Kosuke Matsui

Kosuke Matsui (松井 光介)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 176 lb.

• School Asia University
• High School Yokohama High School

• Born August 24, 1978 in Sapporo, Hokkaido Japan

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Kosuke Matsui pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 8 years.

Matsui pitched for the Japanese national team after college. He had a 3.68 ERA and two saves in the 2003 Baseball World Cup, allowing 4 hits in 7 1/3 IP. In the 2004 Haarlem Baseball Week, he allowed one run in 3 innings and fanned six. He pitched in the 2005 Asian Championship and the 2005 Baseball World Cup. In the 2005 World Cup, he excelled, going 1-0 with 2 saves and a 0.79 ERA and whiffing 14 in 11 1/3 IP. He saved wins over Australia and the USA and beat Nicaragua.

The Yakult Swallows drafted him in the third round in the 2006 NPB draft, and he pitched 40 games as a rookie while going 3-5 with a 4.08 ERA. In 2007, he fell to 1-3, 5.76 and allowed 59 hits in 45 1/3 IP. He went 1-2 with a 3.27 ERA in 27 games in 2008, and his ERA was 3.08 in 17 relief outings in 2009. Matsui recorded a 4.80 ERA in 21 appearances in 2010, and he pitched 27 games with a 3.56 ERA in 2011. His ERA rose to 4.50 in 20 games in 2012, and he announced his retirement after he allowed 8 runs in an inning in 2013. He later became a batting practice pitcher for the Swallows.

Overall, Matsui was 9-11 with a 4.46 ERA, struck out 181 and pitched 256 1/3 innings in 8 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Japanesebaseball.com
• Defunct IBAF site
• Japanese Wikipedia entry
• 2004 Haarlem Baseball Week