is a retired

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 formatio ...

pitcher who spent 10 years with the

Hanshin Tigers The Hanshin Tigers (Japanese: 阪神タイガース ''Hanshin Taigāsu'') are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and is owned by Hanshin Electric Railway ...

in 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 cons ...

Professional career

Watanabe joined the Hanshin Tigers after being picked in the fourth round of the 2005 university/adult draft. After spending his first season with the Tigers' farm team, he enjoyed relative success as a reliever, appearing in at least 45 matches between the years 2007 and 2012, earning a total 14 wins, 6 losses and 53 hold points from 332 appearances with an ERA of 2.53. He was used less starting from the 2013 season and only made one first-team appearance in 2015, pitching one scoreless inning.

External links

* Living people 1982 births Baseball people from Tokushima Prefecture Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Japanese baseball players Hanshin Tigers players Nippon Professional Baseball coaches Japanese baseball coaches {{japan-baseball-pitcher-stub