Masato Morishita

Masato Morishita (森下 暢仁)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 167 lb.

• School Meiji University
• High School Oita Commercial High School

• Born August 25, 1997 in Oita, Oita Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Masato Morishita has pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball and won an Olympic Gold Medal game.

Morishita was excellent when Japan finished second in the 2015 U-18 Baseball World Cup (1-0, 0 R in 10 IP, 14 K, 4 H, 0 BB). He won Gold in the 2017 summer Universiade. In the 2018 Haarlem Baseball Week, he helped Japan win another title, with strong starts against Italy, Germany and Taiwan (the latter in the finals). He was 1-0 with a 1.56 ERA and 16 K in 16 IP. He led the event in IP (two ahead of Wataru Matsumoto) and started and was 5th in whiffs.

The Hiroshima Carp selected him in the first round in the 2019 NPB draft; the scout was Yoshinori Ogata. He was excellent as a rookie in 2020 at 10-3, 1.91 with 124 K in 122 2/3 IP. He tied Yasuhiro Ogawa and Shinichi Ohnuki for 5th in wins, was 3rd in strikeouts (behind Yudai Ono and Tomoyuki Sugano) and was second in ERA (.09 behind Ono). He got 303 of 313 votes for the 2020 Central League Rookie of the Year Award, to 9 for runner-up Shosei Togo. He also got 5 third-place votes for the 2020 CL MVP, tying Seiya Suzuki for 7th in vote points.

Morishita represented Japan in the 2020 Olympics (held in 2021 after delays from COVID-19), and he completed 5 innings with only two runs allowed to get the win over Juan Pablo Oramas of Mexico. He then started against the USA in the Gold Medal game, and he pitched five shutout innings with 3 hits allowed and got the win over Nick Martinez. He tied Seung-hwan Oh and Ryoji Kuribayashi for the event lead in wins. Morishita was selected into the 2021 NPB All-Star Game, and he allowed a 2-run double to Sotaro Shimauchi in 2 innings in Game 2. He ended up 8-7 with a 2.98 ERA in 2021, and he was 4th in ERA (between Ono and Daichi Osera), 2nd in innings (11 1/3 behind Yuya Yanagi) and 3rd in strikeouts (between Togo and Ono).

The Oita native extended his solid performance in 2022, and he won his first NPB Gold Glove award. He attended the 2022 NPB All-Star Game, and he relieved Atsuki Yuasa in the 9th inning of Game 1. However, Morishita gave up a walk-off home run to Kotaro Kiyomiya, and Yuki Matsui got the win over him. He was 10-8 with a 3.17 ERA for the season, and he led the league in starts, shutouts, innings and hits allowed. He was also 5th in wins (tied with Shinnosuke Ogasawara and Tomoyuki Sugano), 4th in strikeouts (133, between Hiroto Takahashi and Koyo Aoyagi) and 9th in ERA (between Sugano and Yagi). He won a vote in CL MVP voting.

Morishita was 9-6 with a 3.01 ERA in 2023, and he went 10-10 with a 2.55 ERA in 2024. He pitched an immaculate inning on July 2 against the Hanshin Tigers, and he completed a maddux against Yakult Swallows on June 25 against the Yakult Swallows. Morishita was the second player to completed a maddux while getting three hits in a game, following Kazuhisa Inao in 1956. He ranked 9th in wins (tied with Iori Yamasaki), 8th in ERA (between Hiroki Tokoda and Shoki Murakami), 3rd in losses (tied with Aren Kuri and Miguel Yajure) and 8th in innings (between Murakami and Yamasaki).

His fastball has hit 96 mph.