Globe icon
Login icon
Recap icon
Search icon
Tickets icon
News
Rule Changes
Probable Pitchers
Starting Lineups
Transactions
Injury Report
World Baseball Classic
MLB Draft
All-Star Game
MLB Life
MLB Pipeline
Postseason History
Podcasts
Watch
Video
Search
Statcast
MLB Network
MLB.TV
Buy MLB.TV Postseason Package
Watch & Listen
Help Center
Scores
Schedule
2024 Regular Season
2024 Postseason
2025 Spring Training
MLB Events
Team by Team Schedule
Stats
Statcast Leaders
MLB Statcast
Baseball Savant
Top Prospect Stats
Standings
Youth
Play Ball
Youth Baseball & Softball
Players
Prospect Rankings
Depth Charts
MLB Players Association
Negro Leagues
MLB Play
Beat the Streak
Immaculate Grid
Trivia
Pickle
By the Numbers
Diamond Decisions
Bingo
MLB.TV
Buy MLB.TV Offseason Package
Watch & Listen
MLB.TV Partners
Link Account
Help Center
Tickets
Buy on SeatGeek
Sell on SeatGeek
Season Tickets
Single Game Tickets
Group Tickets
Special Ticket Offers
VIP Ticket Packages
MLB Students
MLB Tourism
MLB World Tour
Ticket Terms & Conditions
Shop
MLB Online Shop
Auction
Gift Cards
MLB NYC Flagship Store
European Shop
Teams
AL East
Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore
Boston Red Sox
Boston
New York Yankees
NY Yankees
Tampa Bay Rays
Tampa Bay
Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto
AL Central
Chicago White Sox
Chi White Sox
Cleveland Guardians
Cleveland
Detroit Tigers
Detroit
Kansas City Royals
Kansas City
Minnesota Twins
Minnesota
AL West
Athletics
Athletics
Houston Astros
Houston
Los Angeles Angels
LA Angels
Seattle Mariners
Seattle
Texas Rangers
Texas
NL East
Atlanta Braves
Atlanta
Miami Marlins
Miami
New York Mets
NY Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia
Washington Nationals
Washington
NL Central
Chicago Cubs
Chi Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati
Milwaukee Brewers
Milwaukee
Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh
St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis
NL West
Arizona Diamondbacks
Arizona
Colorado Rockies
Colorado
Los Angeles Dodgers
LA Dodgers
San Diego Padres
San Diego
San Francisco Giants
San Francisco
ES
search-21540
Sign in
MLB.TV
Tickets
Shop
News
Watch
Scores
Schedule
Stats
Standings
Youth
Players
MLB Play
Teams
ES
Arrow Expand icon
Arrow Contract icon
arrow-down
Arrow Down icon
X icon
Instagram icon
Tiktok icon
YouTube icon
Close icon
Keiichi Yabu
#22
P
B/T: R/R
6' 1"/220
Follow
Following
Keiichi Yabu
#22
P
Summary
Stats
Shop
Batting
Pitching
Career Regular Season
G
W-L
ERA
IP
SO
WHIP
100
7-6
4.00
126.0
92
1.47
G
W-L
ERA
IP
SO
WHIP
100
7-6
4.00
126.0
92
1.47
Career Regular Season
AB
AVG
HR
RBI
SB
OPS
2
.000
0
0
0
.333
AB
AVG
HR
RBI
SB
OPS
2
.000
0
0
0
.333
Keiichi Yabu Bio
Fullname:
Keiichi Yabu
Born:
9/28/1968 in Mie, Japan
College:
Tokyo Keizai University, Tokyo Keizai University, JPN
Debut:
4/09/2005
View More Bio Info +
Keiichi Yabu
Attended Shingu High School and Tokyo Keizai University...was top draft pick of Hanshin Tigers in 1994...married (Yukik, Dec. 9, 1994)...daughter (Kanako, April 3, 1998)...2 sons (Tomoki, Sept. 22, 1995 and Masahiro, Jan. 22, 2003).
