Hiroki Yamada

Hiroki Yamada (山田 大樹)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 2", Weight 202 lb.

• High School Tsukuba Shuei High School

• Born July 30, 1988 in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Japan

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Hiroki Yamada played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 10 years.

Yamada was a taxi squad draft pick of the Softbank Hawks in the 2006 NPB draft. He had elbow surgery two years later. He was promoted to the Hawks' regular roster in 2010. That year, he was 4-4 with a 4.60 ERA. He became the first former development player to win a game in the Pacific League. In 2011, the lefty improved to 7-7, 2.85. He was called on by Koji Akiyama to start game five of the 2011 Japan Series. He turned in a superb effort, with six shutout innings (3 hits, no walks, 5 K), teaming with Tadashi Settsu, Masahiko Morifuku and Takahiro Mahara on a shutout of the Chunichi Dragons to put Softbank ahead, 3 games to 2. He blanked the Samsung Lions in the 2011 Asia Series, but Softbank fell in the title game against Samsung.

The Ibaraki native had his career year in 2012, and he went 8-10 with a 2.78 ERA. He tied Manabu Mima, Sho Iwasaki, Takahiro Shiomi and Kelvin Jiménez for 3rd in losses in the league. Yamada slumped to 3-3 with a 4.58 ERA in 2013, and he pitched 2 games with each of the Aguilas Cibaenas and Gigantes de Carolina in the winter; his ERA was higher than 10 though. Yamada only pitched 6 games combined in the next three seasons, and the Hawks traded him to the Yakult Swallows for nothing. He allowed 11 runs in 5 2/3 innings in 2018, and he went 5-4 with a 3.90 ERA in 2019. However, Yamada's ERA rose to 8.31 in 2020, and he announced his retirement.

Overall, Yamada went 29-33 with a 3.73 ERA, struck out 276 and pitched 456 innings in 10 seasons in NPB. His repertoire included a fastball (peak 94 mph), curveball, slider and forkball.

Sources

• Wiki Japan
• Japan Baseball Daily
• Japanball.com
• Official NPB site