View source for Toshiya Sugiuchi

{{Short description|Japanese baseball player (born 1980)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2013}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
| name          = Toshiya Sugiuchi
| image         = Toshiya Sugiuchi on March 24, 2012.jpg
| image_size    = 270px
| caption       = Sugiuchi with the Yomiuri Giants
| team          = Yomiuri Giants
| number        = 101
| position      = [[Starting pitcher]] / Coach
| birth_date    = {{Birth date and age|1980|10|30}}
| birth_place   = [[Kasuga, Fukuoka]], Japan
| bats          = Left-handed
| throws        = Left
| debutleague   = [[Nippon Professional Baseball|NPB]]
| debutdate     = April 1
| debutyear     = 2002
| debutteam     = [[Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks#Fukuoka Daiei Hawks (1988–2004)|Fukuoka Daiei Hawks]]
| statyear      = 2015 season
| statleague    = NPB
| stat1label    = [[Win–loss record (pitching)|Win–loss]]
| stat1value    = 142–77
| stat2label    = [[Earned run average|ERA]]
| stat2value    = 2.95
| stat3label    = [[Strikeout]]s
| stat3value    = 2,156
| teams         =
'''As player''' 
*[[Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks|Fukuoka Daiei Hawks / Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks]] ({{npby|2002}}–{{npby|2011}})
*[[Yomiuri Giants]] ({{npby|2012}}–{{npby|2018}})
'''As coach'''
*Yomiuri Giants ({{npby|2019}}–present)
| awards        = 
* 3× [[Japan Series]] Champion ([[2003 Japan Series|2003]], [[2011 Japan Series|2011]], [[2012 Japan Series|2012]])
* {{npby|2003}} [[Japan Series]] Most Valuable Player
* {{npby|2005}} [[Nippon Professional Baseball Most Valuable Player Award|Pacific League MVP]]
* 2005 [[Eiji Sawamura Award]]
* 2005 [[Best Nine Award]]
* 2005 Pacific League Win Champion
* 2005 [[List of Nippon Professional Baseball earned run average champions|Pacific League ERA Champion]]
* 3× NPB Strikeout Champion ({{npby|2008}}, {{npby|2009}}, {{npby|2012}})
* 7× [[Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star Game|NPB All-Star]] (2005, {{npby|2007}}–2012)
| medaltemplates=
{{MedalCountry | {{flagicon|JPN}} Japan }}
{{MedalSport | Men's Baseball}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[World Baseball Classic]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[2006 World Baseball Classic|2006 San Diego]] | Team }}
{{MedalGold | [[2009 World Baseball Classic|2009 Los Angeles]] | Team }}
}}

{{Nihongo|'''Toshiya Sugiuchi'''|杉内 俊哉|Sugiuchi Toshiya|extra=born October 30, 1980 in [[Kasuga, Fukuoka]], Japan}} is a Japanese baseball player. He is a [[Left-handedness|left-handed]] [[starting pitcher]] for the [[Yomiuri Giants]].

Sugiuchi was the [[Eiji Sawamura Award]] winner in {{npby|2005}}. He has had some of the most international experience of any active [[Nippon Professional Baseball|Japanese baseball]] player, pitching in the [[Baseball at the 2000 Summer Olympics|2000 Sydney]] and [[Baseball at the 2008 Summer Olympics|2008 Beijing Olympics]] as well as the [[2006 World Baseball Classic|2006]] and [[2009 World Baseball Classic|2009]] [[World Baseball Classic]]s.

==Early life==
Suiguchi was born in [[Kasuga, Fukuoka|Kasuga]], and raised in [[Ōnojō, Fukuoka]]. He began playing baseball in the [[fourth grade]] for the Onojo Little League baseball club while attending Onojo Municipal [[Elementary school|Elementary School]] as an [[outfielder]], being converted to [[First baseman|first base]] the following [[Fifth grade|year]]. He became a [[pitcher]] in the [[sixth grade]], leading his team to the Round of 16 in the national tournament as their [[Ace (baseball)|ace]]. He led the city's Onojo Guts to the finals of the national junior tournament while at Ōno Municipal [[Middle school|Junior High School]].

