Atsushi Nomi

Atsushi Nomi (能見 篤史, Nōmi Atsushi, born May 28, 1979) is Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Orix Buffaloes of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He has played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Hanshin Tigers.

Atsushi Nomi
Nomi with the Hanshin Tigers
Orix Buffaloes – No. 26
Pitcher / Coach
Born: (1979-05-28) May 28, 1979
Izushi, Izushi District (present: Toyooka), Hyōgo, Japan
Bats: Left Throws: Left
NPB debut
April 3, 2005, for the Hanshin Tigers
NPB statistics
(through 2020 season)
Win–loss record104-93
Earned run average3.34
Strikeouts1,496
Holds51
Saves2
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Early Baseball Career

Nōmi attended Tottori Jōhoku High School. In his 3rd year, he pitched a perfect game during the Spring Prefecture Tournament. Along with Komoya Tamaguchi and Kei Igawa, they were called the "left-handed high-school trio."

Upon graduation, he joined Osaka Gas where he continued to play as pitcher in the industrial league. Due to injuries and underperformance, he rarely appeared in the team's games and was nicknamed "the phantom pitcher" by zealous Osaka Gas fans.[1] After almost five years, his appearances gradually increased. During the November 2003 non-pro baseball tournament, Nōmi delivered a solid performance in championship game with Nissan Co. However, Osaka Gas lost after Yuuki Itou drove in the winning run in the 11th inning. In 2004, together with soon-to-be teammates Ryo Watanabe and Yasutomo Kubo, Nōmi played for the national team in the 22nd Haarlem Baseball Week where Japan finished 3rd.

Professional career

Hanshin Tigers

Nomi selected Hanshin Tigers in the 2004 NPB draft.[2]

In 2005, In 16 appearances, Nōmi registered a 5.57 ERA and a 1.624 WHIP, allowing 78 hits while striking out 64 for a 4–1 win–loss record.

In 2007, With ace Kei Igawa leaving for Major League Baseball, Hanshin was faced with a shortage of starting pitchers. Nōmi was then given a shot to start several games until the end of April, but he produced a 1–3 record in 5 games, and was reassigned as a reliever. He continued to display a lack of stability on the mound, and after he gave up 5 runs in 1 inning in a May 5 game against the Lotte, he was once again sent to ni-gun. Nōmi returned in August where he won 3 starts, including a complete game, but he suffered a setback in September 11 by surrendered 7 runs in 4 innings. He had 2 more starts after that, but he ended the season in ichi-gun with a 4–4 record.

Nōmi fared better in his ni-gun games, where he won 6 of his 7 starts (2nd highest in the league) with an ERA of 2.51.

In 2008, Nōmi only had one start for the season (May 7 vs. the Giants) and worked as a reliever for 10 more games. He spent most of the year playing in ni-gun and recorded 5 wins and 11 saves in 29 games with a 0.83 ERA and 0.90 WHIP.

In 2009, This year was a breakout year for Nōmi as he made his way back to the Tigers' starting rotation. Despite his reliability on the mound, he couldn't record a win during his starts early in the season due in part to a lack of run support. After earning a loss in a July 4 game against the Swallows where he gave up 4 runs in the 5th inning, Nōmi was demoted to relief in his next 3 appearances. He managed to rebound in his start against the Giants on July 19, where he pitched 9 innings with only 2 hits surrendered and 12 strikeouts, which earned him his first win of the season.

Nōmi went on a streak in his next 11 starts, recording 9 more victories. He finished the season 13–9 and placed 9th in the league in innings pitched (165), 4th in ERA (2.62), and 2nd in strikeouts (154). In addition, he won 4 consecutive starts against Giants pitcher Tetsuya Utsumi and recorded the lowest ERA of 1.45 against the Hiroshima Carp (4 wins in 7 starts).

In 2010, Nōmi fractured his right foot on May 2 while baserunning and was taken off the roster.[3] He underwent rehab for several months and returned on September 9, where he pitched 7 innings against the Dragons and gave up 2 runs with 10 strikeouts. On September 18, he pitched 7 shutout innings in his start against the Giants in Koshien Stadium and recorded his fourth win of the season. His winning streak against the Giants continued on the 29th when he notched his 7th consecutive victory against the Tigers' archrivals since July 2009,[4] which placed 2nd to Shigeru Kobayashi's franchise record of 8 consecutive wins.[5] Nōmi recorded one more win in September and was named the month's MVP. He finished the season 8–0 with an ERA of 2.60.

Pitching at Koshien Stadium, March 2011

In 2011, Nōmi notched his first win during the April 12 season opener against the Carp (7 innings, 3 runs). On May 3, he tied Kobayashi's record of 8 consecutive wins against the Giants but failed to surpass it when he took the loss on June 26 upon surrendering 3 runs in 5 innings. He ended with a 12–9 win–loss record and reached a career high of 200 innings pitched with his lowest WHIP of 1.03.

