Ken Togame

Ken Togame (十亀 剣)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 187 lb.

• School Nihon University
• High School Aichi Institute of Technology Meiden High School

• Born July 7, 1987 in Toyota, Aichi Japan

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Ken Togame pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 11 years.

After college, Togame pitched for JR East in the industrial leagues. He made the Japanese national team for the 2011 Baseball World Cup. He had a solid first outing (2 1/3 IP, 0 H, 2 BB, 4 K) as the 4th of 7 Japanese hurlers in a loss to the Dutch national team. He got two starts after that and fared poorly, lasting only two innings (two runs) in a loss to host Panama. He did even worse against a weak Greek national team, with 5 hits, 4 walks and 2 runs in just 1 2/3 IP before Tomoyuki Kaida relieved to salvage things; Japan rallied to win.

Togame was picked by the Seibu Lions in the first round of the 2011 NPB draft. He made his NPB debut on May 30, 2012, working 1 1/3 shutout innings to close a loss to the Hiroshima Carp. He got his first strikeout against Tomonori Maeda. He finished the year with a 6-0, 2.72 record in 41 games (one start), striking out 41 and walking 17 in 53 innings. Put in the rotation in 2013, he was 8-8 with a 3.45 ERA in 28 games (26 starts). Togame was 3rd in the Pacific League in complete games (6), 8th in ERA (between Takahiro Norimoto and Yuki Nishi) and 8th in strikeouts (122, between Mitsuo Yoshikawa and Yuji Nishino).

The Aichi native returned to the bullpen in 2014, and he collected 3 saves and 2 holds in 41 appearances. Togame then went 11-7 with a 3.55 ERA in 2015, and he was 5th in wins (tied with Yoshikawa) and 10th in ERA (between Luis Mendoza and Jason Standridge). He was also selected into the 2015 NPB All-Star Game, and he relieved Brandon Dickson in the 4th inning of Game 1. However, he gave up 6 runs and 7 hits in 2 innings against the Central League, and he only got one strikeout (against Yoshitomo Tsutsugo). Togame slumped to 4-6 with a 6.31 ERA in 2016, and he went 8-7 with a 3.40 ERA in 2018.

Togame extended his stable performance in 2019, and he went 5-6 with a 4.50 ERA. He started in the 2019 PLCS final stage Game 3, but he surrendered 5 runs in 4 innings and got the loss. Togame's ERA rose to 7.50 in 8 games in 2020, and he recorded a 3.38 ERA with 8 holds in 40 relief outings in 2021. He had a 2.35 ERA in 13 appearances in 2022, and he announced his retirement. He then became a scout, signing Yamato Fuji, Hakua Iwaki and Natsuki Takeuchi.

Overall, Togame was 53-50 with 21 holds and a 3.58 ERA, struck out 628 and pitched 921 2/3 innings in 11 seasons in NPB. He threw a fastball (90-94 mph), slider, curveball, sinker and shuuto.

Sources

• IBAF
• NPB
• Japanese Wikipedia