Sugiuchi went on to enroll at [[Kagoshima Prefecture|Kagoshima]] Jitsugyo [[High school|High School]], playing in the [[National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament]] and [[National High School Baseball Championship]] (the two most prominent national tournaments in [[High school baseball in Japan|Japan]], both held at [[Koshien Stadium]]) a total of three times. In the summer of 1998, then-[[Twelfth grade|senior]] Sugiuchi matched up with [[Satsumasendai, Kagoshima|Sendai]] Senior High School ace Hiroshi Kisanuki (currently with the [[Yomiuri Giants]]), a highly touted draft prospect, in the finals of the Kagoshima Tournament, defeating the school 3–1 and earning a berth in the national championship.

Sugiuchi attracted national attention when he threw a 16-[[strikeout]] [[no-hitter]] in Kagoshima Jitsugyo's first game of the 80th National High School Baseball Championship against [[Hachinohe Institute of Technology]] First High School.<ref>[http://www.t3.rim.or.jp/~sports/latest/hs.html "News in High School Baseball"] ''Michiyo's Sports Info Japan''</ref> His success was short-lived, however, as Kagoshima Jitsugyo matched up with powerhouse [[Yokohama]] Senior High School (the East [[Kanagawa Prefecture|Kanagawa]] champions) in the second round. Yokohama Senior High's [[Batting order (baseball)|lineup]], stocked with star players—the likes of [[Daisuke Matsuzaka]], [[Taketoshi Gotoh]], Masaaki Koike and Yoshio Koyama—[[Glossary of baseball (T)#tee off|teed off]] on Sugiuchi's [[curveball]], touching him up for six runs in eight [[inning]]s (Matsuzaka hit a [[home run]]).

While it was rumored that several NPB teams were considering picking him in the 1998 NPB [[Draft (sports)|amateur draft]], Sugiuchi decided against declaring for the draft when his high school [[Coach (baseball)|coach]] advised him that he would likely go no higher than the fourth round, instead opting to join an industrial [[Sports league|league]] (a collection of amateur teams, each consisting wholly of [[Employment#Employee|employees]] of the owner [[corporation]]) team. He initially received an offer from [[Kyushu Railway Company|JR Kyushu]] (Kyushu Railway Company) but eventually went on to join [[Mitsubishi Heavy Industries]]&ndash;[[Nagasaki]].

As a player who was born in the 1980 Japanese academic year and participated in the 1998 Summer High School Baseball Championship, Sugiuchi is considered a member of the "[[Matsuzaka Generation]]".

==Industrial league career==
Following an unspectacular first year in the industrial leagues, Sugiuchi and teammate and [[Right-handedness|right-hander]] Takayuki Goto led Mitsubishi Heavy Industries-Nagasaki to a berth in the Intercity Baseball Tournament in 2000, but the team was knocked out in the [[Single-elimination tournament|quarter-finals]] against [[Mitsubishi Motors]] [[Kawasaki, Kanagawa|Kawasaki]] (currently [[Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation|Mitsubishi Fuso]] Kawasaki) when Sugiuchi gave up back-to-back home runs, the first a game-tying three-[[Run (baseball)|run]] shot and the second a [[Glossary of baseball (S)#solo home run|solo arch]].

Nevertheless, Sugiuchi was named to the [[Japan national baseball team|Japanese national team]] to play in the upcoming [[2000 Summer Olympics|2000 Sydney Olympics]] following the tournament (Japan finished fourth).<ref>[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/so20000913b1.html "Matsuzaka, Nakamura give Japan a shot at gold in baseball"] ''The Japan Times''</ref>

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries-Nagasaki earned a berth in the Industrial League All-Japan Baseball Championship in 2001. Sugiuchi held [[Nissan Motors]] to one run over eight innings in the semi-finals, and his team went on to win their first tournament title.

Suiguchi spent a total of three years in the industrial leagues, pitching despite recurring [[shoulder problems|shoulder issues]] and working on his [[fastball]] [[velocity]] until it clocked {{convert|149|km/h|mph|0|abbr=on}} (his fastball had hovered around {{convert|135|to|140|km/h|mph|abbr=on}} in high school). The [[Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks#Fukuoka Daiei Hawks (1988–2004)|Fukuoka Daiei Hawks]] (currently the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks) selected Sugiuchi in the third round of the 2001 NPB amateur draft held that [[Autumn|fall]],<ref>[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sb20020329b4.html "Terahara not ready yet"] ''The Japan Times''</ref> presenting him with the uniform number 47, the same number as former Hawks left-hander Kimiyasu Kudo. (Sugiuchi had idolized Kudo as a child.)

