Hirotsugu Maeda

Hirotsugu Maeda (前田 浩継)

• Bats Left Throws Left
• Height 5' 8", Weight 180 lb.

• School Kyushu Kyoritsu University
• High School Higashi Fukuoka High School

• Born January 3, 1976 in Munakata, Fukuoka Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Hirotsugu Maeda played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 6 years.

Maeda was drafted by the Orix BlueWave in the 3rd round of the 1997 NPB draft, but he only pitched one game for their big club before Orix released him in 1999. He then signed with the Yakult Swallows, and he went 2-2 with a 3.48 ERA in 2000. Maeda was 7-10 with a 3.93 ERA in 2001, and he ranked 6th in losses in the Central League (tied with Buddy Carlyle, Shinji Sasaoka, Kenshin Kawakami and Yukinaga Maeda). He only allowed a run in 6 innings in the 2001 Nippon Series Game 4, and the Swallows beat the Kintetsu Buffaloes in 5 games. Maeda was 3-1 with a 4.18 ERA in 2002, and he had a 4.58 ERA in 15 appearances in 2003. He allowed 3 runs in 1 2/3 innings in 2004, and he was traded to the Chiba Lotte Marines for Taiji Maruyama and Takashi Tanaka. Maeda didn't reach the big club again before he announced his retirement in 2005, and he became a batting practice pitcher for the Swallows and for Japan in the 2008 Olympics and 2009 World Baseball Classic.

Overall, Maeda was 12-14 with a 4.10 ERA, struck out 141 and pitched 234 2/3 innings in 6 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan