Nao Higashihama


Nao Higashihama is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball.

Early Baseball career

Higashihama pitched in the 3rd grade spring 80th Japanese High School Baseball Invitational Tournament as Okinawa Shogaku High School ace pitcher and won.
He was selected as the Japan national baseball team in the 37th and 38th USA VS Japan Collegiate All-Star Series and 2009 Asian Baseball Championship while attending Asia University.

Professional career

On October 25, 2012, Higashihama was drafted by the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks first overall pick in the 2012 Nippon Professional Baseball draft.
On April 11, 2013, Higashihama pitched his debut game as a starting pitcher against the Orix Buffaloes.
On April 23, he won the game for the first time. In 2013 season, he finished the regular season with a 5 Games pitched, a 3–1 Win–loss record, a 2.83 ERA, a 25 strikeouts in 28 2/3 innings.
In 2014 season, Higashihama finished the regular season with a 7 Games pitched, a 2–2 Win–loss record, a 3.82 ERA, a 30 strikeouts in 35 1/3 innings. And he pitched in the 2014 Japan Series and recorded a hold.
In 2015 season, Higashihama finished the regular season with a 6 Games pitched, a 1–2 Win–loss record, a 4.82 ERA, a 23 strikeouts in 28 innings. And he was selected as the Japan Series roster in the 2015 Japan Series.
In 2016 season, Higashihama finished the regular season with a 23 Games pitched, a 9–6 Win–loss record, a 3.00 ERA, a 100 strikeouts in 135 innings.
In 2017 season, Higashihama finished the regular season with a 16–5 Win–loss record, a 2.64 ERA, a 139 strikeouts in 160 innings and he won the 2017 Pacific League the most wins Champion. And he pitched as a starting pitcher in the 2017 Japan Series.
On May 26, 2018, Higashihama was diagnosed with right shoulder dysfunction and spent two months in rehabilitation. On August 7, he returned in the game against the Chiba Lotte Marines. In 2018 season, he finished the regular season with a 17 Games pitched, a 7–5 Win–loss record, a 3.32 ERA, a 83 strikeouts in 103 innings. On October 10, he was selected Japan national baseball team at the 2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series. On October 31, Higashihama pitched as a starting pitcher and won the game for the first time in the Japan Series.
On June 5, 2019, Higashihama had right elbow surgery and spent the rest of the season on rehabilitation. In 2019 season, he finished the regular season with a 7 Games pitched, a 2–2 Win–loss record, a 6.37 ERA, a 26 strikeouts in 35 1/3 innings.