Japans best closer

[Pokerstarsvevo]

The best closer in MLB : Trevor Hoffman 601 Saves 2.87Era National league Champion 1998

[mohammadzafar]

OMG this guy has ridiculous control with his fastball!

[vasDcrak]

wow...at least 97% of the time the ball goes straight to the glove..

[jamchew1982]

splitter is nasty but the curve... holy

[alpine917]

1:16 wtf was that?

[OkazakiTomoyaEthanol]

For some reason he reminds me of Tim Lincecum

But idk o-o...

I like this guy's pitch movement it's so cool :3

[noriyasu0625]

英語読めないけどたぶんみんな急速だけみて『すごくないやん』っ­て言ってそう！160キロは打てるけどこの150キロは打てない­んだよ！分かるか？？

日本の打者は技術だけなら世界一！それでも当たらない。ストレー­トと分かってて一流打者が空振りするんだよ！この凄さは映像じゃ­海外には伝わらないのが残念。

[kintetsunohoshi]

@noriyasu0625 言ってないよ。普通に伝わってるし

[noriyasu0625]

@kintetsunohoshi それなら良かった^^

[nugeforprez]

I hate facing these pitchers it is so hard to time their wind up , however once theyare timed correctly japanese pitchers are so easy to hit off of

[DVON2211]

If he did that pitching motion in U.S. mlb would it be a bawk?

[BluePaisley]

@DVON2211 - I think it would be... but i'm not totally sure!

[DVON2211]

@BluePaisley Still awesome... thx for the upload :D

[mohammadzafar]

Velocity looks so much better in km/hr :)

[mint090]

his fast ball is different from other pitchers.

[Nyogtha]

Is it me or does it seem like alot of Japanese players have really undisciplined swings? They seem to rotate on their front leg WAY too much like they are putting every once of strength and emotion into it.

[LookSquirrel]

He has great pitchs. His stuff would get alot of batters in trouble. His control seems really good as well. Good velocity.

There's MLB teams that would love to have him as closer.

[renshumainichi]

2:14 holy GOD!!!!!!

[renshumainichi]

2:14 holy GOD!!!!!!

[odaodagirigiri]

watch this

watch?v=lHem19hkUWo

[JinNey6]

@spritedblue .. most closers need speedy fastballs to unbalance the batters although Rivera throws 90~93mph cutters, but that's different cutting fastballs is like a minny slider so it's much harder to hit then a 4-seam fastball or 2-seamer, I rather take a closer who throws 90mph cutter with control then a 94mph with control, and he doesn't throw any curve balls in this video... so... i bet if he goes to MLB he won't do much and i don't think he's one of the "best" closer.

[gh0stfacetr0n]

@JinNey6

I assume you didn't even watch the entire video? Because near the end it shows some of his Curveball pitches lol.

[ChubbyKola]

tHROWS AS fast as Johnathan Broxton but half the weight @ !!

[JinNey6]

he's not the "best" closer. 153Km is not that fast these days.... but he is pretty good but this is only he's best you dont know if he struggles

[spritedblue]

@JinNey6 its not really about speed. his curveball aint bad and enough for him to be one of the best closers.

[melloanthony]

He'l get injured with those mechanics. But it's not anything severe like stephen stratsburg. Overall great closer. His pitches are almost unhittable. But he might not come to mlb along with Yu darvish. At least this time if they do try to sign him or Yu, it's worth it. It's not like Daisuke whee he was kind of bad altogether other than the WS.

[OscarWonggg]

Holy shit, his curveball is nasty.

[bigbadrich08]

I think the most suitable teams he can play for are: Colorado, Street is always injured, both NY teams Rodriguez may get released or Rivera getting old, Detroit based on how long Valverde was signed and LAA because of Rodney's unability of getting people out.

[Lixouar]

why isn't he in the MLB yet?

[Austin101123]

lol, his foot is not even on the rubber when he throws it, isnt that a balk?

[Austin101123]

150kmph=93mph

135kmph=84mph

120kmph=74.5mph

[higamotoki]

らろっか

[916emilio]

His Arm Follows so smooth his arms are made of jelly or sumthing

[psopitch8]

that is a nasty ass curve ball

[CALMERIN925]

94 is weak he would get yolked in the majors

[ELDoro]

@CALMERIN925 94 is weak? Not even in the majors.

