Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi

Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi (下柳 剛)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 209 lb.
• School Yawata University (dropped out)
• High School Keiho High School

• Born May 16, 1968 in Nagasaki, Nagasaki Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 21 years.

Shimoyanagi was drafted by the Daiei Hawks in the 4th round of the 1990 NPB draft, and he only pitched one game combined in his first two seasons. He went 4-8 with 5 saves and a 4.13 ERA in 50 appearances in 1993, and he was 3rd in games (between Tetsuya Shiozaki and Motoyuki Akahori) and 9th in saves in the Pacific League. Shimoyanagi was selected into the 1994 NPB All-Star Game, and he pitched a shutout inning with 2 strikeouts (against Hideki Matsui and Yasuaki Taiho). He ended up 11-5 with a 4.51 ERA in a league-leading 62 games in 1994, and he tied Shigetoshi Hasegawa and Kimiyasu Kudo for 6th in wins. Shimoyanagi missed a portion of the 1995 season due to a car accident, so he only pitched 24 games with a 4.05 ERA.

The Hawks then traded him with Hideyuki Yasuda to the Nippon Ham Fighters for Shinji Matsuda and Kazuhiro Takeda, and he had a 3.77 ERA in 23 relief outings in 1996. He bounced back in 1997 with a 3.49 ERA in 65 games, and he had a 9-4 record. Shimoyanagi ranked 3rd in games, between Yoshitaka Mizuo and Takashi Ishii. He broke up Ichiro Suzuki's NPB record of 216 straight plate appearances without a strikeout that season. Shimoyanagi also attended the 1997 NPB All-Star Game, but he struggled as he walked Motonobu Tanishige then gave up 2 hits to Dwayne Hosey and Matsui. He then retired Toshio Haru, and he fanned Kazuhiro Kiyohara to escape the jam.

Shimoyanagi pitched a career-high 66 games with a 3.07 ERA in 1998, and he led the league in appearances again. He notched 6 saves with a 3.61 ERA in 62 relief outings in 1999, and he ranked 10th in saves (tied with Akinori Otsuka) and 2nd in games (3 behind Soichi Fujita). He was used as a swingman in 2000, and he went 8-4 with a 4.52 ERA. He slumped to 9-8 with a 5.06 ERA in 2001 as a full time starter, and he also attended the 2001 NPB All-Star Game. He relieved Daisuke Matsuzaka when the bases were loaded, and he retired Matsui then fanned Takanori Suzuki and Akinori Iwamura to escape the jam. Shimoyanagi then allowed a single to Atsunori Inaba and a double to Takuro Ishii, and he retired Toshihisa Nishi to end his work.

The Nagasaki native struggled again in 2002 as his ERA was 5.75 in 17 games with a 2-7 record, and the Fighters traded him with Yutaka Nakamura to the Hanshin Tigers for Masashi Date and Katsuhiko Yamada. Shimoyanagi bounced back in 2003 as he was 10-5 with a 3.73 ERA, and he was 7th in wins (tied with Hiroshi Kisanuki and Trey Moore) and 7th in strikeouts (135, between Hiroki Kuroda and Ken Takahashi). He had a 5.4 K/BB ratio. He started in the 2003 Nippon Series Game 5, and he pitched 6 innings with 2 runs allowed to get the win over Kazumi Saitoh; the Tigers still lost to the Hawks in 7 games. He slumped to 7-5 with a 5.12 ERA in 2004.

Shimoyanagi bounced back in 2005, and he was 15-3 with a 2.99 ERA. He led the Central League in wins, and he was the first starter to lead the league in wins while not qualifying for the ERA title. He was the oldest pitcher to lead the league in wins, breaking Tadashi Wakabayashi's record. He was also voted into the 2005 NPB All-Star Game, and he surrendered a 2-run shot to Seung-yeop Lee in Game 1. Shimoyanagi started in the 2005 Nippon Series Game 3, but he allowed 3 runs in 5 innings and the Tigers were swept by the Chiba Lotte Marines. He extended his solid performance in 2006, and he went 12-11 with a 3.17 ERA. He ranked 8th in ERA (between Kei Igawa and Koji Uehara), 4th in losses and 5th in wins (tied with Tetsuya Utsumi and Shinobu Fukuhara). Shimoyanagi was Hanshin's opening day starter in 2007, and he was the oldest Hanshin pitcher to start an opening game. He went 10-8 with a 4.11 ERA that season.

The veteran righty was selected into the 2008 NPB All-Star Game, and he relieved Takashi Ogasawara in the 5th inning. He allowed two singles to Kensuke Tanaka and Takeshi Hidaka, then Hichori Morimoto knocked in a run with a grounder. Shimoyanagi then struck out Munenori Kawasaki, but 2B Akihiro Higashide made an error while trying to deal with Shoitsu Omatsu's grounder, and Hidaka scored. Shimoyanagi fanned Tuffy Rhodes to end his work. He went 11-6 with a 2.99 ERA in 2008, and he was 5th in ERA (between Shohei Tateyama and Seth Greisinger) and 7th in wins (tied with Tetsuya Yamaguchi and Masahiro Yamamoto). He was the 5th player in NPB history to get double-digit wins while over 40, and he was the first Hanshin pitcher to do it since Wakabayashi in 1949. Shimoyanagi was 8-8 with a 4.62 ERA in 2009, and he went 7-8 with a 4.32 ERA in 2010. He only started 6 games with a 3.54 ERA in 2011, and the Tigers released him. Shimoyanagi signed with the Rakuten Golden Eagles, but he was 0-2 with a 5.29 ERA in 2012 and he announced his retirement.

Overall, Shimoyanagi was 129-106 with a 3.92 ERA, collected 22 saves in 627 appearances, struck out 1,418 and pitched 1,970 2/3 innings in 21 seasons in NPB. As of 2025, he was 78th in wins, 93rd in losses (tied with Kazuyuki Yamamoto, Toshihiko Sei, Masahiko Oishi, Genji Kaku, Tadashi Sugiura, Shinichi Kato and Keiichi Yabu), 99th in innings (between Chikara Morinaka and Kaku), 53rd in walks (between Masayoshi Nakayama and Michio Nishizawa), 69th in strikeouts (between Kaku and Sohachi Aniya), 77th in hits allowed (between Shigeaki Kuroo and Fumio Takechi) and 33rd in appearances (between Tomoo Wako and Koji Aoyama).

Sources

• Wiki Japan