Kazumi Saito

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Kazumi Saito (斉藤和巳, Saito Kazumi^?, born November 30, 1977 in Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese baseball pitcher for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. He was the number one draft pick for SoftBank in 1996. As of 2006, Saito has a career record of 73 wins and 20 losses.

Saito, after being drafted in '96, only made a handful of appearances for the then-Fukuoka Daiei Hawks. His first full season with the team was in 2000. He made 16 starts, but only went 5-2 with an ERA of 4.13. In 2002, he fared much better, making 10 starts with a record of 4-1 with a 2.94 ERA. Ever since, Saito, when healthy, has been one of the best pitchers in Japan, even getting the better of former Seibu Lions superstar Daisuke Matsuzaka. Following a superb 2003, which culminated with a 20-3 record with a 2.83 ERA, earning Saito his first Sawamura Award (the Japanese equivalent of the Cy Young Award). He had a rocky 2004, going 10-7 with a 6.26 ERA whilst battling injuries. The very next year saw him do a complete turnaround, finishing with a 16-1 record, easily the best in Japan, and even set a record for most consecutive wins by a starter. However, this was not his best year.

In 2006, Saito was the most dominant pitcher in Japan, and possibly all of baseball, as he finished 18-5 with a microscopic 1.75 ERA. Opponents only batted .200 against Saito, and his strikeout rate per 9 innings was 9.18. Saito also led Japan in four other pitching categories. All these contributed to his winning his second Sawamura Award. Saito was just as dominant in the playoffs, but suffered two crushing defeats. The first was a legendary pitcher's duel against Matsuzaka that ended with SoftBank on the short end of a 1-0 tally. Three straight singles that culminated in Kazuhiro Wada's RBI base-hit undid Saito and SoftBank. Regardless, SoftBank advanced to the league championship series. The other defeat came at the hands of the eventual Japan Series Champions, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, which was also the series-clinching game for Nippon Ham.

On April 28th, 2007, Saito was taken off SoftBank's active roster due to "shoulder fatigue," an ailment which has plagued his otherwise stellar career. Saito remained inactive until the end of June, when SoftBank manager and legendary slugger Sadaharu Oh announced that Saito would pitch in a ni-gun (minor league) game on June 30th. Later, Saito made his first start of the season against the Rakuten Eagles, and it was a good one. However, Saito's shoulder continued to plague him the rest of the season, and he was given 10 days rest between starts. In January of 2008, Saito announced that he went to the United States for an endoscopic procedure on his balky shoulder.

Saito is a tall, lanky pitcher who, like many Japanese pitchers, makes use of his lower body to generate most of his velocity. Saito's repertoire consists of a low 90's fastball, a slider, changeup, curveball, and a hard forkball, which is his out pitch. Saito mostly uses his fastball and fork, but also will occasionally start off at-bats with his curve, which does have some bite and can be very sharp. Saito's demeanor on the mound is extremely competitive, with him usually shouting and getting excited when he gets a clutch san-shin (strikeout). Saito has also been seen crying on the mound, especially after a tough loss, like the one he suffered at the hands of Nippon Ham in the 2006 Pacific League finals, in which he was helped off the field by teammates Julio Zuleta and Jolbert Cabrera.