Yuji Nishino

Yuji Nishino (西野 勇士)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 180 lb.
• High School Shinminato High School

• Born March 6, 1991 in Takaoka, Toyama Japan

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Biographical Information

Yuji Nishino has pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball

Nishino was drafted by the Chiba Lotte Marines in the 5th round of the development phase in the 2008 NPB draft, and he spent his first four seasons in the NPB Farm Leagues. He had a very good rookie season in 2013, going 9-6, 3.80 in 24 games. That year, he became the first development player to win his first NPB start and received one vote for the 2013 Pacific League Rookie of the Year Award (the award went to Takahiro Norimoto). He ranked 8th in strikeouts (106, between Ken Togame and Hiroshi Kisanuki) and 7th in wins (tied with other 6 pitchers). He was voted into the 2013 NPB All-Star Game, and he pitched 2 shutout innings, with a strikeout against Tony Blanco in Game 3. He became a relief pitcher after that initial season. In 2014, his first season in the new role, he went 1-1, 1.86 in 57 games with 30 saves for Chiba Lotte. He was the first development player to reach 30 saves in a season, and he ranked 3rd in saves in the Pacific League (between Dennis Sarfate and Tomomi Takahashi).

After that season, Nishino was a big star during that period and took part in the 2014 Nichi-Bei Series as part of the Japanese national team: on November 15th, he was one of four hurlers to combine on a no-hitter of an All-Star team of MLB players. Takahiro Norimoto started things off, followed by Yuki Nishi and Kazuhisa Makita before he was given the ball to finish the historic 4-0 win. He had previously saved Game 1 of the series for Shohei Ohtani. He also played for "Samurai Japan" in the Global Baseball Match in early 2015. Nishino extended his solid performance in 2015, and he notched 34 saves with a 1.83 ERA in 54 relief outings. He was 3rd in saves again, behind Sarfate and Hirotoshi Masui. An injury prevented him from taking part in the 2015 Premier 12.

Nishino was voted into the 2016 NPB All-Star Game, and he completed a shutout inning with 2 strikeouts (against Brad Eldred and Dayan Viciedo) in Game 2. He collected 21 saves in 42 games, but his ERA rose to 3.35. Nishino also missed about 2 months due to elbow injury, though he still tied Chris Martin for 5th in saves. He saw his ERA go up significantly after his first four successful top-level seasons, to 5.06 in 5 starts in 2017 and 6.19 in 14 games in 2018 as both seasons were marred by elbow injuries. He spent the majority of those two seasons back in the lower-level Eastern League.

The Toyama native made a comeback in 2019, going 2-3, 2.96 in 37 games at the top level, but then was out of commission due to undergoing Tommy John surgery until 2022. He made a successful return with the Marines, going 3-3, 1.73 in 37 games with 15 holds. He was turned into a starter again in 2023, and he went 8-5 with a 2.69 ERA. He had a 9-8 record with a 3.24 ERA in 2024, but he only started 9 games in 2025 with a 0-4 record and a 3.08 ERA before a right hand injury ended his season on June 14.

Sources

• Wiki Japan