Hisashi Iwakuma

Who is Hisashi Iwakuma?

Hisashi Iwakuma is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher with the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball. He previously played for the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes and Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Nippon Professional Baseball

Iwakuma made his professional debut with the Buffaloes in 2000. He was named a NPB All-Star in 2003 and 2004, and played in the 2004 Athens Olympics. He joined the Eagles in 2005. As the Eagles' reigning staff ace, Iwakuma won the Eiji Sawamura Award in 2008, and was also a NPB All-Star that year. He appeared in the 2009 World Baseball Classic for the Japanese national team.

Iwakuma was posted to MLB after the 2010 season, but he failed to come to an agreement with the winning bidder. After the 2011 season, Iwakuma signed with the Mariners. He was an MLB All-Star in 2013, as well as the third place finisher for the 2013 American League Cy Young award.