Masaki Saito

Masaki Saito (斎藤 雅樹)
also known as Masaaki Saitoh

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 198 lb.
• High School Kawaguchi Municipal High School

• Born February 18, 1965 in Adachi Ward, Tokyo Japan

BR NPB page

Biographical Information

Masaki Saito was one of the elite pitchers in Nippon Pro Baseball in the 1990s.

The first round draft pick of the Yomiuri Giants in the 1982 NPB draft, he spent his entire career with the franchise before retiring in 2001. He made his debut with Yomiuri in 1984]] and went 4-0 with a 3.07 ERA, used primarily as a reliever. In 1985 Saito became a swingman and went 12-8 with 7 saves, a league-best 4 shutouts and a 2.96 ERA. At the age of 20, he finished third in the Central League in ERA between Jun Kawabata and Kazuhiko Endo, and he was 5th in wins (tied with Yoshihiro Nakada) and 5th in strikeouts (between Rich Gale and Suguru Egawa). 1986 saw a decreased role for Masaki, as he went 7-3 with one save and a 2.40 ERA in 35 games, again moving out of the regular rotation. He only pitched 6 games for the Giants the next year, allowing 14 hits and 4 homers in 5 innings, with an ERA of 18.00. Saito went 6-3 with 3 saves and a 1.89 ERA in 1988, his last and most successful year as a reliever.

Saito emerges as one of the great Central League hurlers

In 1989 Saito moved into the rotation for good and become a star. He went 20-7 that season with a 1.62 ERA. He set an NPB record with 11 consecutive wins during the year and led the Central League in wins (tied with Takashi Nishimoto), shutouts (7), complete games (21) and ERA. He was 2nd in strikeouts (10 behind Kazuhisa Kawaguchi) and 3rd in innings (between Nishimoto and Kawaguchi). He made his first Best Nine and won his first Sawamura Award. From May 10 to July 15, he completed 11 straight games and got a win, setting the NPB record. He was selected into the 1989 NPB All-Star Games, but he allowed 3 runs in 2 innings including a 2-run shot to Yasuo Fujii. He won 774 points in the CL MVP voting, and he was 2nd behind his teammate Warren Cromartie.

A year later he was 20-5, 2.17 season 1990, and he again led the league in wins, shutouts (6), innings (224), complete games (19) and ERA. Saito was 7th in strikeouts, between Koji Nakada and Tatsuji Nishimura. He was selected into the 1990 NPB All-Star Games, but he again struggled in Game 1. He allowed 5 runs without retiring any batters, and he got the loss. He won his first NPB Gold Glove, but the Pacific League's Hideo Nomo beat him out for the Sawamura that season. Saito won 734 points in the CL MVP voting, and he easily beat his teammate Masao Kida to win the award. He started in the 1990 Nippon Series Game 2, but he surrendered 7 runs in 2 2/3 innings, including 2 homers by Orestes Destrade and Tsutomu Ito so he got the loss. The Giants were swept by the Seibu Lions.

1991 was an off-year for Saito (11-11, 3.38), and he was still 10th in wins (tied with Manabu Kitabeppu and Toru Okamoto) and 5th in losses (tied with Toshiro Yufune, Kazutomo Miyamoto and Hiroto Kato. He recovered in 1992, and he had a 17-6, 2.59 campaign with 148 strikeouts. He led the league in wins for the third time, won a Gold Glove, made the Best Nine for the third time and pitched 5 shutouts for his fourth time leading in whitewashes. He also ranked 6th in strikeouts (between Miyamoto and Masumi Kuwata) and 5th in ERA (between Akimitsu Ito and Kitabeppu).

At the age of 28 in 1993, Saito slipped again, this time to 9-11 with a 3.19 ERA because of shoulder issues. Despite one of his worst years, he still had the 6th-best ERA in the Central (between Ito and Kida). He also tied Yasushi Tsuruta and Kawaguchi for 6th in losses. In 1994 Saito was part of a fine Yomiuri staff that led the team to a Japan Series title; he had a 14-8 record and 2.53 ERA, finishing third in the league in ERA (between Kuwata and Hiromi Makihara), tied Kuwara for third in wins and 7th with 144 strikeouts (between Masahiro Yamamoto and Keiichi Yabu). His 5 shutouts made him a five-time leader in that category. He started in the 1994 NPB All-Star Games, but he gave up 3 runs in an inning with a 2-run shot to Makoto Sasaki and got the loss. In the 1994 Nippon Series, he allowed 5 runs in 7 innings and ended up no-decision in Game 5.