2008
Yabu was non-roster invitee to Spring Training and earned spot on club's Opening Day roster...went 3-6 with 3.57 ERA (27er, 68.0ip) in 60 relief appearances for San Francisco... became 4th Japanese-born player in Giants history, joining Masanori Murakami (1964-65) and outfielders Tsuyoshi Shinjo (2002) and Dave Roberts (2007-present)...posted best ERA among qualifying SF relievers, and paced 'pen in innings pitched, while ranking 4th in games...inherited 41 runners (2nd-most on Giants' staff behind Jack Taschner, 57), stranding 77.3%...was unscored upon in 39 of 60 appearances...tossed more than 1.0 inning on 23 occasions, posting 1.65 ERA (8er, 43.2ip) when pitching more than 1.0 frame...was extremely tough on right-handed hitters, holding them to .181 clip (30-for-166), 12th-lowest figure among NL relievers (min. 150 BF)... forged 1.83 ERA (8er, 39.1ip) and .193 average against over 1st 29 games, however after June 22 posted 5.97 figure (19er, 28.2p) and .303 average against (36-for-119) over his final 31 contests... with season debut March 31 at Los Angeles-NL, logged his 1st appearance in Majors since Sept. 29, 2005 with Oakland...suffered 1st career loss April 1 at Los Angeles-NL, allowing 2-out, gamewinning infield single to Delwyn Young in 9th inning...collected 1st victory as Giant April 14 vs. Arizona, marking 1st victory by Japanese pitcher in Giants uniform since Masanori Murakami defeated Reds Sept. 30, 1965...1st Japanese player in ML history registered 5-1 ledger over 54 games (1 start) for SF in 1964-65...fashioned 1.10 ERA (2er, 16.1ip) in 11 May contests, holding opponents to .148 clip...was involved in Giants' 7th triple play in club history, May 30 vs. San Diego...threw just 1 pitch to Kevin Kouzmanoff, inducing 5-4-3 triple play (Jose Castillo-Ray Durham-John Bowker)...is only 2nd Japanese-born pitcher in majors to be on mound for such feat (other Hideo Nomo - 1996 with LA)...marked club's 1st triple play since June 14, 1999 at Colorado when Rockies' Edgard Clemente hit into 5-4-3 triple play (Bill Mueller-Jeff Kent-J.T. Snow)...last time feat was accomplished in San Francisco was Oct. 3, 1980 vs. San Diego...missed brief time after being placed on Disabled List July 20 with sprained right middle finger...was reinstated Aug. 6...posted 1.80 ERA (1er, 5.0ip) with 7 K's and 6 BBs in 3 rehab games at triple-A Fresno... allowed just 2 earned runs over his final 9.0 innings (8 game span), dropping season figure from 3.81 to 3.57.
2005
Yabu became the first Japanese player to pitch for Oakland...appeared in 40 games with the A's, all in relief, and was 4-0 with one save, one blown save and a 4.50 ERA...the 40 games were 10 more than his Japanese Leagues high of 30 with Hanshin in 1996...allowed a .287 opponents batting average...allowed 8 of his 16 (50.0%) inherited runners to score and first batters faced were 11-for-32 (.344) with 4 walks and 4 hit by pitches...his 8 hit batters led AL relievers and tied the Oakland record for hit batters by a reliever (also Horacio Piña in 1973)...had a 3.14 ERA (28.2 ip, 10 er) and .250 (26-for-104) opponents average in 20 games in Oakland and a 5.83 ERA (29.1 ip, 19 er) and .319 (38-for-119) opponents average in 20 games on the road...allowed 5 of his 6 home runs on the road...had a 2.73 ERA (33.0 ip, 10 er) in 22 outings when pitching on 3 or more days rest and a 6.84 ERA (25.0 ip, 19 er) in his 18 other outings...tossed 2.0 or more innings in 13 of his 40 outings, including 3.0 or more on 4 occasions...posted an 0.87 ERA (10.1 ip, 1 er) in 6 outings in the month of April but had a 5.29 ERA (47.2 ip, 28 er) the rest of the season...appeared in just 18 of the A's final 92 games...did not pitch over a 12-game span from June 22 to July 5 and went 10 games without pitching from July 26-Aug. 5...made his ML debut on April 9 at Tampa Bay in an 11-2 A's loss...relieved Barry Zito in the 4th inning with the bases loaded and the A's trailing 8-1...allowed all three of his inherited runners to score, including a two-run single to the first batter he faced, Julio Lugo...however, did not allow a run of his own in 3.2 scoreless innings and posted career-high 5 K's...recorded his first ML win on April 22 at Los Angeles (2.0 ip, 1 h)...entered the game in the 7th inning with the A's trailing 3-2 but Scott Hatteberg had a two-run single in the ninth inning for the win...allowed a career-high 7 runs (3 er) in 1.0 inning on May 9 at Boston...tossed a career-high 4.0 innings on May 13 vs. New York-AL, allowing one hit, one walk and one unearned run...was charged with his first and only blown save on May 16 vs. Boston when he allowed a 2-run double to David Ortiz with the A's leading 4-2...the A's came back to score 2 in the 8th to give him his 3rd win and he picked up win number 4 in his next outing on May 20 at San Francisco...lined out in his only ML at bat in that game vs. Giants...recorded his first and only ML save on July 25 vs. Cleveland when he pitched the final 3.0 innings of the A's 13-4 win.