[mr11fawful]

@CALMERIN925 not really... he hits his spots very good. and some nasty pitches. i think he would do very good.,

[Koorice]

wow a splitter is a power pitchers favorite pitch

[SuperCanible]

he pitches like tim licecum

[bigbadrich08]

@SuperCanible not really at first he was like Aki Otsuka as seen with the leg pause now his style kinda resembles Mariano Rivera

[fuckinbatavia]

His straight ball is called a diabolical pitch.

[kankuro153]

he pitch a 163km how fast is that??

[y1p0]

fujikawa's fastest ball is 157km/h or 156km/h

[JoinGangsterGame]

He is very precise on hitting the spots .. alot of out side and low :)

[TheRealCates]

I don't know why they freak out...153 kmph is only about 96 mph lol His pitching is pretty good though.

[gh0stfacetr0n]

@TheRealCates

Super late reply but Japanese people always freak out. They love making things look dramatic. That is the way its done in Japan. Which is why watching any kind of Sports in Japan is hilariously awesome.

[pgoody]

I love pitching with this guy in Pro Yakyu Spirits...

[reenactor19th]

some of these guys are taking awful swings. swinging too hard, trying to get out of the box. the ball must have some very good rotation to it. i saw one where it looked like it had some break. if it stays straight, a lot of guys will get the timing down and they can rape it. but it will take better swings than these.

[pgoody]

Dude if you knew anything about NPB(Nippon Professional Baseball) you would have recognized the elite hitters of that league, who Fujikawa, was striking out...

[reenactor19th]

no, i don't know the baseball league. still doesn't mean those were good swings. and i praised the man's pitching. i'm not sure what your pissed about.

[SoftBank47]

Fujikawa's fastball actually has more rotations per second than other pitchers who have similar or faster fastballs. In addition, the spin axis is much lower than an average fastball, which gives it the hopping effect that it has.

Even though Fujikawa is known for his fastball, he also has a plus splitter and curve.

[hungseki1]

150 is nothing, but his ball is spined.

thats why the batters cant hit even they know fastball is coming.

there millions of pitchers throw over 93mph.

but most of their fastball is hittable.

[chadsexinton]

Its never about the speed of the ball. Its all about getting the batter to mis-time it. You can pitch 60 mph and still strike someone out. Its all about variation.

[soccerboy0396]

whats a spined fastball?

[hungseki1]

upward rotation, maybe if im right.

more rotation, ball go up.

it is a slight difference, but it looks as if the ball is going up.

i hope you can understand my poor explanation tough...

[soccerboy0396]

k thanks =]

[TheRealCates]

It's impossible to throw a fastball that goes up unless you throw it underhand...no matter how much rotation you put on it. The closest thing is being able to throw a ball that drifts to the left (or right) and then curves back in the the right (or left), but a pitcher can't overcome the forces of gravity.

[hungseki1]

i know, its my fault not explain it clearly.

in fact fastball never goes up, but for the hitters, they feel like balls are actually rising if there is much rotation to it.

i would say, this guys' fastball will drop less compared to the others.

[TDinda22]

he spelled it wrong he meant spinned and its not even proper english

[PRHSBone]

hes a relief right now

[appleorange91]

wow fastball stays in almost an absolute straight line

[jperrin99]

how fast is 150 km/hr like 95mph?

[bobcaygeonfrench]

150 km/h is exactly 90 mph. Pretty good for a little Jap.

[LoogNomekkid]

i dont know how you calculated it but 1 mph is 1.6 kilometres and 150 divided by 1.6= 93,75

[bobcaygeonfrench]

I thought 1 kilometre was exactly 0.6 miles. But it looks like i'm wrong. 1 km is actually like 0.6213 miles or something. So 150 km/h is actually equal to 93 point something mph. If you want to know how I calculated it I just divided 150 by 10 then mulitplied that by 6. Anyways...........

this guy's a damn good pitcher!!!

[hottopuru]

You are an amateur.

Speak after studying more baseball.

[hollidaysrain]

His delivery REALLY reminds me of Broxton.

[homosexugay]

What a lucky catcher he doesn't even have to move his glove to catch fujikawa's fastball.

[gnohc]

this guy has great arm action

[BobbyFullem]

does work on the poor guy at 1:18

[petrosian904]

he has great control of his hips. he can stay on one leg for a long time, and then flip them open and explode.

