Takayuki Kishi

Takayuki Kishi
Saitama Seibu Lions – No. 11
Pitcher
Born: (1984-12-04) December 4, 1984
Bats: Right Throws: Right
Professional debut
NPB: March 30, 2007 for the Seibu Lions
NPB statistics (through 2013)
Win-Loss	76-48
Earned run average	3.20
Strikeouts	922
Teams
Seibu Lions/Saitama Seibu Lions (2007-)
Career highlights and awards
2008 Japan Series MVP NPB All-star(2012)

Takayuki Kishi (Japanese: 岸 孝之, born December 4, 1984, in Taihaku-ku, Sendai, Japan) is a Japanese professional baseball player for the Seibu Lions in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. He was the 2008 Japan Series MVP. In his first three seasons as a professional, Kishi has recorded at least 10 wins every season, thrown at least 2 complete games every season, and has multiple shutouts in two of his first three seasons. With an overhand delivery Kishi throws a four-seam fastball in high-80s (tops out at 93 mph), changeup, slider and a solid-average curveball around 70 mph.

2008 Japan Series

Kishi showed that despite his youth, he could handle the atmosphere of the Japan Series, and also demonstrated his rubber arm. His first appearance in the Series was when he started Game 4 at the Seibu Dome. The second-year pro dominated the heavily favored Yomiuri Giants for a complete-game shutout, striking out at least one batter every inning and throwing a whopping 147 pitches in the process. Kishi also became the second pitcher ever to have at least one strikeout every inning in a complete game effort. In an ironic twist, the first was former Giants pitcher Takashi Nishimoto in the 1981 Japan Series against the Nippon Ham Fighters. Kishi also became the 12th pitcher to throw a complete-game shutout in his first career Japan Series start, with the last one before him being Shunsuke Watanabe in the 2005 Japan Series against the Hanshin Tigers.

In Game 6 two days later, Kishi was called upon again, this time to save the Lions' season. He replaced Lions starter Kazuyuki Hoashi and, on just two days rest, threw 91 pitches in 5 and 2/3 scoreless innings as Seibu rallied to force Game 7. Kishi got the win in relief and also set a new Series record for consecutive scoreless innings at 14 and 2/3.

Career statistics

Bold indicates league leader; statistics current as of December 25, 2013

External links

• Nippon Professional Baseball career statistics from Japanesebaseball.com