Yasuaki Yamasaki

From BR Bullpen

YasuakiYamasaki.jpg

Yasuaki Yamasaki (山崎 康晃)

  • Bats Right, Throws Right
  • Height 5' 10", Weight 183 lb.

BR Register page

Biographical Information[edit]

Yasuaki Yamasaki has pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Yamasaki was 3-0 with a save and no earned runs (2 unearned) in 11 2/3 IP for Japan in the 2014 Haarlem Baseball Week. He was the only pitcher with multiple wins in the event and tied Tyler Jay for the most games pitched (5). He was not picked in the original 2014 NPB draft's first round class, but in the redraft phase he was taken by the Yokohama BayStars and Hanshin Tigers (both of whom had lost out on rights to Kohei Arihara). He wound up going to Yokohama and both he and Arihara would win Rookie of the Year honors in 2015.

In his NPB debut, he relieved Shun Yamaguchi with a 10-2 lead over the Yomiuri Giants March 28. He fanned Yoshinobu Takahashi then retired Yoshiyuki Kamei and Yasuyuki Kataoka to end the game. He set a NPB rookie record for saves in a month - 10 in May. Tsuyoshi Yoda had held the mark since 1990. In 2015 NPB All-Star Game 1, he relieved Tetsuya Yamaguchi with a 8-4 Central League lead over the Pacific League in the 9th. He allowed a single to Nobuhiro Matsuda and a RBI double to Sho Nakata then fanned Luis Cruz and got Yuki Yanagita on a grounder. Ginjiro Sumitani singled to make it 8-6 but Yamasaki whiffed Takuya Nakashima to end it. He broke more rookie records - the franchise record for saves by a rookie (21, Tomoya Mikami, 2014) and the NPB record for saves by a rookie (31, Yoda, 1990). He finished the 2015 season at 2-4 with 37 saves and a 1.92 ERA. In 56 1/3 innings, he fanned 66 and allowed only 11 walks and 38 hits. He finished third in the Central League in saves, four behind Tony Barnette and Seung-hwan Oh. He would win the 2015 Central League Rookie of the Year handily, with 241 of 270 votes (Shunta Wakamatsu was second with 20).

The Tokyo native then made the Samurai Japan roster for the 2015 Premier 12. He was excellent, retiring all nine batters he faced, three by strikeout, but he was bypassed in their critical semifinal 9th-inning bullpen blowup against South Korea as Takahiro Norimoto, Yuki Matsui and Hirotoshi Masui gave up 4 runs to blow a 3-0 lead. Japan got the Bronze. Yamasaki's ERA rose to 3.59 in 59 appearances in 2016, and he still notched 33 saves and 7 holds. He was voted into the 2016 NPB All-Star Game, and he completed a shutout inning in Game 2 with 2 strikeouts (against Ginjiro Sumitani and Shogo Akiyama). Yamasaki ranked 3rd in saves that season, behind Hirokazu Sawamura's 37 and Shota Nakazaki's 33.

Yamasaki bounced back in 2017, and he collected 26 saves and 15 holds with a solid 1.64 ERA in 68 relief outings. He led the league in games (tied with Takeru Imamura), and he was 4th in saves (between Junior Caminero and Imamura). He was again voted into the 2017 NPB All-Star Game as the CL's closer, and he pitched an inning in Game 1, with a solo shot allowed to Sho Nakata. In the 2017 Nippon Series, Yamasaki pitched 1 1/3 shutout innings to get a save in Game 4, and he added a shutout inning in Game 5. He relieved Spencer Patton in the 9th inning of Game 6, but he gave up a game-tying solo shot to Seiichi Uchikawa, and the BayStars lost to the Softbank Hawks in 6 games. He then represented Japan in the 2017 Asia Professional Baseball Championship, and he pitched a shutout inning against South Korea. He relieved Tsuyoshi Ishizaki in the 9th inning of the Gold Medal Game against Korea again, and he retired all three batters he faced (Jung-hoo Lee, Ja-wook Koo and Ha-Seong Kim) to help Japan win Gold.

The closer of Yokohama extended his elite performance in 2018, and he notched his 100th career save on April 10 against the Yomiuri Giants. He was the fastest Japanese pitcher to reach that benchmark. He attended the 2018 NPB All-Star Game, and he allowed 2 unearned runs in an inning in Game 2. He collected 37 saves with a 2.72 ERA in 57 appearances that season, and he led the league in saves. He was the first player in NPB history to collect 20 saves in his first four seasons. Yamasaki was voted into the 2019 NPB All-Star Game, but he allowed 2 runs again in one inning in Game 2. He collected 30 saves with a 1.95 ERA in 61 appearances, and he led the league in saves again. He won 5 votes in the CL MVP voting.

After his gorgeous 2019 season, Yamasaki made it onto Japan's roster for the 2019 Premier 12. He pitched a shutout inning against Venezuela, then he added a shutout inning versus Puerto Rico. Yamasaki then replaced Hiroshi Kaino in the 9th inning against Australia, and he fanned 2 (Logan Wade and Mitch Nilsson) in a shutout inning to earn a save. Yamasaki added a shutout inning versus Mexico to get a save, and he struck out 2 (Esteban Quiroz and Phillip Evans). In the Gold Medal Game against Korea, Yamasaki succeeded Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the 9th inning, and he retired Byung-ho Park and Hyun-soo Kim then fanned Eui-ji Yang to close the door and get his 3rd save of the event. He only allowed one hit in 5 innings with 7 Ks and zero walks. He tied Brandon Dickson for the event lead in saves; Dickson beat him out for the All-Star reliever honor.

Yamasaki struggled in 2020, and Kazuki Mishima took his closer spot. He slumped to a 5.68 ERA in 40 games, and he only got 8 holds and 6 saves. Yamasaki was Yokohama's setup man in 2021, and he notched 27 holds with a 3.27 ERA in 60 games. He was 8th in appearances and 6th in holds (between Ryuta Konno and Kota Nakagawa). Yamasaki attended the 2021 NPB All-Star Game, and he pitched a shutout inning in Game 2 despite allowing two hits to Masataka Yoshida and Yutaro Sugimoto. He also made it onto Japan's roster for the 2020 Olympics (held in 2021 due to delays from COVID-19). Yamasaki completed a shutout inning against Dominican Republic, and he added a shutout inning versus the USA. Japan won Gold in the event.

The BayStars named him their closer again in 2022, and he collected his 200th career save on August 24 against the Hanshin Tigers. He broke Kazuhiro Sasaki's record and became the youngest player in NPB history to reach 200 career saves. He notched 37 saves with a 1.33 ERA in 56 relief outings, and he was 8th in appearances (tied with Yariel Rodriguez and Raidel Martinez) and 3rd in saves (tied with Taisei Ota). However, he slumped to a 4.37 ERA in 49 appearances with 20 saves in 2023, and Kohei Morihara took his closer spot late in the season. Yamasaki was still 5th in saves, between Takuya Yasaki and Ryoji Kuribayashi. He also attended the 2023 NPB All-Star Game, and he pitched a shutout inning in Game 1.

Yamasaki collected 11 holds with a 3.38 ERA in 35 relief outings in 2024, but he mainly stayed in the NPB Farm Leagues in 2025. He only pitched 17 games for the big club, and his ERA was 4.20 with one save and one hold.

Yamasaki's repertoire includes a fastball (peaks at 96.3 mph) and a slider.

Sources[edit]

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