Shohei Tateyama

Shohei Tateyama (館山 昌平)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 205 lb.
• School Nihon University
• High School Nihon University Fujisawa High School

• Born March 17, 1981 in Atsugi, Kanagawa Japan

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Shohei Tateyama has been an All-Star pitcher in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Tateyama pitched 4 shutout innings (3 H, 7 K) in the 2001 Baseball World Cup; Japan won the Bronze Medal. He was picked by the Yakult Swallows in the third round of the 2002 NPB draft. He was 0-3 with a 5.19 ERA as a rookie in 2003 then missed 2004 due to elbow surgery. He returned in 2005 and fared well as a member of the Yakult rotation (10-6, 3.95, 28 BB in 150 1/3 IP). He tied for 9th in the Central League in wins and just missed the top 10 in ERA.

The right-hander was 2-5 with 16 holds, 5 saves and a 3.95 ERA in 44 games (6 starts) in 2006, allowing a hefty .312 average. He was 3-12 with 5 saves and a healthier 3.17 ERA in 2007. He tied Hayato Terahara for second in the CL in losses, one behind Daisuke Miura. Tateyama improved to 12-3, 2.99 in 2008, walking 31 in 153 1/3 IP. He made the All-Star team for the first time, but he allowed 2 runs in an inning in the 2008 NPB All-Star Game 2 on a 2-run shot to Shoitsu Omatsu. He was 4th in ERA (behind Masanori Ishikawa, Colby Lewis and Tetsuya Utsumi), tied for 4th in wins (with Ishikawa and Utsumi) and 9th in innings (between Yuya Ando and Miura).

Tateyama had his career season next year, and he finished at 16-6, 3.39 in 2009. He was selected into the 2009 NPB All-Star Game, and he allowed a run in 2 innings in the 2009 NPB All-Star Game2. He tied Kazuki Yoshimi for the league lead in wins, was 5th in innings (188 1/3, between Yoshimi and Kan Otake), second in hits (195, 8 behind Ishikawa), tied for 4th in shutouts (2, even with Minoru Iwata), 5th in homers allowed (20), tied for second in complete games (5, one behind Miura), tied for 4th in hit batsmen (11, even with Tom Mastny), tied for 6th in runs allowed (77, even with Seth Greisinger), walks (45, tied for 8th with Kenta Asakura), tied for 9th in strikeouts (126, even with Hisanori Takahashi) and tied for 4th in earned runs allowed (71, same as Ando). From May 2008 to June 2009, he won 14 decisions in a row, breaking a record held for decades by the legendary Masaichi Kaneda.

The Kanagawa native posted a 12-7, 2.93 record in 2010. He was third in the CL in ERA behind Kenta Maeda and Wei-Yin Chen, tied Takuya Asao, Yoshimi and Yoshinori Sato for 6th in wins, led in shutouts (4), tied for second in complete games (4, two behind Maeda), was 8th in homers allowed (17), 9th in strikeouts (112) and 4th in WHIP (1.16, between Chen and Yoshimi). In 2011, he was 11-5 with a 2.04 ERA and only 29 walks in 180 2/3 innings. Offensive levels were down all over Japan as a new standard baseball was being used. He made the top 5 in ERA for the third time in four years, behind Yoshimi, Utsumi and Hirokazu Sawamura this year. He tied Sawamura for 5th in wins, was 5th in innings (between Utsumi and Ishikawa), led with 7 complete games, tied Yoshimi for the most shutouts (3), tied for 7th with 12 homers allowed (even with Maximo Nelson), placed 9th in hits allowed (146, between Sawamura and Yoshimi), finished 8th with 130 strikeouts and was second with a 0.97 WHIP (second to Yoshimi).

Tateyama extended his solid performance in 2012, and he went 12-8 with a 2.25 ERA. He was selected into the 2012 NPB All-Star Games, and he completed 2 shutout innings in Game 1. He ranked 4th in wins (tied with Toshiya Sugiuchi and D.J. Houlton), 9th in strikeouts (119) and 5th in ERA (between Sugiuchi and Kan Otake). However, he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2013, and he only pitched 2 games combined in the next two seasons. Tateyama returned in 2015, and he had a 6-3 record with a 2.89 ERA. He won the CL Comeback Player of the Year Award, and he won a vote in the CL MVP voting. He started in the 2015 Nippon Series Game 4, but he gave up 5 runs in 3 innings and got the loss; the Swallows lost to the Softbank Hawks in 5 games. He was 1-4 with a 7.24 ERA in 2016, and he only pitched 9 more games before he announced his retirement in 2019. He coached the Rakuten Golden Eagles from 2020 to 2021.

Overall, Tateyama was 85-68 with a 3.32 ERA, struck out 998 and pitched 1,392 innings in 15 seasons in NPB. With a low three-quarters delivery, Tateyama had a wide repertoire which included a fastball (peak 95 mph), shuuto (two-seamer), cutter, slider,and splitter.

Sources

• Wiki Japan
• Japan Baseball Daily
• Taiwanese Baseball Wiki