Kento Sugiyama

Kento Sugiyama (杉山 賢人)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 8", Weight 187 lb.

• School Senshu University
• High School Numazu Gakuen High School
• Born December 12, 1968 in Numazu, Shizuoka Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Kento Sugiyama pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 9 years.

Sugiyama was a member of Japan's bronze-medal-winning team in the 1992 Olympics. The Seibu Lions selected him in the first round of the 1992 NPB draft. He went 7-2 with five saves and a 2.80 ERA as a rookie in 1993. He appeared in a Pacific League-high 54 games, struck out 82 and walked 29 in 74 innings. The lefty reliever was named the PL Rookie of the Year for his performance. Sugiyama followed up that year with a 4-2, 6 Sv, 3.56 season, in which he again struck out over a batter per inning in 1994. He was selected to his only All-Star team that year, but he allowed 2 runs in the 1994 NPB All-Star Game without retiring any batters. He only pitched in 28 games in 1995, going 3-0 with two saves and a 3.12 ERA, striking out 30 and walking only 6 in 34 2/3 IP.

Kento suffered from left shoulder injury in 1995, so he only pitched 28 games with a 3.12 ERA. He was 0-2, 3 Sv, 4.39 in in 1996 and 1-1, 5.52 in in 1997. Used now as a LOOGY, Sugiyama pitched in 70 games but only lasted 41 1/3 IP. He still fanned 46, but also walked 26. In 1998, the LOOGY usage increased as he worked only 18 innings in 44 outings. He saved one game, had no decisions and a 2.50 ERA, but was over a hit per inning for the first time. He was then traded to the Hanshin Tigers for Katsuhiro Hiratsuka in June 1999, Sugiyama made nine starts and only 7 relief appearances in a change of roles. He went 2-4 with a 5.07 ERA that season, struck out 39 in 49 2/3 innings and had a WHIP of 1.54 as he was clearly in decline.

The Tigers traded him to the Kintetsu Buffaloes for Shinichi Nishikawa and Takashi Yoshida on May 24, 2000, and Sugiyama giving up two baserunners per inning and yielding a 6.17 ERA while losing his only decision. He was then traded to the Yokohama BayStars for Iori Sekiguchi, and he pitched 32 games with a 4.76 ERA in 2001 then he announced his retirement. He then became the pitching coach of the Rakuten Golden Eagles from 2006 to 2009, and he coached their minor league from 2015 to 2016. He then coached the Lamigo Monkeys in 2017, and he moved to the Seibu Lions as pitching coach from 2018 to 2021. He was named the new coach of North Asia University in 2025.

Overall, Sugiyama was 17-13 with 17 saves and a 3.91 ERA in his 9-year career in NPB. He threw 317 1/3 innings in 333 games, striking out 295, walking 126 and allowing 318 hits.

Sources

• Wiki Japan
• Japanbaseballdaily.com by Gary Garland
• Taiwan Baseball Wiki