Bats Left Throws Right Innings Pitched 27 Strikeouts 18 Weight 85 kg | Win-Loss record 1-0 ERA 3.67 Height 1.87 m | |
Yu Sato (佐藤 優, Satō Yū, born June 28, 1993 in Ōsaki, Miyagi, Japan) is a professional Japanese baseball player. He plays pitcher for the Chunichi Dragons.
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Early career
Sato started playing rubber-ball baseball in elementary school. With his high school, Furukawagakuen, he started his freshman year on the bench and reached the best 8 of the Tohoku Regional high school tournament.
He attended Tohoku Fukushi University and started playing league games in his freshman year. In his senior year in a game against Tohoku Institute of Technology, Sato fanned a remarkable 13 batters. He finished with an 11-2 win-loss record with a 1.29 ERA.
On 22 October 2016, Sato was selected as second pick for the Chunichi Dragons at the 2015 Nippon Professional Baseball draft and on 1 December signed a \10,000,000 per year contract with a \70,000,000 sign-on bonus.
2016
On 10 May, in a game against the Yokohama DeNA Baystars at Yokohama Stadium, he claimed a debut win throwing 5 innings for 1 earned run becoming the first Dragons rookie pitcher to win on debut since Kenshin Kawakami in 1998.
Sato finished the 2016 NPB season having started 4 games going 1-0 in decisions with a 3.67 ERA.
Pitching style
Sato throws a four-seam fastball that tops out at 151km/h. He can also throw a forkball that was taught to him by former Seattle Mariners pitcher, Kazuhiro Sasaki.