1994
Went 6-9 with a 3.02 ERA in 19 games, all starts, in his final season with Hanshin...in 11 seasons pitching for Hanshin in the Japanese Central League, he compiled an 84-106 record and a 3.54 ERA in 268 games, 236 starts...never had an ERA above 4.17.
1995
Compiled a career best 2.98 ERA which was sixth best in the Central League...also had a career high 196.0 innings pitched...posted a 7-13 record in 27 games, all starts.
1996
Went 11-14 with a 4.01 ERA in 30 games, all starts...established career highs for wins, games, games started and strikeouts (145).
1997
Went 10-12 with a 3.59 ERA in 29 games, 22 starts.
1998
Matched his career high in wins as he was 11-10 with a 3.51 ERA in 24 games, all starts.
1999
Established a career high for losses as he was 6-16 with a 3.95 ERA in 28 games, 27 starts...ranked 10th in the Central League in ERA.
2000
Lost 10 games for the sixth consecutive season as he was 6-10 with a 4.17 ERA in 25 games, 24 starts.
2001
Had career lows in games and games started as he was 0-4 with a 4.09 ERA in 17 games, eight starts.
2002
Finished with a winning record for the second time in his career, posting a 10-6 mark and a 3.14 ERA in 20 games, 15 starts...it was his fourth 10-win season
2003
Finished with a winning record for the second consecutive season, going 8-3 with a 3.96 ERA in 23 games, 15 starts, for Central League Champion Hanshin...the Tigers lost to the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks in the Japan Series, four games to three.
2004
Went 6-9 with a 3.02 ERA in 19 games, all starts, in his final season with Hanshin...in 11 seasons pitching for Hanshin in the Japanese Central League, he compiled an 84-106 record and a 3.54 ERA in 268 games, 236 starts...never had an ERA above 4.17.
Batting
Pitching
Year
AB
R
H
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OBP
OPS
Career Regular Season
2
1
0
0
0
0
.000
.333
.333
Year
AB
R
H
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OBP
OPS
Career Regular Season
2
1
0
0
0
0
.000
.333
.333
Year
W
L
ERA
G
GS
SV
IP
SO
WHIP
Career Regular Season
7
6
4.00
100
0
1
126.0
92
1.47
Year
W
L
ERA
G
GS
SV
IP
SO
WHIP
Career Regular Season
7
6
4.00
100
0
1
126.0
92
1.47
League Rankings
Hit By Pitch
Year
HBP
Rank
2008
8
16th in NL
2005
8
20th in AL
Latest Transactions
Team
Date
Transaction
July 12, 2009
Fresno Grizzlies released RHP Keiichi Yabu.
June 23, 2009
RHP Keiichi Yabu assigned to Fresno Grizzlies.
June 11, 2009
RHP Keiichi Yabu assigned to Giants Extended Spring Training from Fresno Grizzlies.
June 1, 2009
Keiichi Yabu assigned to Fresno Grizzlies from AZL Giants.
May 16, 2009
Keiichi Yabu assigned to AZL Giants from Fresno Grizzlies.
May 8, 2009
Keiichi Yabu roster status changed by Fresno Grizzlies.
April 22, 2009
Fresno Grizzlies placed RHP Keiichi Yabu on the reserve list.
▲