Kazuki Yoshimi

Kazuki Yoshimi (吉見 一起)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 200 lb.
• High School Konko Osaka High School

• Born September 19, 1984 in Fukuchiyama, Kyoto Japan

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Kazuki Yoshimi led the Central League in wins in his first full season as a starter.

Yoshimi played for Toyota Motors in the industrial leagues after high school. The Chunichi Dragons took him in the first round in the 2005 NPB draft. He debuted with the big club in 2006, going 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA in two starts and two relief appearances. He threw one scoreless inning in the 2006 Japan Series, which the Dragons lost to the Nippon Ham Fighters. He was 0-1 with a 7.36 ERA and .397 opponent average in five games (four starts) in 2007. In 2008, the 23-year-old went 10-3 with a 3.23 ERA in 14 starts and 21 relief outings; he started the season with 24 2/3 consecutive shutout innings and 8 wins in a row. He made the Central League All-Star team but did not play due to a shoulder problem. Yoshimi also threw the first 11-hit shutout since 1989. Had he qualified, he would have been 8th in the CL in ERA. He was 10th in wins, tied Colby Lewis for the most shutouts (2) and tied for second in complete games (3, one behind leader Daisuke Miura.

Kazuki was excellent in 2009, going 16-7 with a 2.00 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 2.00 ERA. He finished second in ERA (between Wei-Yin Chen and Dicky Gonzalez), tied for the most wins (with Shohei Tateyama), was 4th in innings (189 1/3), tied Chen for the most shutouts (4), tied for second in complete games (5, one behind Miura) and tied Kenta Maeda for third in strikeouts (147, behind Lewis and Atsushi Nohmi). He finished eighth in voting for the 2009 Central League Most Valuable Player Award, trailing only teammate Tony Blanco among non-Yomiuri Giants. He lost the Best Nine award for the league's top pitcher to Gonzalez.

Yoshimi fell to 12-9, 3.50 in 2010. He was 7th in ERA (between Kyohei Muranaka and Masanori Ishikawa), was 8th in innings (156 2/3, between Shun Tono and Naoyuki Shimizu), tied for 7th in losses, tied for 6th in wins (with Takuya Asao, Tateyama and Yoshinori Sato), was 7th in homers allowed (19), 8th in strikeouts (115, between Tetsuya Utsumi and Tateyama) and was 5th with a 1.17 WHIP (between Tateyama and Ishikawa). Yoshimi was selected into the 2010 NPB All-Star Game, and he completed two shutout innings in Game 2. He was named the starter of the 2010 Nippon Series Game 1, but he allowed 3 runs including Ikuhiro Kiyota's homer, and Yoshihisa Naruse got the win over him. Yoshimi started in Game 7, and he allowed 3 runs again in 4 innings. the Dragons lost to the Chiba Lotte Marines in 7 games.

The 2011 season was Yoshimi's career year. He was voted into the 2011 NPB All-Star Game, and he pitched 2 innings with a solo shot allowed to Takeya Nakamura in game 2. Yoshimi ended up 18-3 with a 1.65 ERA, and he led the league in ERA, wins, shutouts and winning percentage. He won his first Best Nine award, and he also won the Most Valuable Battery Award with Motonobu Tanishige. Masahiro Tanaka won the Sawamura Award instead. Yoshimi completed 8 shutout inning to outdueled Tateyama's Yakult Swallows in the 2011 CLCS Game 5, and he was named the series MVP. He pitched 6 1/3 innings with only a run allowed in 2011 Nippon Series Game 2, and he only allowed a run in 7 2/3 innings in Game 6 to get the win over Tsuyoshi Wada. The Dragons lost to the Softbank Hawks, and Yoshimi won the fighting spirit award. He won 825 points in the 2011 CL MVP voting, and he was 2nd behind his teammate Takuya Asao.

Yoshimi was 13-4 with a 1.75 ERA in 2012, and he led the league in complete games and shutouts. He was 3rd in wins (between Maeda and Tateyama), and he would have ranked 2nd in ERA behind Maeda had he qualified. However, the '12 season was Yoshimi's last season as a top-tier starter. He only started 6 games with a 4.71 ERA in 2013 before he underwent Tommy John surgery, and he pitched 3 games with a 4.20 ERA in [[[2014 NPB|2014]]. Yoshimi then went 3-0 with a 0.94 ERA in his first 8 starts in 2015, but he then underwent right elbow surgery and his season ended.

The Kyoto native returned in 2017, and he was 6-7 with a 3.08 ERA. He slumped to 3-7 with a 5.23 ERA in 2018, and he was 5-7 with a 3.87 ERA in 2019. Yoshimi's ERA rose to 6.41 in 5 starts in 2020, and he announced his retirement after he went 1-2 with a 5.60 ERA in 2021. He was Japan's pitching coach in the 2023 Asia Professional Baseball Championship and 2024 Premier 12. Yoshimi was also a broadcaster for TBS, and he was a pitching coach for the TSG Hawks of Taiwan in the spring training of 2024 season.

Overall, Yoshimi was 90-56 with a 2.94 ERA, struck out 845 and pitched 1,287 innings in 15 seasons in NPB. He threw a slider, splitter, shuuto (two-seamer) and four-seam fastball (tops out at 93 mph).

Source

• Japanbaseballdaily.com by Gary Garland
• Wiki Japan