Hideaki Wakui

From BR Bullpen

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Hideaki Wakui (涌井 秀章)

  • Bats Right, Throws Right
  • Height 6' 1", Weight 187 lb.

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Biographical Information[edit]

Hideaki Wakui has been following the career path of Daisuke Matsuzaka - ace at Yokohama High School, then on to the Seibu Lions.

Wakui was a member of the Japanese team that won Silver in the 2004 World Junior Championship, going 1-0 with a 3.12 ERA. After graduating Yokohama High School in 2005, he was picked in the first round of the 2005 NPB draft by the Seibu Lions. He was just 1-6 with a 7.32 ERA in a miserable rookie season. He was 12-8 with a 3.24 ERA in 2006 as Seibu's #2 starter behind Matsuzaka. He was 4th in the Pacific League in innings (178), tied fellow youngsters Tomoya Yagi and Yu Darvish for 5th in wins, tied Kazumi Saito for third in complete games (8) and tied Tsuyoshi Wada for 7th in strikeouts (136). Wakui was chosen to the NPB All-Star team for their series against the MLB All-Stars. He was also voted into the 2006 NPB All-Star Game, and he allowed a 2-run homer to Alex Ochoa in the 4th inning of Game 2.

When Matsuzaka left Japan, Wakui became the Seibu ace. He did a fine job in his second season with the Lions, going 17-10 with a 2.79 ERA. Wakui was selected into the 2007 NPB All-Star Game, and he pitched a shutout inning in Game 1 He was 8th in the PL in ERA (between Hiroyuki Kobayashi and Tsuyoshi Wada) but led in innings (213) and wins. He also led in hits allowed (199), was second in complete games (11, one behind Darvish) and was 7th with 141 strikeouts (between Takayuki Kishi and Yoshihisa Naruse). He joined the Japanese national team for the 2007 Asian Championship and dazzled in his one outing, giving up one hit, no walks and no runs in six innings against the Philippines, with 7 strikeouts.

Wakui was 2-0 with a 0.66 ERA for Japan in the 2008 Olympics, getting half their wins. He allowed only 6 hits and struck out 13 in 13 2/3 IP. He faced the minimum 21 batters in a 7-inning shutout against the Chinese national team and got the win over the Taiwan national team. In the semifinals, he was on the mound for the final 2 runs in a 6-2 loss to South Korea but one was an inherited runner left by Hitoki Iwase and both were due to an error by G.G. Sato. He tied Suk-min Yoon, Norge Vera, Hyun-jin Ryu and Jonder Martínez for the most wins in Beijing. His 12 K's in the round-robin tied Seung Song for second, trailing Chris Begg by two and Yoshihisa Naruse by one.

The Chiba native faded to 10-11, 3.90 in 2008. He tied Hideki Asai for third in the league in losses, was 5th in innings (173, between Kazuyuki Hoashi and [[Masahiro Tanaka)), was 3rd in hits allowed (173), tied for 5th in the complete games (5, tied with Hisashi Iwakuma and Tanaka), was 5th in walks (51), was 10th in strikeouts (122, tied with Asai) and was second in wild pitches (11). He had a 1-1, 2.76 record in the 2008 Japan Series with 18 strikeouts in 16 1/3 IP. In game one, he outdueled Koji Uehara 2-1, allowing only one hit and one unearned run in eight innings. In game five, he gave up just two hits and one run in the first six innings but then gave up five hits in a row and lost the game. Seibu went on to take the title. In the 2008 Asia Series, he fanned 10 in 6 2/3 shutout innings in a 1-0 win over the Uni-President Lions.

Wakui was 1-0 in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, giving up one run in 3 1/3 IP as a reliever. His victory came against Japan's rival, South Korea. The young right-hander had a big year in 2009, going 16-6 with a 2.30 ERA and 199 strikeouts in 211 2/3 IP. He held opponents to a .215 batting average. He finished second in the PL in ERA (behind Yu Darvish), led in innings, led in wins, led in complete games (11), led in shutouts (4) and was second in strikeouts (5 behind Toshiya Sugiuchi). A lone negative was 76 walks, second to Kazuki Kondo. Wakui struck out all nine batters against the Chiba Lotte Marines on April 24, and he was the 4th player in NPB history to do so. He won the Sawamura Award as the best pitcher in Japan. He lost out the Best Nine in the PL to Darvish, who also took home MVP honors. He also won his first NPB Gold Glove award as a pitcher.

In 2010, Wakui went 14-8 with a 3.67 ERA and won the Gold Glove again. He was 4th in wins (tied with Masaru Takeda), 3rd in shurouts (2, tied with Darvish and Kishi), 5th in innings (between Iwakuma and Sugiuchi), 6th in strikeouts (between Wada and Iwakuma) and 10th in ERA (between Sugiuchi and Hoashi). He attended the 2010 NPB All-Star Game, and he pitched 2 innings with a run allowed in Game 2. Wakui suffered from left elbow injury in 2011, but he still went 9-12 with a 2.93 ERA. He led the league in losses (tied with Takeda and Naruse), and he was 5th in innings (between Wada and Tadashi Settsu).

