Kazuki Yoshimi


Kazuki Yoshimi is a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball pitcher with the Chunichi Dragons in Japan's Central League.

Early career

Yoshimi started playing baseball in Grade 2 of elementary school. At high school, Yoshimi was the ace for :ja:金光大阪中学校・高等学校|Konkō Ōsaka High School and took his team to the second round of the 2002 Japanese High School Baseball Invitational Tournament.
After graduating high school, Yoshimi joined Toyota's corporate baseball team where he was regarded as one of the best players in industrial league baseball. During this time, he underwent surgery on his elbow which reduced the hype surrounding him but at the 2005 draft, he was drafted by the Chunichi Dragons after "expressing intention" to join the club.

Professional career

On 10 September 2006, Yoshimi was registered for the first-team for the first time and debuted against the Hiroshima Toyo Carp with an untarnished 1.1 innings. On September 18, Yoshimi would claim his first win, this time against the Yokohama DeNA Baystars where he pitching 5 innings for 2 earned runs. In the 2006 Japan Series he was used in relief.
In 2007, Yoshimi was named MVP of the :ja:ファーム日本選手権||Japanese Farm Team National Championships and would later take part in the Dominican Winter League where he would pitch for Estrellas Orientales.