==Professional career==

===Early years: 2002–2004===
Sugiuchi finished with just two [[Win (baseball)|wins]] in his [[rookie]] [[Season (sports)|season]] (2002) in the [[Professional baseball|pros]]. During the [[Season (sports)#Off-season|off-season]], he made up his mind to abandon the [[Pitching position|windup]] and pitch exclusively from the stretch, a decision that led to a breakout sophomore campaign in which he put up 10 wins as a member of the starting rotation alongside rookies [[Tsuyoshi Wada]] and [[Nagisa Arakaki]].<ref>[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sb20031026a1.html "Hawks trying to hold off Tigers"] ''The Japan Times''</ref> Following the Hawks' [[Pacific League|league]] title, Sugiuchi started two games in the [[2003 Japan Series]], winning both starts and being named the Japan Series [[Most Valuable Player]].<ref>[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sb20031028a1.html "Hawks blast Tigers, wrap up Japan Series"] ''The Japan Times''</ref> He married [[reporter]] Erika Ueba during the off-season.

Coming off of a season in which he went 10–8 with a 3.38 [[Earned run average|ERA]] and 169 strikeouts, Sugiuchi struggled to live up to expectations to begin the {{npby|2004}}. On June 1, he gave up seven runs in the first two innings in a regular-season start against the [[Chiba Lotte Marines]], slamming both of his fists into the [[Dugout (baseball)|dugout]] [[Bench (furniture)|bench]] in frustration and breaking the fifth [[Metacarpus|metacarpal bone]] on both hands. He immediately underwent surgery at a hospital, where it was said that he would be sidelined for three months.<ref>[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sb20040605a2.html "Sugiuchi's costly tantrum"] ''The Japan Times''</ref> The Hawks organization fined Sugiuchi 1 million yen for "conduct unbecoming of a professional baseball pitcher".

===2005===
Sugiuchi rebounded in the {{npby|2005}} season,<ref>[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sb20050904wg.html "How to beat the high price of Japanese pro baseball tickets"] ''The Japan Times''</ref> winning the [[Pacific League]] MVP award for the months of April and May<ref>[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sb20050604j1.html "Giants' Mullen whiffs 11 Hawks to pick up first win this season"] ''The Japan Times''</ref> and racking up his first 10 wins at the fastest pace of his career. He finished the season with an 18–4 [[Pitchers of record|record]], a 2.11 ERA, 218 strikeouts<ref>[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sb20060330j5.html "Hawks hoping to get over playoff hump"] ''The Japan Times''</ref> and 43 walks (a [[strikeout-to-walk ratio]] of 5.07), leading the league in wins and ERA and becoming the fourth pitcher in Hawks franchise history to record 200 or more strikeouts in a single season. He also beat out teammate and resident staff ace [[Kazumi Saito]], who had a stellar season himself with a 16–1 record and a 2.92 ERA,<ref>[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sb20060330j3.html "SubMarine no longer under radar"] ''The Japan Times''</ref> in being voted to the Eiji Sawamura and league Most Valuable Player awards.<ref>[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sb20051025a1.html "Sugiuchi picks up Sawamura Award"] ''The Japan Times''</ref><ref>[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sb20051105j1.html "Kanemoto, Sugiuchi garner top honors in Central, Pacific"] ''The Japan Times''</ref> He also went the entire season without recording a [[Hit by pitch|hit-batter]], [[wild pitch]], [[balk]], or [[Error (baseball)|error]].

===2006===
In {{npby|2006}}, Sugiuchi was named to the Japanese national team to play in the inaugural World Baseball Classic. However, he went 0–1 in two appearances with a 5.40 ERA, being charged with the [[Loss (baseball)|loss]] in Japan's [[2006 World Baseball Classic – Pool 1|second-round]] [[2006 World Baseball Classic – Pool 1#South Korea 2, Japan 1|match]] against [[South Korea national baseball team|South Korea]]. He began strong but struggled as the season went on, putting up just 7 wins (5 losses) with a 3.53 ERA in {{frac|132|2|3}} [[Innings pitched|innings]].<ref>[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sb20061221j1.html "Lefty Sugiuchi re-signs with Hawks"] ''The Japan Times''</ref> He took the mound in the Hawks' first game of the second stage of the Pacific League playoffs, but left the game after giving up two runs in the first three innings and was charged with the loss.

