Ken Takahashi

Ken Takahashi (高橋 建)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 185 lb.
• School Takushoku University
• High School Yokohama High School

• Debut May 2, 2009
• Final Game September 25, 2009
• Born April 16, 1969 in Yokohama, Kanagawa Japan

BR page

Biographical Information

Left-hander Ken Takahashi pitched for the Hiroshima Carp for 14 years and made his MLB debut with the New York Mets in 2009 just after turning 40.

Moved from the outfield to pitching in high school, Takahashi played for Toyota Motors in the industrial leagues after college. He won Gold with the Japanese national team in the 1993 Asian Championship. The Hiroshima Carp took him in the 4th round in the 1994 NPB draft. Takahashi went 4-4 with a 3.90 ERA in 39 games as a rookie in 1995. In 1996, Ken was 2-1 with a save and a 4.96 ERA in 24 games. That year, he also threw a no-hitter in ni-gun. Takahashi's pitching record was 3-4, 4.79 in 34 games in 1997. Ken went 3-8 with a 3.83 ERA in 41 games in 1998. Pitching 36 games in 1999, Takahashi was 3-7 and led the Central League in wild pitches (9).

Takahashi made 50 appearances for Hiroshima in 2000, going 5-9 with 4 saves and allowing 89 hits (but 57 walks) in 112 1/3 IP. He had a 3.93 ERA that season, and he tied Takashi Kashiwada for 9th in appearances in the league. Takahashi was selected into the 2001 NPB All-Star Game, and he struck out 4 in 2 innings in Game 1 to get the win. Ken moved into the rotation full-time in 2001 and went 10-8 with a 4.27 ERA. He again was an All-Star, and he completed 2 shutout innings in the 2001 NPB All-Star Game 1. He allowed 89 runs and 82 earned runs, both totals being the highest in the CL that year. Takahashi also ranked 8th in wins (tied with Melvin Bunch, Koji Uehara, Masahiro Yamamoto and Satoshi Iriki) and 9th in strikeouts (132, between Daisuke Miura and Kenshin Kawakami).

The veteran left-hander fell to 9-14 but improved his ERA to 3.84 in 2002, and he led the CL in runs allowed (92) and losses. He tied Shugo Fujii, Hiroki Kuroda, Trey Moore and Keiichi Yabu for 10th in wins, and he also ranked 10th in strikeouts (142, between Kuroda and Yuji Yoshimi). Takahashi went 9-8 with a 3.66 ERA in 2003 and walked only 36 in 167 innings. He made his 3rd and final CL All-Star squad, and he pitched 2 innings with a 2-run shot allowed to Alex Cabrera. He was again 10th in wins (tied with Shigeki Noguchi and Yamamoto) and also was 8th in ERA (between Yamamoto and Masanori Ishikawa) and 8th in strikeouts (127, between Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi and Domingo Guzman).

Takahashi went only 3-10 with a 5.53 ERA in 2004, allowing 122 hits (24 home runs) in 96 innings. He tied John Bale, Scott Mullen and Hisanori Takahashi for 5th in losses. The 36-year-old was moved back to the bullpen in 2002 and pitched just 14 games, going 0-2 with a 9.45 ERA. In 26 2/3 innings, he surrendered 43 hits, 7 of them homers. Takahashi pitched 54 games primarily as a LOOGY (46 innings), he went 2-3 with 15 holds and a 4.70 ERA in 2006. Takahashi returned to the rotation in 2007 and went 5-4 with a 3.70 ERA. In 2008, the old-timer was 8-5 with a 3.50 ERA. After 14 seasons with Hiroshima, Takahashi became a free agent and expressed an interest in playing in Major League Baseball. He signed a minor league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. He sprained his right calf fielding a bunt in his first spring training appearance and was released four weeks later.

The New York Mets signed him. Takahashi made his US debut on April 9, 2009 for the Buffalo Bisons against the Pawtucket Red Sox, allowing two walks, two hits and one run in 1 2/3 IP. After six games with Pawtucket, he had allowed only one earned run in 11 2/3 IP. On April 26th, the Mets called him up to take the spot of Casey Fossum in the bullpen. Takahashi would become the oldest Japanese player to debut in the majors. He did not debut in The Show until May 2nd, when he worked 2 2/3 shutout innings in relief against the Phillies, allowing one hit and one walk while fanning one. Overall, he made 28 appearances for the Mets, all out of the bullpen, going 0-1, 2.96 and allowing 23 hits in 27 1/3 innings while striking out 23 batters.

Takahashi returned to the Carp in 2010, and he had a 9.30 ERA in 28 appearances. He announced his retirement, and he became the minor league pitching coach for the Hanshin Tigers from 2016 to 2021. He returned to the Carp as pitching coach in 2022, and he went to their minors club from 2023 to 2025.

Overall, Takahashi was 70-92 with a 4.33 ERA, struck out 1,066 and pitched 1,459 2/3 innings in 15 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Japan Baseball Daily
• Wiki Japan

Related Sites

• Ken Takahashi on mlb.com