Masaki Oyokawa
{{short description|Japanese baseball player}}
{{Infobox NPB player
| name = Masaki Oyokawa
| image = HT-Masaki Oyokawa20211010.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| caption = Oyokawa with the Hanshin Tigers
| position = Pitcher
| team = Hanshin Tigers
| number = 37
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|2001|04|18}}
| bats = Left
| throws = Left
| debutleague = NPB
| debutdate = May 28
| debutyear = 2021
| debutteam = Hanshin Tigers
| statyear = May 26, 2025
| statleague = NPB
| stat2label = Win–loss record
| stat2value = 9–8
| stat3label = Earned run average
| stat3value = 2.64
| stat4label = Strikeouts
| stat4value = 124
| teams =
- Hanshin Tigers ({{npby|2021}}–present)
| highlights =
}}
{{nihongo|Masaki Oyokawa|及川 雅貴|Oyokawa, Masaki|born April 18, 2001 in Sōsa, Chiba}} is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher who currently plays for the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball.{{Cite web |url=https://www.sanspo.com/article/20191107-BX2M4BNT6VMBDLPLISRHPKKL4I/ |title=阪神、Ｄ３位・及川と合意 |publisher=Sankei Sports |date=2019-11-07 }}
He is nicknamed "Oyoyo" by his teammates.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nikkansports.com/baseball/news/201910230000648.html |title=阪神３位及川は桂三枝？「オヨヨと呼んでほしい」 |publisher= Nikkan Sports|date=2019-10-23 }}
Early baseball career
He started playing little league baseball in 3rd grade for Suka Elementary, and was chosen to play for the Chiba Lotte Marines Junior team in his 6th year.{{Cite web |url=https://hochi.news/articles/20190726-OHT1T50017.html |title=【神奈川】横浜まさか…及川急きょ登板も４連覇ならず |publisher= Sports Hochi|date=2019-07-26 }} He continued playing baseball for Yokaichiba Daini Junior High, and was selected to pitch for the national team in the 2016 WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nikkansports.com/baseball/news/201910230000661.html |title=阪神３位及川「打たれてしまった」西武森に雪辱誓う |publisher=Nikkan Sports |date=2019-10-23 }} He helped Japan finish 2nd overall, and he earned the lowest ERA pitcher award as well as a "Super Junior High pitcher" reputation for his 140 km/h fastball.{{Cite web | url=https://www.sponichi.co.jp/baseball/news/2019/12/06/kiji/20191206s00001173084000c.html |title=阪神ドラ3及川、奪三振も四球も多い「スーパー中学生」の実像 |publisher=Sports Nippon |date=2019-12-06}}
He entered Yokohama High School, a known baseball powerhouse in Kanagawa prefecture, and became the team's ace in his 2nd year.{{Cite web |url=https://www.sponichi.co.jp/baseball/news/2019/10/17/kiji/20191016s00001728353000c.html |title=阪神、横浜・及川投手を3位指名 高校「BIG4」の一角 潜在能力の高い153キロ左腕 |publisher=Sports Nippon |date=2019-10-17 }} But despite his team making it to national tournaments for 3 years in a row, he failed to pitch well in several games that at one point he was stripped of the ace jersey (#1).{{Cite web |url=http://column.sp.baseball.findfriends.jp/?pid=column_detail&id=097-20180416-17 |title=自己最速149キロをマーク！"世代NO.1"横浜高の2年生左腕・及川雅貴 |publisher=Weekly Baseball Online |date=2018-04-16}} In his final year, his team almost made it to the summer prefectural finals but lost to the opponent when he gave up 3 runs in less than 2 innings of relief. This was the first time his school was defeated by a public high school in the prefectural tournaments, last occurred in 1997 when Daisuke Matsuzaka was a sophomore pitcher there. Nevertheless, his {{cvt|153|km/h|mph}} fastball was enough to gain scout attention and he was one of the top high school prospects of the 2019 draft, along with Junya Nishi, Rōki Sasaki and Yasunobu Okugawa.{{Cite web |url=https://www.sanspo.com/article/20191020-A2DDJ2HH2NISNMGU5UO5AWFC7I/ |title=阪神Ｄ３位・及川よ、高校ＢＩＧ４の実績は忘れろ！高橋建２軍Ｃが裸一貫のススメ |publisher=Sankei Sports |date=2019-10-20 }}
Hanshin Tigers
He was the Tiger's 3rd round pick during the 2019 NPB draft. He signed a 50 million yen contract with Hanshin, for an estimated annual salary of 6 million yen. He was assigned jersey number 37.
2020 He spent his first year playing in Western League games (farms). He finished with a 2-4 record in 9 outings with a 6.0 ERA.{{Cite web |url=https://npb.jp/bis/2020/stats/idp2_t.html |title=2020年度 阪神タイガース 個人投手成績（ウエスタン・リーグ） |publisher= NPB official website |date= |accessdate=2021-05-30}}
2021 He debuted as a middle reliever in the May 25 game against the Lions and pitched a scoreless 2/3 innings.{{Cite web |url=https://www.daily.co.jp/tigers/2021/05/28/0014367748.shtml |title=阪神・及川 プロ初登板で2/3回を無失点「中継ぎの厳しさを実感した」 |publisher=Daily Sports |date=2021-05-28 |accessdate=2021-05-30}} Two days later, he earned his first career win as a reliever after pitching 2 scoreless innings.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nikkansports.com/baseball/news/202105300000715.html |title=プロ初勝利の阪神及川「自分だけの初勝利じゃない」中継ぎで1勝／一問一答 |publisher=Nikkan Sports |date=2021-05-30 }}
Career statistics
- [https://npb.jp/bis/eng/players/91795151.html NPB Statistics]
References
{{reflist}}
{{Hanshin Tigers roster navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oyokawa, Masaki}}
Category:Baseball people from Chiba Prefecture
Category:Japanese baseball players
Category:Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers