Hirotaka Egusa

Hirotaka Egusa (江草 仁貴)

• Bats Left Throws Left
• Height 5' 10", Weight 185 lb.

• School Senshu University
• High School Eishin Gakuen High School

• Born September 3, 1980 in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Hirotaka Egusa pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 14 years.

Egusa was drafted by the Hanshin Tigers in the free acquiring portion of the 2002 NPB draft, and he only pitched one game with the big club in his first season. His ERA was 2.76 in 9 games in 2004, and he broke out in 2005. Egusa collected 6 holds that season, and his ERA was 2.67 in 51 relief outings. He relieved Yuya Ando in the 6th inning of the 2005 Nippon Series Game 2, and he allowed 4 runs in 2 1/3 innings. Egusa also set the Nippon Series record as he threw 3 wild pitches in an inning, and the Tigers were swept by the Chiba Lotte Marines. He then went 5-6 with 5 holds and a 3.54 ERA in 36 games in 2006, and he got 5 holds with a 1.95 ERA in 50 appearances in 2007. He also pitched 12 games with a 1.38 ERA for the Waikiki Beach Boys after the 2006 season.

The Hiroshima native was still a reliable reliever in 2008, and he notched 9 holds with a 2.78 ERA in 55 games. He then pitched 62 games with 11 holds and a 2.71 ERA in 2008, and he was 8th in appearances (between Daisuke Ochi and Chang-yong Lim). However, Egusa's ERA rose to 5.12 in 21 games in 2009, and he was traded to the Seibu Lions for Haruki Kurose. Egusa pitched 12 games with a 5.63 ERA for the Lions in 2010, and he was traded again to the Hiroshima Carp for Shigenobu Shima. His ERA was 4.43 in 26 games in 2011, but he never pitched more than 10 games in a season until he announced his retirement in 2017. He was an assistant coach for Osaka Electro-Communication University, and the Tigers named him their minor league pitching coach in 2022.

Overall, Egusa was 22-17 with a 3.15 ERA, collected 48 holds in 349 appearances, struck out 433 and pitched 442 1/3 innings in 14 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan