Yoshinori Sato (02)
From BR Bullpen
Yoshinori Sato (佐藤 由規)
- Bats Left, Throws Right
- Height 5' 10", Weight 167 lb.
- High School Sendai Ikuei High School
- Born December 5, 1989 in Sendai, Miyagi Japan
[edit] Biographical Information
Yoshinori Sato was timed at 96 mph in the Koshien Tournament, a new high school record. He was a first-round pick of the Yakult Swallows in 2007. He led the Eastern League with 8 wins in 2008 and had a 2-1, 4.55 record with Yakult in ichi-gun.
Sato was 5-10 with a 3.50 ERA in 2009. He tied Les Walrond and Shinobu Fukuhara for 7th in the Central League in losses and tied Shun Tono for second with 57 walks. He still finished third in voting for the 2009 Central League Rookie of the Year Award behind Tetsuya Matsumoto and Wirfin Obispo.
In 2010, Sato made history on August 26 when he threw a pitch 161 kph, the fastest by a Japanese player ever, and 1 kph shy of Marc Kroon's Nippon Pro Baseball record. He was the first Japanese player to top 100 mph.
