Tetsuya Utsumi

Tetsuya Utsumi
Tetsuya Utsumi
	Utsumi with the Yomiuri Giants
Yomiuri Giants – No. 77
	Pitcher / Coach
	Born: April 29, 1982 (age 42); Kyoto, Japan
	Batted: Left Threw: Left
NPB debut
	May 25, 2004, for the Yomiuri Giants
Last NPB appearance
	September 19, 2022, for the Saitama Seibu Lions
NPB statistics ; (through 2022 season)
Win–loss	135-104
ERA	3.24
Strikeouts	1,519
Teams
	As player Yomiuri Giants (2004–2018); Saitama Seibu Lions (2019–2022); As coach Saitama Seibu Lions (2023); Yomiuri Giants (2024–present);
Career highlights and awards
	2× Japan Series champion (2009, 2012); Japan Series MVP (2012);
Medals
Representing Japan
Men's Baseball
World Baseball Classic

Tetsuya Utsumi (内海哲也, Utsumi Tetsuya, born April 29, 1982 in Kyoto, Japan) is a Japanese professional baseball player for the Saitama Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball(NPB). He previously played for the Yomiuri Giants.

Career

In 2000 NPB draft [jp], Orix BlueWave selected him with the first selection, but he did not sign, and he joined Tokyo Gas in the Japanese industrial leagues from 2000 to 2003.

In 2003 NPB draft [jp], Yomiuri Giants selected him^[1] and joined.

On December 20, 2018, he was sent to Saitama Seibu Lions as the human compensation from the earlier transferred for Ginjiro Sumitani.^[2]^[3]

International career

He was selected Japan national baseball team at the 2009 World Baseball Classic and 2013 World Baseball Classic.

And also, in a 2008 preseason exhibition game against the Boston Red Sox, Utsumi struck out 4 out of the 6 Red Sox batters he faced.

Pitching style

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.