Due to his injury, Wakui was moved to bullpen in 2012, and he notched 30 saves with a 3.71 ERA in 55 games. He was 2nd in saves, 2 behind Takeda. Wakui then represented Japan in the 2013 World Baseball Classic, but he struggled as he allowed 5 hits in 1 1/3 inning. He notched 7 saves and 13 holds in 2013, and he tied the NPB record for getting a save in his team's six straight games. He also set the team record as he pitched in 10 straight games. Wakui announced that he would became a free agent after the season, and he said that he would leave the Lions because he wanted to became a starter.

The Chiba Lotte Marines signed Wakui with a 2-year 440 million yen contract, and he was 8-12 with a 4.21 ERA in 2014. On April 15, he got his first win for the Marines against his old team, and he was the 13th player to get a win against all 13 teams in NPB. Wakui was 3rd in losses (1 behind Luis Mendoza and Wataru Karashima) and 5th in innings (between Kazuhisa Makita and Mendoza). He bounced back and became the ace Lotte wanted in 2015, and he was 15-9 with a 3.35 ERA. Wakui won his third Gold Glove, and he led the league in wins. He also ranked 3rd in winning percentage (tied with Yuki Nishi), 2nd in innings pitched (188 2/3, 6 behind Takahiro Norimoto), 8th in ERA (between Daiki Tohmei and Mendoza) and 10th in strikeouts (between Tohmei and Ken Togame). He was selected into the 2015 NPB All-Star Game, and he relieved Nishi in the 5th inning of Game 1. However, Wakui allowed 5 runs in 2 innings, and he got the loss.

Wakui was 10-7 with a 3.01 ERA in 2016, and he led the league with 5 complete games and 195 hits allowed. He attended the 2016 NPB All-Star Game, and he allowed a homer to Yoshitomo Tsutsugo as PL's starter in game 2. He was also among PL's leaderboard on strikeouts (118, 9th between Chihiro Kaneko and Manabu Mima), innings (2nd, 6 1/3 behind Norimoto) and ERA (7th, between Shota Takeda and Wada). He took back his fourth Gold Glove. The 2017 season was a down year for Wakui, and he was 5-11 with a 3.99 ERA. He also set the NPB record as he allowed 6 homers in a game against the Nippon Ham Fighters on May 12. He tied Taisuke Yamaoka and Ayumu Ishikawa for 3rd in losses. He was 7-9 with a 3.70 ERA in 2018, and he went 3-7 with a 4.50 ERA in 2019. Wakui also led the league with 2 complete games in '19.

The Marines traded him to the Rakuten Golden Eagles for cash after the season, and Wakui bounced back. He was 11-4 with a 3.60 ERA in 2020, and he became the first player in NPB history to lead the league in wins in three different teams. Wakui also led the league in shutouts and winning percentage, and he was 4th in ERA (between Kohei Arihara and Kona Takahashi), 4th in strikeouts (between Drew VerHagen and Arihara) and 3rd in innings (between Arihara and Yoshinobu Yamamoto). Wakui became Rakuten's opening day starter in 2021, and he was the first pitcher in NPB history to start in the opener for three different teams. However, he slumped to 6-8 with a 5.04 ERA that season, then he went 4-3 with a 3.54 ERA in 2022. He was then traded to the Chunichi Dragons for Toshiki Abe.

Wakui was 5-13 with a 3.97 ERA in 2023, and he led the league in losses. He was 3-5 with a 3.07 ERA in 2024, and he set the NPB record as he used 22 pitches against Masaya Yano on September 22.

As of 2024, Wakui went 162-161 with a 3.57 ERA, struck out 2,044 and pitched 2,794 innings in 20 seasons in NPB. He was 98th in appearances (tied with Ritsuo Yamashita and Jun Misawa), 19th in starts (between Katsuji Sakai and Tsuneo Horiuchi), 48th in wins (tied with Masayuki Dobashi), 20th in losses (tied with Masahiro Yamamoto and Yutaka Enatsu), 35th in innings (between Fumio Narita and Sakai), 26th in hits allowed (between Naoki Takahashi and Mutsuo Minagawa), 22nd in strikeouts (between Masaji Hiramatsu and Nobuyuki Hoshino), 73rd in WHIP (between Yukihiro Nishizaki and Hiromu Matsuoka) and 77th in ERA (between Masumi Kuwata and Shinji Sasaoka). Wakui throws a fastball that sits in 87-91 mph (tops out at 94 mph), slider, cutter, curveball, splitter and a solid shuuto (two-seamer).

Sources[edit]

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