched a flawless 5-0 record as a starter, with a 0.49 ERA in 36 innings and a 14.59 strikeout rate (60 KOs), and once again helped his team secure the championship. He graduated from college with a 15-6 record from 32 games (167 innings), a 1.34 ERA and 206 strikeouts.

Hanshin Tigers

He was the 1st round pick (3rd alternative choice) of both the

and 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 ...

in the

2017 Nippon Professional Baseball draft The 2017 Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Draft was held on October 26, , for the 53rd time at the Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa to assign amateur baseball players to the NPB. It was arranged with the special cooperation of Taisho Pharmaceutic ...

, after they both lost the lottery for Kotaro Kiyomiya and Hisanori Yasuda. The Tigers won the lottery and negotiation rights. He inked a 100 million yen contract with the Tigers for a 15 million yen annual salary, and was assigned the jersey number 18. His former high school teammate Takahiro Kumagai was the 3rd round pick of the same draft.

Yomiuri Giants

On December 8, 2023, he was determined to transfer to the Yomiuri Giants in the active player draft.

External links

NPB stats

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baba, Kōsuke 1995 births Living people Baseball people from Miyagi Prefecture Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Japanese baseball players Yomiuri Giants players Hanshin Tigers players People from Shiogama, Miyagi