Saito won his second Sawamura Award in 1995 with an 18-10, 2.70 season. He led the Central League in wins for the fourth time, in innings (213) for the second time, in strikeouts (187) for the first and only time, complete games (16) for the third time and in shutouts (6) for the sixth time. He won his third Gold Glove, made his fourth Best Nine and his fourth All-Star team; he pitched 2 shutout innings in the 1995 NPB All-Star Games. He finished second in the loop in ERA behind Terry Bross's 2.33, and he won 8 points in the MVP voting.

1996 was another great year. In one of his six opening-day starts, he threw a one-hitter against the Hanshin Tigers. It was the third consecutive season in which he threw a shutout in Yomiuri's first game. He led the CL in shutouts a seventh time with 4, but this time Ken Yamasaki tied him for the lead. Saito also led in ERA - at 2.36 he was .69 better than the #2 man that year, Balvino Galvez. He tied teammate Galvez for the most wins (16), though his 4 losses were 2 less than Galvez had. He was second in the league with 158 strikeouts. He became the only Central League pitcher to date to lead the league five times in wins and three times in ERA. Saito was selected into the 1996 NPB All-Star Games, and he completed 3 shutout innings as the starter of Game 1. He won his 4th Gold Glove, 5th Best Nine and most impressively, his third Sawamura Award. That tied him for the most career Sawamura Awards with fellow legends Shigeru Sugishita, Masaichi Kaneda and Minoru Murayama. No one would win two in a row again until Tomoyuki Sugano in 2017-2018. He won 85 first place votes in the CL MVP voting, but his teammate Hideki Matsui had more second place votes and robbed the award. Saito was Yomiuri's starter of the 1996 Nippon Series Game 1, and he gave up 3 runs in 7 1/3 innings. He then surrendered 5 runs in 2 2/3 innings in Game 5, and the Orix BlueWave beat the Giants.

The downslide

Injuries began to hamper Saito's effectiveness at the age of 32 in 1997 and he would never lead the league in anything again. He was 6-8 with a 4.11 ERA that year, his highest mark in a season with more than 5 innings. He made his final All-Star team in 1998 with a rebound 10-7, 3.08 season, and he pitched an inning with a run allowed in the 1998 NPB All-Star Game 1. He was 9th in the league in ERA (between Kenjiro Kawasaki and Daisuke Miura) and arguably the top Yomiuri starter. In 1999, the veteran moundsman was 5-2 with a 4.66 ERA and rookie Koji Uehara had clearly became the team's ace. Masaki only made five appearances in 2000, but they were dandies. He went 3-1 with a 2.10 ERA, just 20 hits allowed in 32 1/3 innings and struck out 20 while walking just 4. Saito started in the 2000 Nippon Series Game 4, and he completed 6 1/3 innings with only one run allowed; the Giants beat the Daiei Hawks in 6 games. He finished his career in 2001 at 2-2 with a 4.32 ERA, working out of the bullpen at times again.

After retiring, Saito became a pitching coach with Yomiuri from 2002 to 2003. He then became a broadcaster for the Fuji Television, and he returned to the Giants as pitching coach from 2006 to 2007 and from 2010 to 2015. He coached their minors team from 2008 to 2009, and he managed them from 2016 to 2017. Saito also managed for Japan in the 2016 U-23 Baseball World Cup.

Overall

Saito was 180-96 with 11 saves and a 2.77 ERA in his NPB career. As of 2025, he ranked 50th in complete games (tied with Tadashi Kameda and Makihara), 16th in shutouts, 35th in wins (between Fumiya Nishiguchi and Juzo Sanada), 55th in innings (between Kawaguchi and Yutaka Yanagida), 42nd in strikeouts (between Chihiro Kaneko and Hisao Niura) and 23rd all-time in ERA among pitchers with 2,000 or more innings (between Tomoo Wako and Masatoshi Gondo). Presumably his .652 winning percentage is among the best ever. As mentioned, he is one of just four 3-time Sawamura Award winners and is the only CLer with 5 win titles and 3 ERA titles. While his career counting statistics are limited by a somewhat short career of a starter (only about 10 full seasons) his peak performance and rate statistics are very impressive. His 7 shutout titles are also apparently a record. He was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016.

Sources

• Wiki Japan