[maggotsretards]

nasty!

[ksong425]

his fastball is more about location than velocity

[andre4Him]

omgdnss, if you notice he ALWAYS paints the catcher's glove.

the catcher can close his eyes, and catch the pitch.

[IcyHotProductionz]

But he does have good depth in his other pitches.

[IcyHotProductionz]

He's pretty good, but only throwing like 93 MPH.

[waterthrustone]

hes only throwing 90 i know 15 year olds that throw faster

[xrunefuryx]

damn... those first 2 splitters were filthy

[bhbmom512]

thats only 90mph

[che0xxpk]

1:14 is toooo funny

[PhaseDragonia]

Could the best Japanese team beat America's best team?

[Phahs]

Ya i think japan will win. they did win the world series

[KidFromNewYork]

That depends. Do you mean the best MLB team or the best American-born team?

[PhaseDragonia]

best mlb versus best japan team

[arriesgarse]

the mlb is misleading, because it has players from all around the world.. not to mention dice k and some of the better hitters from japan.

[PlayTheGameRKO]

not really. sure hes throwing gass but there right ovr the plate. Bay and texiera alone can hit him

[PhaseDragonia]

Yeah your right, USA has some dam good players

[l02220k]

I dont know about that! But in terms of fielding they are pretty even..i admit...but in terms of hitting USA wins...you them big dudes hitting 600 ft..while japan doesnt even know the right mechanics to hit(they all look the same, their mechanincs) and in terms of pitching, japan is one step above USA because japanese pitchers have massive control while throwing just over 94-95 while USA has barely any control in their pitchers at all! So its anybody game! Anyone disagree?

[PhaseDragonia]

nice input!

[AZNlonghorn8645]

japan has won the past two WBC. they are the best in the world

[l02220k]

Thats true! Its because the have execellent pitchers! They have things we dont and we have things they dont! So Like i said its basically anybody's game! And they took it for the past two years!

[Austin101123]

@ l02220k ฉันรู้ ภาษา ไทย แต่ แรก เป็น ภาษาอังกฤษ

[thevideovlogger]

@l02220k Or maybe they just have bad batters...

[SvNsEt]

Lol the japanese hit like my highschool team... Its pathetic. As for pitching, I would say that U.S. is still better... Even though Japanese probly have better control over all, they will never have pitchers as good as our best... If a japanese guy can throw low 90's its called good... In US im not impressed enless I see 100. Over all there players are alot smaller too... Most of the US players are absolutely monstrous.

[l02220k]

I totally agree with you! But the thing is, Japanese players are more disciplined. As for the US players, they just put the best players together and they lack teamwork and play individually, basically, they are less disciplined. But i totally agree with you..lmao

[mulholland34]

you are a fail

[vamosnippon]

He is known for throwing rising fastball because count of downspin on the ball outnumbers all the fastball pitchers in Japan.

[buccieri]

the japaneese Jonathan Papelbon

[ChaseSpeer]

Im jealous of that splitter

[IronTrooper]

And the MLB won't sign him why?

[tnt550]

FA

he is not fa player i guess

[AIM80Tpop]

I think because theres a certain amount of years japanese players have to play major league in japan for. Just like South Korea, a minimum on 7 years must be played in the korean major league for the player to become a FA and get signed to majors in US. but by then, they'd all be around 30 meaning only the best would be signed after 7 years.

[s9209122222]

150km/h=94mph

152km/h=95mph  He has a good rising fastball,it's really difficult to touch the ball. I'm a Taiwanese.

他真的超強的啦！

[BluePaisley]

@s9209122222 - being a bit generous 150km/h = 93.17mph and 152km/h = 94.41mph..... But no doubt that's still pretty quick ;) some odd batting techniques though, seem to maximize there rotation but a lot of head movement = not a very focused eye on the ball!

[hrr420]

dammmmmmmm this guy lives around the knees

[redraiders07]

This guy has a dirrrty split, I wonder how long it'll be before he's in the states...

[haggiss]

considering i can throw 150km with my left hand im not really impressed, although they he is asian so some type of handicap should be given to him

[TianSan]

But how good is your location and command?

[jupity]

you cant do shit

[lyssword3]

stupid lying shit

[clevelands]

what handicap r u talking? dickhead.

u cant do anything  but talk looooooser..

[haggiss]

actually i can type aswell, see? im doing it right now