Hiromi Itoh

Hiromi Itoh (伊藤 大海)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 180 lb.

• School Tomakomai Komazawa University, Komazawa University
• High School Komazawa University Tomakomai High School

• Born August 31, 1997 in Shikabe, Hokkaido Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Hiromi Itoh has pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball and the Olympics.

Itoh was excellent for Japan in the 2018 Haarlem Baseball Week, fanning 17 in 9 2/3 IP over six outings for the champs, with only five hits and one walk; he got one win and allowed no runs. He was 4th in ERA (Orlando Yntema, Hiroshi Kaino and Chien-Lung Huang were at 0 in more innings), tied Wataru Matsumoto for 3rd in Ks and tied Kaino for the most appearances. He was the first-round pick of the Nippon Ham Fighters in the 2020 NPB draft. He was excellent in his pro debut, starting 2021 at 7-4, 2.42 with 87 K in 81 2/3 IP and only 57 hits. He was the first NPB rookie to strike out batters in his first 23 innings; Isamu Kida had been the only other rookie to fan batters in 23 straight innings. He was a late addition to Japan's team for the Tokyo Olympics, replacing the great Tomoyuki Sugano. He was not the only 2020 draft class member on the team as Ryoji Kuribayashi was also present.

Making his Olympic debut against Mexico, he relieved Masato Morishita in the 6th with a 5-2 lead. He went 1-2-3 against Isaac Rodríguez, Sebastián Elizalde and Joey Meneses. After Japan scored in the 6th, he began the 7th by striking out Adrián González. Danny Espinosa singled, then Itoh fanned Efren Navarro and walked Jon Jones. Ramiro Peña flew out to end the threat. Japan scored again in the 8th and Kaima Taira relieved him with a 7-2 edge. His next outing was against rival South Korea with a spot in the Gold Medal Game for the winner. He replaced Suguru Iwazaki in the 7th with a 2-2 tie. He retired Kyoung-min Hur on a grounder and struck out Jae-gyun Hwang and Baek-ho Kang, with a walk to Hae-min Park in between. He got Jung-hoo Lee on a fly and Eui-ji Yang on strikes to begin the 8th. Hyun-soo Kim doubled but he recovered to get Joo-hwan Choi. Japan got a three-run double from Tetsuto Yamada in the bottom of the frame, making Itoh the winner; fellow NPB rookie Kuribayashi saved it.

Itoh ended up 10-9 with a 2.90 ERA in his rookie year, and he was 6th in the Pacific League in wins (tied with Kodai Senga and Ryota Takinaka), 3rd in strikeouts (141, between Takahiro Norimoto and Nick Martinez) and 4th in ERA (between Naoyuki Uwasawa and Masahiro Tanaka). He won 21 votes in the Rookie of the Year voting, and he was 2nd behind winner Hiroya Miyagi. Itoh extended his solid performance in 2022, and he was selected into the 2022 NPB All-Star Game. He relieved Takayuki Kishi in the 8th inning of Game 2, and he retired Shogo Sakakura, fanned Teruaki Sato then forced Dayán Viciedo to ground out. He had a 10-9 record again, with a 2.95 ERA in the 2022 season, and he led the league with 2 shutouts. Itoh also ranked 5th in wins (tied with Dietrich Enns, Nao Higashihama, Kaito Yoza, Manabu Mima and Norimoto), 4th in innings (155 2/3, between Tanaka and Uwasawa), 9th in Ks (112, between Kishi and Shuta Ishikawa) and 5th in ERA (between Kona Takahashi and Kazuya Ojima).

The Hokkaido native made it onto Japan's roster for the 2023 World Baseball Classic. He succeeded Atsuki Yuasa in the 9th inning against China, and he completed a shutout inning with 2 strikeouts (Jin Yang and Chen Chen). Itoh then relieved Shohei Ohtani in the 5th inning versus Italy when runners were on first and third, and he retired Brett Sullivan to escape the jam. In the Gold Medal game against the USA, Itoh replaced Hiroto Takahashi in the 6th inning with a 3-1 lead, and he retired J.T. Realmuto and Trea Turner then struck out Cedric Mullins to end his work. Taisei Ota took over for him. Japan won Gold in the event.

Itoh was not as good as the prior year in 2023, and he only went 7-10 with a 3.46 ERA. He was still 5th in strikeouts (134, between Roki Sasaki and Tatsuya Imai) and 8th in ERA (between Uwasawa and Kojima). Itoh bounced back soon in 2024, and he went 14-5 with a 2.65 ERA. He led the league in wins (tied with Kohei Arihara), winning percentage, complete games (5), shutouts (4) and walkless shutouts (3). He also ranked 3rd in innings (176 1/3, behind Arihara and Chihiro Sumida), 2nd in strikeouts (161, 26 behind Imai) and 6th in ERA (between Takahisa Hayakawa and Takayuki Kato). Itoh was dominant again in 2025, and he had a 14-8 with a 2.52 ERA. He tied Arihara for the lead in wins again, and he also led the league in starts, complete games (6) and strikeouts (195). He was 7th in ERA, between Aren Kuri and Sumida. Itoh started against the Softbank Hawks in the 2025 PLCS final stage Game 3, and he struck out 11 in 8 shutout innings to get the win over Uwasawa. The Hawks still beat the Fighters in 6 games. He won the Sawamura Award, and he was the first player from Hokkaido Prefecture to win that award. Itoh was on Japan's roster for the 2026 World Baseball Classic.