Shunsuke Watanabe
| Shunsuke Watanabe | |||
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Watanabe with the Chiba Lotte Marines
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| Lancaster Barnstormers – No. 9 | |||
| Pitcher | |||
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Born: August 27, 1976 |
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| NPB debut | |||
| April 25, 2001, for the Chiba Lotte Marines | |||
| NPB statistics (through 2012 season) |
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| Win–loss record | 87–77 | ||
| Earned run average | 3.64 | ||
| Strikeouts | 835 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
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| Last updated on: August 22, 2015 | |||
| Medal record | ||
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Representing  Japan
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| Men's Baseball | ||
| World Baseball Classic | ||
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2006 San Diego | Team |
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2009 Los Angeles | Team |
Shunsuke Watanabe (渡辺 俊介 Watanabe Shunsuke?, born August 27, 1976) is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher who plays for the Lancaster Barnstormers of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.
His submarine pitching form was noted during the 2006 World Baseball Classic.
Watanabe began baseball at age 6, and began throwing underhanded during middle school at the suggestion of his father. Watanabe attracted little attention through high school and college, and joined the Kazusa Magic amateur baseball team in 1999 after graduating from college. He was finally noticed by professional scouts when he was chosen as a member of the 2000 Sydney Olympics Japanese national team, where he marked a win in a game against Italy.
He pitched in the Japanese national amateur baseball tournament in late 2000 and was drafted in the 4th round by the Chiba Lotte Marines that year.
Watanabe made his debut in April 2001, starting a game against the Orix BlueWave. He won his first professional game with a complete game shutout, and ended the season with 2 wins. In 2002 he pitched in 6 games and had a record of 0–3. In 2003 he gave up 8 runs in his first start, and became a part of the starting rotation at the middle of the year, going 9–4 with a 3.66 ERA. He won 12 games the following year, won 15 games in 2005 with a 2.17 ERA. The Marines won their first championship in 31 years in 2005, and Watanabe pitched in the second game of the Japanese championship series against the Hanshin Tigers, giving up 4 hits in a shutout victory.
He was chosen as a member of the World Baseball Classic team in 2006, but pitched poorly during the season, ending up with a 5–11 record, and a 4.35 ERA. He also led the league in hit batsmen (14).
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