is a retired

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 ...

pitcher who spent 10 years with 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., ...

in Japan's

Central League The or , also known as the for sponsorship reasons, 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 i ...

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