Shoya Yamamoto
{{short description|Japanese baseball player}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
| name = Shōya Yamamoto
| image = 2014T47.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| caption = Yamamoto with the Hanshin Tigers
| team = Hanshin Tigers
| number = 47
| position = Pitcher
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1988|10|12}}
| birth_place = Takefu, Fukui
| height =
| bats = Left
| throws = Left
| debutleague =
| debutdate =
| debutyear = 2015
| debutteam = Hanshin Tigers
| statyear = 2016
| statleague = NPB
| stat1label = Win–loss record
| stat1value = 1–0
| stat2label = ERA
| stat2value = 4.80
| stat3label = Strikeouts
| stat3value = 12
| teams =
- Hanshin Tigers ({{baseball year|2015}} – )
| highlights =
}}
{{nihongo|Shōya Yamamoto |山本 翔也 |Yamamoto Shōya|born October 12, 1988 in Takefu, Fukui}} is a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball pitcher for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan's Central League.
Early baseball career
During his younger years, Shōya's interest in baseball was largely influenced by his father who was an avid fan of the Hanshin Tigers.{{cite news|title = ドラフト5巡目「山本翔也」、熱烈虎ファンの父の"思い"背負って飛び立つ"親子鷹"|url = http://sankei.jp.msn.com/west/west_sports/news/131215/wsp13121512000003-n2.htm|publisher = Sankei Sports|date = 2013-12-15|accessdate = 2014-01-25|url-status = dead|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20131217041424/http://sankei.jp.msn.com/west/west_sports/news/131215/wsp13121512000003-n2.htm|archivedate = 2013-12-17}} He started pitching in 3rd grade for the Takefu Blue Wave (little league) under the supervision of his father who was the team's manager,{{cite news|title = 阪神ドラフト5位指名の山本「ビックリ!ゲームしていた」|url = http://www.sanspo.com/baseball/news/20131025/tig13102505010005-n1.html|publisher = Sankei Sports|date = 2013-10-25|accessdate = 2014-01-24|url-status = dead|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20140201233727/http://www.sanspo.com/baseball/news/20131025/tig13102505010005-n1.html|archivedate = 2014-02-01}} and continued playing for the "Takefu Boys" during junior high.{{cite news|title = 山本阪神5位 県勢2投手ドラフト指名|url = http://www.chunichi.co.jp/kenmin-fukui/article/kenmin-news/CK2013102502000209.html|publisher = Chunichi News|date = 2013-10-25|accessdate = 2013-11-06|url-status = dead|archiveurl = https://archive.today/20131106130319/http://www.chunichi.co.jp/kenmin-fukui/article/kenmin-news/CK2013102502000209.html|archivedate = 2013-11-06}}
During his first year at Fukui University of Technology & High School, his team represented the prefecture to the Summer Koshien tournament, although he did not appear in any games. He played as the team's ace from the autumn of his 1st year until he graduated.{{cite news|title = ＜ドラフト＞1軍登板 山本投手に期待|url = http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/e-japan/fukui/news/20131024-OYT8T01415.htm|publisher = Yomiuri Shimbun|date = 2013-10-25| accessdate = 2013-10-31}}
He entered Hosei University in Tokyo and continued pitching for its baseball team where he played with soon-to-be Hanshin teammate Kazuhito Futagami. His team was one of the regulars in the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League, but his game appearances were limited to only 6 innings (4 games) during his entire stay in university.{{cite news |title= ドラフト県勢 1軍へ意欲 福井 |url= http://sankei.jp.msn.com/region/news/131026/fki13102602180001-n1.htm |publisher= Sankei Sports |date= 2013-10-26 |accessdate= 2013-10-31 |url-status= dead|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20131028185253/http://sankei.jp.msn.com/region/news/131026/fki13102602180001-n1.htm |archivedate= 2013-10-28}}
After graduation in 2010, he joined Oji Holdings Corp to play for the industrial leagues. In his 1st year, he was given the Best Pitcher Award during the Aichi Federation President's Cup, and from then onwards, he led his team to the intercity baseball tournament for 3 years straight.
Hanshin Tigers
He was the Hanshin Tigers' 5th round pick in the 2013 Nippon Professional Baseball draft.
=2014=
He was able to immediately join the main roster's spring training camp in February, which was considered quite an achievement for a rookie who was a 5th round pick or lower.{{cite news|title = 【阪神】キャンプ1、2軍振り分け発表|url = http://www.nikkansports.com/baseball/news/f-bb-tp0-20140123-1247847.html|publisher = Nikkan Sports|date = 2014-01-23| accessdate = 2014-01-26}} Afterwards, he was given the chance to pitch in 4 pre-season exhibition games. On March 11, he suffered his first loss when he surrendered a home run to Giants rookie Seiji Kobayashi, and eventually lost his chance to make it to the opening day roster when he finished the preseason games with a 13.5 ERA.{{cite news|title = 阪神和田監督7連敗に「申し訳ない」|url = http://www.nikkansports.com/baseball/news/p-bb-tp0-20140311-1268624.html|publisher =Nikkan Sports|date = 2014-03-11| accessdate = 2014-03-29}}
He played in western league (farm) games for most of the season, but he finally made it to the main roster on July 14, replacing Kosuke Katoh. He debuted on July 27 as a reliever against the Hiroshima Carps, where he faced 2 batters and struck out one. Four days later however, he gave away his first run when he pitched 2/3rds of an inning against the Swallows. Due to his difficulty in pitching against left-handed hitters (3 hits in 4 at-bats), he was demoted back to ni-gun. He spent the remainder of the season pitching in the minors, where he pitched in a total of 34 games and finished with a 1.95 ERA.{{Cite news |title=虎・山本、「対左」として機能せず2軍降格 中西C「使いづらい」 |newspaper=Sankei Sports |date=2014-08-01 |url=http://www.sanspo.com/baseball/news/20140801/tig14080105010007-n1.html |accessdate=2014-10-11}}
=2015=
On 4 July 2015 Yamamoto made his first professional start, pitching 5 innings in a 7-6 win against the Yokohama DeNA BayStars and earning the first win of his career.{{cite news
| author =
| date = 5 July 2015
| title = 若虎山本 腕振った
| trans-title = Young Tiger Yamamoto Flexs Arm
| url =
| language = Japanese
| newspaper = Kobe Shimbun
| page = 9
}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Baseballstats|brm=yamamo000syo}}
{{Hanshin Tigers roster navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yamamoto, Shoya}}
Category:Baseball people from Fukui Prefecture
Category:Japanese baseball players