Takahiro Mahara

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Takahiro Mahara (馬原 孝浩)

BR Register page

Biographical Information[edit]

Takahiro Mahara pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 11 years.

Mahara went 30-4 with a 1.10 ERA in college, and he won 4 Best Nine awards and 2 MVPs. He pitched for Japan's Bronze Medal winners in the 2002 World University Championship, allowing one run (unearned) and one hit while striking out 8 in five innings of work for a win. The Daiei Hawks picked him in the first round of the 2003 NPB draft. He debuted for them in 2004, going 3-3 with a 6.30 ERA, allowing 66 hits in 50 innings. In 2005, the 23-year-old right-hander went 6-6 with 22 saves and a a 3.08 ERA while moving to the bullpen. He replaced the ineffective Koji Mise as the Hawks' closer. He tied Masanobu Okubo for second in the Pacific League in saves, trailing Masahide Kobayashi. In the playoffs, he blew the deciding game against the Chiba Lotte Marines, allowing 2-run double to Tomoya Satozaki in the 8th.

The Kumamoto native is incorrectly listed by some sources, like Wikipedia, as having played in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. He was a reserve and was being considered when Hirotoshi Ishii was questionable but Ishii was able to play in the tourney and Mahara's services were unneeded. Mahara was 0-4 with 29 saves in 2006, striking out 62 in 54 2/3 IP and having only a 1.65 ERA. He made the PL All-Star team, but he allowed a game-winning RBI double to Alex Ochoa in the 2006 NPB All-Star Game 2 and got the loss. His ERA barely led the Hawks, .10 better than Kazumi Saitoh. He finished third in the circuit in saves behind Micheal Nakamura and Masahide Kobayashi.

Takahiro improved to 2-4, 1.47 in 2007 with 38 saves (most in the PL). He fanned 68 in 67 1/3 innings while allowing just a .206 average. He made his second All-Star squad, but he struggled again. In the 2007 NPB All-Star Game 1, Mahara succeeded Hiroyuki Kobayashi in the 7th inning then he allowed a 2-run shot to Alex Ramirez. Tomonori Maeda added a solo shot, and he got the loss. He battled right shoulder problems during 2008, limiting him to 21 games. He went 0-2 with 11 saves and a 2.79 ERA. His final save of the season was the 100th of his career. Coming in game 178, it made him the quickest pitcher in NPB history to 100 saves.

Mahara was on Japan's roster for the 2009 World Baseball Classic. He tied Toshiya Sugiuchi and Yu Darvish for the team lead with 5 games pitched, allowing 2 runs in 5 innings. Both of the runs came in the 8th inning of the semifinals against Team USA. Mahara entered with a 6-2 lead. He gave up a one-out single to Ryan Braun, walked Brian McCann then gave up a 2-run double to Mark DeRosa. With the tying run up, Mahara fanned Evan Longoria and retired Brian Roberts. Japan went on to win 9-4 en route to taking the Classic title.

In 2009, Mahara notched 29 saves with a 2.16 ERA in 53 relief outings, and he was 2nd in saves (5 behind Hisashi Takeda). Mahara extended his solid performance in 2010, and he was selected into the 2010 NPB All-Star Game. He replaced Brian Falkenborg in the 9th inning of Game 1, and he completed a shutout inning. Mahara collected 32 saves with a 1.63 ERA in 53 games, and he was 2nd in saves again (one behind Brian Sikorski). His ERA was 3.06 in 33 games with 19 saves in 2011, and he tied Falkenborg for 5th in saves. Mahara then relieved Falkenborg in the 10th inning of the 2011 Nippon Series Game 1, but he surrendered a game-winning solo shot to Masaaki Koike and he got the loss. Mahara's nightmare didn't end, as he replaced Falkenborg in the 10th inning again of Game 2 then he surrendered a game-winning RBI single to Masahiko Morino so he got the loss. Mahara bounced back and completed a shutout inning in each of Game 5 and 6, and the Hawks beat the Chunichi Dragons in 7 games.

Mahara missed the entire 2012 season due to shoulder injury, and the Orix Buffaloes picked him as the compensation for losing free agent Hayato Terahara. He only pitched 3 games in 2013, and he notched 32 holds with a 3.55 ERA in 55 games in 2014. Mahara was 4th in holds, between Naoki Miyanishi and Michael Crotta). However, he suffered from injuries again, and his ERA was 7.56 in 9 games in 2015. Mahara announced his retirement after the 2015 season.

Overall, Mahara was 23-31 with a 2.83 ERA, collected 47 holds and 182 saves in 385 games, struck out 455 and pitched 480 2/3 innings in 11 seasons in NPB. As of 2025, he was 13th in saves in NPB history, between Yutaka Enatsu and Marc Kroon. He threw an effective forkball, cutter and fastball (timed at a peak of 98 mph). His hobbies include fishing.

Sources[edit]

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