Yoshiki Sunada

Yoshiki Sunada (砂田 毅樹)

• Bats Left Throws Left
• Height 5' 10", Weight 171 lb.

• High School Meioh High School

• Born July 20, 1995 in Sapporo, Hokkaido Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yoshiki Sunada pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 9 years.

Sunada was drafted by the Yokohama BayStars in the first round of the development phase in the 2013 NPB draft, and he went 3-5 with a 3.20 ERA in 2015 after spending a season in the NPB Farm Leagues. He got his first career win on July 8, and he was the youngest player to get a win after entering the league as a development player. Sunada was moved to the bullpen in the middle of the 2016 season, and he went 2-2 with a 3.78 ERA. He notched 25 holds with a 4.12 ERA in 62 appearances in 2017, and he was 9th in the Central League in appearances (tied with Spencer Patton) and 8th in holds (tied with Shota Nakazaki). In the 2017 Japan Series, Sunada pitched a shutout inning in Game 1, and he allowed a RBI hit to Yuki Yanagita in Game 2. Sunada then recorded 2/3 of a shutout inning in Game 3, and he relieved Tomoya Mikami in Game 5. He completed a shutout inning with 2 strikeouts (against Hiroaki Takaya and Rick Vanden Hurk), and he got the win over Livan Moinelo. The Softbank Hawks still beat the BayStars in 6 games.

The Sapporo native extended his solid pitching in 2018, and he notched 24 holds with a 3.61 EAR in 70 appearances. He was 3rd in games (4 behind Kazuki Kondo) and 6th in holds (tied with Hirokazu Sawamura). However, Sunada slumped to a 5.11 ERA in 16 games in 2019, and he pitched 17 games with a 2.65 ERA in 2020. Sunada came back in 2021, and he collected 18 holds with a 3.24 ERA in 58 relief outings. His ERA rose to 5.68 in 15 games in 2022, and he was traded to the Chunichi Dragons for Yota Kyoda. Sunada had a 4.61 ERA in 18 games in 2023, and he announced his retirement in 2024.

Sunada's repertoire featured a fastball that peaks at 91.3 mph, a slider, curveball and a screwball. Overall, he was 9-14 with a 3.71 ERA, collected 73 holds in 287 appearances, struck out 255 and pitched 332 2/3 innings in 9 seasons in NPB. As of 2024, he is tied Tadashi Settsu and Yuki Matsumoto for 87th in holds in NPB history.

Sources

• Wiki Japan