Yuya Fukui

Yuya Fukui (福井 優也)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 171 lb.
• School Waseda University
• High School Saibi High School

• Born February 8, 1988 in Aida-gun, Okayama Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yuya Fukui pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 12 years.

Fukui was the Saibi High ace when they won the Koshien Tournament in 2004. He pitched in the 2004 World Junior Championship, and the Yomiuri Giants took him in the 4th round in 2005. He turned them down, the first Giants draftee to refuse to sign in 25 years. Out of college, he was taken in the first round by the Hiroshima Carp in 2010 NPB draft. He was one of three Waseda hurlers that went in the first round; the other two were Yuki Saito and Tatsuya Oishi. It was the first time that three players were drafted from the same team in the first round.

As a rookie, Fukui was 8-10 with a 4.12 ERA and 120 strikeouts in 146 1/3 innings as a regular starter for Hiroshima. He was among the Central League leaders in homers allowed (14, tied for 3rd), walks (68, 1st), wild pitches (11, 1st), runs allowed (76, 1st, 4 ahead of Shun Tohno), earned runs (67, 2nd, one behind Kentaro Takasaki) and hit batsmen (8, tied for 3rd). Fukui went 2-3 with a 4.30 ERA in 2012, and he had a 8.69 ERA in 12 relief outings in 2013. He returned to the rotation in 2014, and he had a 4-5 record with a 4.35 ERA. Fukui improved to 9-6 with a 3.56 ERA in 2015, then he was 5-4 with a 4.34 ERA in 2016.

However, Fukui struggled in 2017 as his ERA was 7.16 in 5 games, and he only starts 3 games with a 8.40 ERA in 2018; he lost all three games. The Carp then traded him to the Rakuten Golden Eagles for Yasunori Kikuchi, and Fukui went 3-1 with a 5.18 ERA in 2019. He was 0-4 with a 5.46 ERA in 2020, and Rakuten moved him to the bullpen. Fukui recorded a 4.43 ERA in 19 games in 2021, and his ERA was 4.09 in 11 appearances in 2022. The Golden Eagles then released him, and Fukui joined the Fukushima RedHopes. He announced his retirement in 2024, and he became a coach for them.

Overall, Fukui went 32-41 with a 4.58 ERA, struck out 479 and pitched 629 1/3 innings in 12 seasons in NPB. His repertoire contained a slider, curveball, forkball and fastball (peaked at 94 mph).

Sources

• Wiki Japan
• Japanbaseballdaily
• Taiwan Baseball Wiki