===2007===
Sugiuchi had another comeback year in {{npby|2007}}, continuing his peculiar tradition of having a good season every other year. He became the Hawks' ''de facto'' ace and went 15–6 with a 2.46 ERA, striking out 187 (the second-highest total of his career) in a career-high {{frac|197|2|3}} innings with five complete games and three shutouts.  His presence was much-needed after an injury to the team's ace, [[Kazumi Saito]].  From April 25 until August 4, Sugiuchi recorded quality starts in 15 of the 16 starts he made, with five complete games and two shutouts.  He would not go longer than seven innings for the rest of the season, but did record a Game 2 victory against the [[Chiba Lotte Marines]] in the first stage of the Pacific League Climax Series to force a decisive Game 3.

===2008===
[[Image:Sugiuchi Toshiya, Beijing 2008.jpg|thumb|Sugiuchi pitching for [[Japan national baseball team|Japan]] in the [[Baseball at the 2008 Summer Olympics|2008 Summer Olympics]].]]
Sugiuchi put up another solid season in {{npby|2008}}, going just 10–8 (partly due to the time he missed while pitching for the national team in the [[2008 Summer Olympics|2008 Beijing Olympics]]<ref>[http://www.npbtracker.com/2008/08/softbank-fails-to-add-a-bat/ "SoftBank Fails to Add a Bat"] ''NPB Tracker''</ref>) but striking out a league-leading 213 with a 2.66 ERA while anchoring a rotation that was short Saito and Wada for much of the season.<ref>[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sb20081009j3.html "Hurler Iwakuma finishes first in PL"] ''The Japan Times''</ref> It marked the first time in his seven-year career that he had recorded double-digit wins or thrown more than 140 innings in consecutive seasons.

On October 7, the Hawks sent Sugiuchi to the mound in their regular-season game against the [[Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles]] in the hopes of avoiding a last-place finish in the pennant race. He and young Eagles [[Glossary of baseball (H)#hurler|hurler]] [[Masahiro Tanaka]] both threw nine [[Shutout#Baseball|shutout]] innings, sending the game to extra-innings, but the Eagles won in twelve innings. The Hawks finished the season with the worst record in the league for the first time since 1996.<ref>[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sb20081008j1.html "Eagles top Hawks in Oh's final game"] ''The Japan Times''</ref>

===2009===
[[File:HAWKS-No47-Toshiya.Sugiuchi.JPG|200px|thumb|Sugiuchi during his tenure with the [[Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks]] in {{npby|2009}}]]
In {{npby|2009}}, Sugiuchi was selected to the national team to play in the second World Baseball Classic,<ref>[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sb20090223o3.xml "Japan's final roster"] ''The Japan Times''</ref> his fourth time playing in major international competition. He was used solely as a [[relief pitcher|reliever]], pitching {{frac|6|1|3}} hitless innings in five appearances. He came on to replace Eagles ace [[Hisashi Iwakuma]] in the [[2009 World Baseball Classic – Round 2#Japan 5, Cuba 0|second match]] against [[Cuba national baseball team|Cuba]] in the [[2009 World Baseball Classic – Round 2|second round]], throwing three shutout innings and being credited with a [[Save (baseball)|save]].<ref>[http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090319&content_id=4027068&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb "Stage set: Classic ready for Hollywood"] ''MLB.com''</ref> He was also used as a [[left-handed specialist]] in the [[2009 World Baseball Classic#Finals|tournament finals]] against South Korea.

On April 5, in his first start of the regular season against the [[Orix Buffaloes]], Sugiuchi struck out five over {{frac|7|2|3}} innings to bring his career strikeout total to 1003.<ref>[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sb20090406j1.html "Nakamura powers Rakuten to historic sweep"] ''The Japan Times''</ref> He was the fourth-fastest pitcher in NPB history to amass 1,000 career strikeouts (following [[Hideo Nomo]], [[Kazuhisa Ishii]] and [[Yutaka Enatsu]]), doing so in {{frac|979|1|3}} innings. He became the 318th pitcher in Japanese professional baseball to amass 1000 career innings in a start against the Eagles on April 26, but gave up four runs (three [[Earned run|earned]]) over seven innings en route to his first loss of the season. He had a strong outing on May 10 against the [[Saitama Seibu Lions]], striking out 12 over eight innings and allowing just one run<ref>[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sb20090511j1.html "Fighters sweep Buffaloes for share of PL lead"] ''The Japan Times''</ref> and improving his record to 11–0 in the month of May since 2007.

===2010===
Starting off the 2010 campaign as the Opening Day Starter once again, Sugiuchi recorded a [[quality start]] against the [[Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters]] and got the win over Nippon Ham super-ace, [[Yu Darvish]].  Sugiuchi continued his winning ways, but was not as dominant as he had been in the past.  Always a bit of a slow starter, he put together a fairly good April, recording a complete-game shutout of the Fighters on the 9th, and he also struck out at least nine batters in all of his starts during the month.  However, in his first and last starts of the month, Sugiuchi gave up five runs.  Despite having a rough start on May 16, an interleague game against the [[Tokyo Yakult Swallows]], he still remained undefeated in the month, running his record to 13–0 since '07.

