Ren Nakata

Ren Nakata (中田 廉)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 198 lb.

• High School Koryo High School

• Born July 21, 1990 in Osaka, Osaka Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Ren Nakata pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 12 years. He is the son of former NPB player Hiroki Nobayashi and the nephew of Takayuki Murakami (the brother-in-law of Norihiro Nakamura). Nakata's parents divorced, so he uses his mother's maiden name of Nakata instead of his father's surname of Nobayashi.

Nakata was timed at 92 mph in high school. The Hiroshima Carp took him in the second round of the 2008 NPB draft. He was 1-1 with a 4.32 ERA, .220 opponent average and 14 walks in 25 innings as a NPB rookie in 2010. He was on the initial Japanese national team roster for the 2010 Intercontinental Cup but was a late removal due to a hamstring injury; Daiki Kiyohara replaced him on the roster before the tournament began. He allowed 6 runs (5 earned) in 7 innings for the Carp in 2011. He went 1-0 with a 3.89 ERA in 27 games in 2012. Nakata had a 2.92 ERA in 15 games in 2013, and he notched 18 holds with a 9-8 record and a 3.89 ERA in 66 appearances in 2014. He was 7th in holds, 9th in losses and 3rd in games pitched (between Katsuki Matayoshi and Tomoya Mikami) in the Central League.

The Osaka native then suffered from a right shoulder injury, and he only pitched 5 games in 2015. He struggled again in 2016, and he allowed 8 runs in 4 1/3 innings. He returned in 2017, and he collected 13 holds with a 2.70 ERA in 53 relief outings. However, Nakata's ERA rose to 13.14 in 15 games in 2018, and he appeared in the 2018 Nippon Series. Nakata completed a shutout inning in Game 1, then he gave up a solo shot to Hiroaki Takaya in Game 3. He surrendered 11 runs in 5 2/3 innings in 2019, then pitched 32 games with a 4.28 ERA in 2020. Nakata recorded a 4.74 ERA in 23 games in 2021, but didn't reached the big club in 2022 and he announced his retirement.

Overall, Nakata was 15-16 with 51 holds and a 4.43 ERA, struck out 295 and pitched 290 1/3 innings in 12 seasons in NPB. He threw a fastball, curveball, slider, forkball and shuuto.

Sources

• Wiki Japan
• Japanbaseballdaily by Gary Garland
• Yakyubaka.com