Ishii Hits Historic Strikeout Milestone
Ishii also strikes me as a two-faced pitcher. You're never sure which Ishii is going to show up on a given day, the one who's going to throw a 2-hitter, or the one who turns Jingu into a launching pad for the opposition. (Sounds like Yokohama's entire pitching staff the last month.)
Anyway, so long as he doesn't go to the Dodgers, I'd be rooting for him should he go.
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By striking out 12 Giants' batters in six innings July 5th
Yakult Swallows' lefty fireballer Kazuhisa Ishii has reached 1000 lifetime K's the second fastest in Japanese baseball history, eclipsing the great Hanshin Tiger righthander Yutaka Enatsu in that endeavor.
In surpassing Enatsu, who is second all time in total saves
with 193 (the record is held by ex-Yokohama and now Seattle Mariner
closer Kazuhiro Sasaki), 19th in wins with 206, and fifth in
strikeouts with 2987, Ishii has put himself in rare company.
Unfortunately, Ishii this season has been the victim of little
run support, going 3-7 so far despite a fine ERA of 3.20. He has
106 strikeouts in just 87 innings, an average in excess of 12 a game.
He has virtually handcuffed righthanded hitters, limiting them to a
.202 average while lefties fare not much better at .222. He has only
given up 63 hits in those 87 innings, but 12 of those are homers, a
little more than one a contest. He averages four walks and has hit
five opposition batters while unleashing seven wild pitches.
For his career, he is averaging a Randy Johnsonesque 10.1
whiffs per nine innings, but more than 12 each of the last two
seasons. His finest season was arguably in 1997, when he went 10-6
with a 1.91 ERA and threw a no hitter against Yokohama. The following
year, he went 14-6 and won his first and so far only strikeout crown
with 241 in 196.1 innings. 1999 was a bit of an off year for him, as
his ERA ballooned to 4.80 and fanned 162 in 133 innings. Overall, his
ERA is 3.55 in nine seasons.
With these stats and the fact that he is a southpaw with
velocity, one wouldn't doubt that several major league ballclubs would
love to have Ishii in their rotation. The Dodgers will probably be
losing Darren Dreifort to free agency next season and the team has
experience dealing with high profile Japanese starters, so slotting
him into the number three role behind Kevin Brown and Chan Ho Park
would seem a perfect fit. On the other hand, I have yet to see
anything indicating that Ishii intends to cross the Pacific, but as a
Dodger fan I want to see that happen, though as a Yakult follower I would hate to see them hurt by defections to the bigs. Nevertheless, if Ishii can put together a stellar second half, he may not be able to refuse the offers that will no doubt come his way from overseas.