Sugiuchi's troubles came to a head with a loss on June 20 against the [[Saitama Seibu Lions]].  In that game, he was hit for six runs on seven hits with four walks and four strikeouts in just three innings.  It was his shortest start in the regular season since August 20, 2007.  Since then, he has recorded quality starts in each of his past four starts, with two complete games against Nippon Ham (a second complete-game shutout) and Seibu.  He also started the second game of the 2010 All-Star Series, following the lead of his teammate, [[Tsuyoshi Wada]], who started Game 1.

As 2010 started its Pacific League's end of season race between the Hawks, Lions and Marines, Sugiuchi hit a minor slump just as his team needed him most. Between August 21 and September 18, he had 4 winless games (2 losts, 2 no results). His next game on Sept 25 was at Sapporo against the Fighters, and was the Hawks last second game of the regular season. The Hawks needed a win to maintain their lead in the league against Lions. He faced off against Fighters' ace Darvish and both pitchers went the whole nine innings. In the end, Sugiuchi prevailed as Darvish gave up one run and he gave up none while striking out nine Fighters. A much relieved Sugiuchi then famously broke down in tears at the Hero's interview as he admitted that he finally delivered during the pennant race.

==Pitching style==
Sugiuchi is a left-handed pitcher with a clean three-quarters delivery that he repeats well from pitch to pitch.<ref>[https://www.espn.com/mlb/worldclassic2009/columns/story?id=4012901 "Arms in WBC who could make it in bigs"] ''The Japan Times''</ref> Even by Japanese standards, his frame is diminutive; he is listed at just 175&nbsp;cm  (5&nbsp;ft 9 in) and {{convert|82|kg|lb|abbr=on}}. Despite such disadvantage in size, Sugiuchi is a prolific strikeout pitcher, averaging more than a strikeout per inning for his career (9.46 [[Strikeouts per 9 innings pitched|strikeouts per nine innings]] at the end of 2012 season). He throws a [[four-seam fastball]] sitting in 86-89&nbsp;mph (tops out at 93&nbsp;mph), complementing it with a solid-average [[Slider (baseball)|slider]], a solid-average [[changeup]], and an occasional [[curveball]].

Sugiuchi is a somewhat unusual pitcher in that he pitches exclusively from the stretch. While he has a relatively slow move to the plate, he has solid command over all of his pitches and is adept at using his [[Baseball glove|glove]] to hide the [[Baseball (ball)|ball]] throughout his delivery.

Sugiuchi has also been dubbed "Mr. May" by the Japanese media for the success he has enjoyed in the month of May during his professional career. He has won Pacific League MVP awards for the month of May three times (2005, 2007, 2008) and is 13–0 in May since the 2007 season.<ref>[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sb20080607n1.html "Sugiuchi Hawks' main man in May"] ''The Japan Times''</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Toshiya Sugiuchi}}
{{Portal|Biography|Baseball|Japan}}
{{Baseballstats|mlb=493152|brm=sugiuc001tos}}
* [https://npb.jp/bis/players/31935115.html Career statistics - NPB.jp] {{in lang|ja}}

{{Japan Series MVP}}
{{Eiji Sawamura Award}}
{{Pacific League MVPs}}
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{{Japan roster 2006 World Baseball Classic}}
{{Japan baseball roster 2008 Summer Olympics}}
{{Japan roster 2009 World Baseball Classic}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sugiuchi, Toshiya}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1980 births]]
[[Category:People from Kasuga, Fukuoka]]
[[Category:People from Ōnojō]]
[[Category:Baseball people from Fukuoka Prefecture]]
[[Category:Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers]]
[[Category:Baseball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic baseball players for Japan]]
[[Category:Fukuoka Daiei Hawks players]]
[[Category:Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks players]]
[[Category:Yomiuri Giants players]]
[[Category:Nippon Professional Baseball MVP Award winners]]
[[Category:2006 World Baseball Classic players]]
[[Category:2009 World Baseball Classic players]]
[[Category:2013 World Baseball Classic players]]
[[Category:Japanese baseball coaches]]
[[Category:Nippon Professional Baseball coaches]]
[[Category:World Baseball Classic players of Japan]]