In 2012, Nōmi again pitched the opening game and continued to produce quality starts during the earlier part of the season. But at midseason he fell into a slump and went on a 3-game losing streak against the Giants whom he usually pitched well against. Nōmi's form improved in August, and he steamrolled through September where he won 3 of his 4 starts with an ERA of 0.55, earning him another MVP of the month award.[6] This became his second season with double digit wins,[7] and Nōmi topped the league in strikeouts and shutout wins.[8]

In 2013, In March, Nōmi participated as a relief pitcher for Japan's National Team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic but was replaced after giving up a 2-run home run to Puerto Rico's outfielder Alex Ríos that ended Japan's 2-time WBC reign.

Nōmi didn't make the opening day roster in 2013 and also incurred a nail injury in April. But on May 6, he hit his first career solo home run off Giants pitcher Shoki Kasahara. According to retired teammate Tomoaki Kanemoto, Nōmi had been doing well during batting practices and was even quoted as wanting to hit a home run at least once. In that same game, he also earned the win by pitching a complete game.[9][10][11] Nōmi improved on past seasons to finish at 11–7 and topped the league in complete games.

In 2014, Nōmi again opened the season with a game against the Giants, but he allowed 10 earned runs in 5 innings as the Tigers lost an early 4-run lead against their arch rivals. His performance began to pick up in May as he recorded double digit strikeouts in 5 consecutive starts,[12][13] beating the previous league record of 4 set by Yutaka Enatsu (1971), Makoto Kito (1994) and Terry Bross (1995).[12]

On September 6, Nōmi reached the 1,000 strikeout mark, making him the fourth-quickest pitcher in franchise history and fifteenth-quickest in NPB history to reach 1,000 strikeouts (1,130.2 innings).[14]

Despite these achievements, Nōmi finished the season with his worst record of 9–13 (most losses in the league) due in part to a lack of stability in the mound. Nōmi did improve during the postseason, where he pitched a stellar second game in the 1st stage of the Climax Series against the Carp (October 12, Koshien). He surrendered 5 hits in 8 shutout innings, and the game ended in a 0–0 deadlock, the first in Central League CS history.[15] Despite the tie, the Tigers advanced to the final stage since they won the 1st game and ties were awarded to the team with the better season record. Nōmi again delivered a quality start in the deciding game of the CS final stage, where he allowed only 2 runs in 5 innings and secured the Tigers' spot in the Japan Series, their first participation since 2005.[16]

Nōmi earned his domestic free agency option during offseason but he decided to stay with the Tigers and inked a 3-year contract for an estimated 450 million yen.[17][18]

In 2015, The 2015 Tigers placed 3rd in the Central League. Nōmi finished 2015 with an 11–13 record in 27 games (25 starts). His 13 losses were the most in the league that season. However, Nōmi added to his streak of 5 consecutive seasons with at least one complete-game shutout.

On December 2, 2020, he become a free agent.[19]

Orix Buffaloes

On December 8, 2020, Nomi signed with the Orix Buffaloes of NPB as a player-coach.[20]

References
  1. 後に本人は「5年目までやってダメだったら引退して社業に就くことを真剣に考えていた」と当時を振り返っている『週刊ベースボール』誌の記事より。
  2. "阪神タイガース 選択選手一覧". NPB.jp 日本野球機構 (in Japanese). Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  3. "Default". Sankei Sports. 2010-05-02. Archived from the original on 2012-07-22.
  4. "阪神・能見"巨人キラー"ぶり発揮". Sports Nippon. 2010-09-29. Archived from the original on 2010-10-03.
  5. Nikkan Sports 2010-09-27 付紙面 猛虎データセンター
  6. 阪神タイガース公式サイト
  7. 阪神タイガース公式サイト
  8. "能見初の奪三振王、阪神では６年ぶり". Nikkan Sports. 2012-10-10. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
  9. "Ｇ独走許さん！逆転勝ちの阪神・和田監督「きょうは能見に尽きる」". Sports Nippon. 2013-05-06. Retrieved 2013-05-08.
  10. "能見大暴れ「高校２年以来」一発＆完投２勝目". Sports Nippon. 2013-05-07. Retrieved 2013-05-07.
  11. "能見「振ったら当たった」初ＨＲ". Nikkan Sports. 2013-05-06. Retrieved 2013-05-07.
  12. "能見 セ新の5試合連続2ケタ奪三振". 毎日新聞. 2014-06-14. Archived from the original on 2014-08-26. Retrieved 2014-06-22.
  13. "阪神:能見篤史投手 セ新記録の連続試合2桁奪三振". 日刊スポーツ. 2014-06-14. Retrieved 2014-06-22.
  14. "Default". Nikkan Sports. 2014-09-06. Retrieved 2014-09-07.
  15. "Tigers advance to Central League finale despite tie". The Japan Times. 2014-10-12. Retrieved 2014-10-12.
  16. "能見　ＣＳ初勝利　開幕戦10失点ＫＯリベンジ果たした". Sports Nippon. 2014-10-19. Retrieved 2015-02-01.
  17. "Default". Daily Sports. 2014-11-11.
  18. "ＦＡ残留の能見　３年契約締結". Daily Sports. 2014-11-13. Retrieved 2014-11-13.
  19. "2020年度 自由契約選手". NPB.jp 日本野球機構 (in Japanese). Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  20. "能見篤史投手 獲得のお知らせ". オリックスバファローズ オフィシャルサイト (in Japanese). December 8, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
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