Akinori Otsuka...he and wife Akemi have one son, Toranosuke (8), and one daughter, Hikaru (5)...attended Yokoshiba High
School and Tokai University...joined Los Angeles' Kazuhisa Ishii and Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki as just the third Japanese player to sign
with a Major League team under the U.S.-Japan Protocol posting system...hobbies include golf and ping pong...signed by Padres
scout Randy Smith.
2006
Otsuka's 2.11 ERA was the eighth lowest for an American League reliever and he was 11th in the league with 32 saves...missed the final two weeks because of migraine headaches, but in his last 17 games he was 11-12 in save opportunities with a 1.15 ERA...ranked fifth in the AL with 15 saves since the All-Star break...his 32 saves are eighth in single-season club history...is one of only 6 pitchers in club history to record 30-or-more saves in a single season...was 2-4 with a 2.04 ERA (11 ER/48 2/3 IP) with 10 walks, 35 strikeouts and 31 saves since April 29 after moving into the closer's role...held opponents to a .241 batting average...made five appearances for Japan in the World Baseball Classic, going 0-0, 1.59 (1 ER/ 5 2/3 IP) with one save -- earned in the WBC championship game vs. Cuba on March 20.
2005
Acquired by Texas along with RHP Adam Eaton and C Billy Killian from San Diego in
exchange for RHP Chris Young, INF Adrian Gonzalez and OF Terrmel Sledge on
January 4, 2006...went 2-8, 3.59 (25 ER/62.2 IP) with one save and 60 strikeouts in
66 relief appearances...tied for 6th in the National League with 22 holds...has 56
holds since entering the majors in 2004, trailing only Tom Gordon (69) during that
span...named to Japan's provisional roster for the World Baseball Classic.
Summary: Tossed 5.2 scoreless innings over first 5 appearances, from April 4-
17...allowed 3 earned runs in 2.2 innings over next 3 outings, from April 23-29, to
raise season ERA to 3.24...took losses in back-to-back outings on April 20-26...tossed 8.0 scoreless innings over 7 outings from April
29-May 9, lowering ERA to 1.65...went 0-1, 15.75 (7 ER/4.0 IP) over 6 appearances from May 13-25, raising ERA from 1.65 to season-
high 4.43...recorded an 0.86 ERA (3 ER/31.1 IP) over 29 outings from May 30-August 20 to lower ERA from 4.43 to 2.26...recorded
9.0 scoreless innings over 8 outings from May 30-June 16 and 11.2 scoreless frames over 11 outings from June 25-July
29...allowed 12 earned runs in 11.0 innings (9.82 ERA) over final 16 relief appearances to raise ERA from 2.26 to 3.59...allowed a
run in 16 of 66 outings...allowed 4 of 16 inherited runners to score (25%) and was 1-7 in save opportunities...first batters hit .233 (13-
58)...held opposing batters to a .234 average, .207 (25-121) against left-handers and .263 (30-114) against right-handers...went 2-
0, 1.23 (5 ER/36.2 IP) in 36 outings at home and 0-8, 6.92 (20 ER/26.2 IP) in 30 road contests...held opposing batters to a .157 (20-
127) average at home, while opposing batters hit .324 (35-108) on the road.
2005 Notes: Earned lone save on June 3 vs. Chicago (NL)...picked up wins on May 3 vs. Colorado and September 18 vs.
Washington...tossed season-high 2.0 innings on 3 occasions-April 29 vs. Arizona, July 22 at Philadelphia and August 20 at
Atlanta...recorded season-high 3 strikeouts on June 11 vs. Chicago (AL)...posted a 1.43 ERA (1 ER/8.0 IP) with 13 strikeouts in 8
interleague outings...held American League batters to a .143 (4-28) average...opposing batters hit just .171 (12-70) with runners in
scoring position...went 1-0, 1.29 (1 ER/7.0 IP) in 8 appearances against Colorado...was 0-4, 74.25 (11 ER/1.1 IP) in 6 games at
Arizona's Chase Field...if those 6 outings were removed from Otsuka's totals, ERA would have been 2.05 (14 ER/61.1 IP).
2004
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Was signed in the offseason after playing seven years in the Japanese league... made his Major League debut April 6 at Los Angeles and suffered the loss allowing one run in 1.1 innings... tallied his first-ever win in the Major Leagues April 24 at Arizona with a scoreless frame... earned his first Major League save April 30 vs. the New York Mets tossing a perfect ninth inning... finished with a 7-2 record, tying Scott Linebrink for the bullpen-high in wins and the most by a Padre reliever since Kevin Walker won seven in 2000.
HOLD IT: Led the National League in holds with 34 and trailed only the New York Yankee's Tom Gordon (36) for the Major League lead... tallied the win (seven), save (two) or hold (34) in 43 of his 73 outings.
NICE STRETCH: From June 21-July 31 the Padres went 17-2 in his 19 appearances... included in that streak the Padres won nine consecutive games from June 21-July 6, during in which he went 1-0 with four holds.
ROAD WARRIOR: Appeared in 73 games in 2004, including 37 on the road where he posted a 1.36 ERA (6 ER/39.2 IP)... posted a 3-2 road record and held opposing hitters to a .189 average... struck out 44 hitters while walking just 15... had a stretch of nine scoreless road appearances from May 19-June 16 (9.1 IP).
RIGHT VS. LEFT: Held right-handers to a .183 average (26-for-142) but surrendered five of his six home runs to righties... left-handers tallied a .214 average (30-for-140) but connected for just one home run.
STRONG FINISH: Posted a 0.98 ERA (3 ER/27.2 IP) in his final two months of the season (August -September, did not appear in October)... in August he appeared in nine games and finished the month with a 1.50 ERA (2 ER/12.0 IP) striking out 18... he showed no signs of slowing down in September when he went 1-0 with a 0.57 ERA (1 ER/15.2 IP) in 14 games... did not allow a run in his final 13 appearances of the season (14.2 IP)
