Kenji Ohtonari

Who is Kenji Ohtonari?

Kenji Otonari is a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball pitcher for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in Japan's Pacific League.

Otonari was drafted in 2007 and made his first starts late in the year as the Hawks prepared for the playoffs. His first start was an Interleague start against the Hiroshima Toyo Carp and he went seven innings, giving up two runs on seven hits, walking three and striking out four. He would be credited with the win, but could not duplicate his success as he gave up 3 runs or more in 5 of his next 7 starts.

In his first full season in 2008, the young lefty had a successful season. The first two starts he made, Ohtonari notched complete game victories, also only giving up one run in 18 innings while recording 18 strikeouts. Despite losing the next two starts, Ohtonari still threw 8 innings in each start. The rest of the season was a roller-coaster ride, as his success seemed to hinge on how many batters he struck out. Late in the season, he suffered an elbow injury that prematurely ended his season. Still, Ohtonari finished with a respectable 11-8 with a 3.12 ERA, spinning six complete games in 21 starts, striking out 138 batters in 155 and 2/3 innings.