Kei Igawa

Kei Igawa
Igawa with the New York Yankees
Free agent
Pitcher
Born: (1979-07-13) July 13, 1979 (age 37) Ōarai, Ibaraki, Japan
Bats: Left Throws: Left
Professional debut
NPB: May 2, 1999, for the Hanshin Tigers
MLB: April 7, 2007, for the New York Yankees
NPB statistics
Win–loss record	93–72
Earned run average	3.21
Strikeouts	1279
MLB statistics (through September 30, 2011)
Win–loss record	2–4
Earned run average	6.66
Strikeouts	53
Teams
Hanshin Tigers (1998–2006) New York Yankees (2007–2008) Orix Buffaloes (2012–2015)
Career highlights and awards
NPB 2003 Central League MVP 2003 Eiji Sawamura Award 2003 NPB Win Champion 2003 NPB ERA Champion 3x NPB Strikeout Champion (2002, 2004, 2006) 2003 NPB MVP for Pitcher 2003 NPB Best Nine Award

NPB

Kei Igawa (井川 慶, Igawa Kei^?, born July 13, 1979) is a Japanese left-handed starting pitcher who is currently a free agent. originally from Ōarai, Ibaraki, Japan. He played for the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball from 1999 to 2006. He led all pitchers in the Central League for strikeouts in 2002, 2004 and 2006. He also played in the 2006 Major League Baseball Japan All-Star Series.

He was the number two draft choice of the Hanshin Tigers in 1998. After a couple of years in the Hanshin minor league system, Igawa entered the starting rotation in 2001. In his first full season as a starter, Igawa went 9-13 for the last-placed Tigers, but finished with a Central League second-best 2.67 ERA, behind only Chunichi's Shigeki Noguchi.

In 2002, Hanshin improved to fourth and Igawa's record was 14-9. He finished third in ERA (2.49), trailing Masumi Kuwata and Kenshin Kawakami. He also led the Central League with 206 strikeouts.