Tetsuya Utsumi | |||
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Utsumi with the Yomiuri Giants
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Yomiuri Giants – No. 26 | |||
Pitcher | |||
Born: Kyoto, Japan |
April 29, 1982 |||
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NPB debut | |||
May 25, 2004, for the Yomiuri Giants | |||
NPB statistics (through 2016 season) |
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Win-Loss | 126-37 | ||
ERA | 3.09 | ||
Strikeouts | 1406 | ||
Teams | |||
Career highlights and awards | |||
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Last updated on: 9 November 2009 |
Medal record | ||
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Representing Japan | ||
Men's Baseball | ||
World Baseball Classic | ||
2009 Los Angeles | Team |
Tetsuya Utsumi (内海 哲也 Utsumi Tetsuya?, born April 29, 1982 in Kyoto, Japan) is a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball player in Japan's Central League. A left-handed pitcher, Utsumi is one of the better starters in the Yomiuri rotation. He garnered international attention in the 2008 preseason during an exhibition against the Boston Red Sox, who were playing exhibitions against the Giants and Hanshin Tigers. As the game's starting pitcher for the home Giants, Utsumi surprised all by striking out 4 out of the 6 Red Sox batters he faced. He had worked for Tokyo Gas from 2000 to 2003.
Utsumi is a "junkball" pitcher, meaning that he does not have overpowering pitches. His fastball is usually in the 140 km/h (87 MPH) range, and he complements it with a slurve, a changeup, and a forkball. Utsumi relies on his control to get batters out, and it is usually pretty good, but when Utsumi misses his spots, that is when trouble finds him, usually in the form of home runs.