is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) from 2003 to 2011, and 2016 to 2024 for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. He also played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2014 to 2015 for the Chicago Cubs.
Wada pitched in the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Olympics as well as the 2006 World Baseball Classic for the Japanese national team. He set a Tokyo Big6 Baseball League record with 476 strikeouts during his college career at Waseda University and was the Pacific League Most Valuable Rookie in 2003.
Early life
Wada was born in Kōnan, Aichi Prefecture. He began playing baseball as a first grader at Kōnan Municipal Fujisato Elementary School for the Kōnan Danchi Baseball team.
In 1991, Wada and his family moved to Izumo, Shimane Prefecture, his father's hometown. Wada enrolled in Shimane Prefectural Hamada High School in Hamada upon graduating from junior high, leading them to the 79th National High School Baseball Championship in the summer of his second year of high school (the equivalent of 11th grade in the United States) in 1997. His team faced Akita Commercial High School, led by Masanori Ishikawa, in the first round, but Wada walked Ishikawa with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning and suffered a walk-off loss.
Wada's team secured a berth in the national tournament again the following summer (1998). They defeated Niigata Prefectural Shibata Agricultural High School, whose battery consisted of right-hander Kazuhiro Togashi (who later played for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters) and catcher Ken Katoh, in their first game. They faced Teikyo High School, the East Tokyo champions, in their next game. Though Wada, who was not only the team's ace but also their cleanup hitter, gave up a home run to Hichori Morimoto, Hamada High won 3–2, making it to the quarter-finals. They narrowly lost in the quarter-finals to Toyota Otani High School (led by Katsuaki Furuki) in extra innings.
Though Wada had ruptured his left triceps muscle the previous fall and struggled to even reach with his fastball during the tournament, Teikyo High players remarked after facing Wada that "[his fastball] looked like it was ."
As a player who was born in the 1980 Japanese academic year and participated in the 1998 Summer Championship, Wada is considered a member of the "Matsuzaka Generation".
College career
Wada went on to enroll at Waseda University as a human sciences major after graduating from Hamada High. He made his collegiate debut in the fall of his freshman year, pitching in a game against the University of Tokyo on September 12. He rebuilt his pitching mechanics from scratch that year, succeeding in increasing the velocity of his fastball until it consistently hit speeds of and above within a mere two months of joining the team. He became a full-fledged starter for Waseda in the spring of his second year, drawing attention with the furious pace with which he racked up strikeouts.
2002 Taking on the uniform number 18 that had traditionally denoted the team's lefty ace (previously worn by Shugo Fujii), Wada led Waseda to consecutive Tokyo Big6 league titles in the spring and summer seasons of his senior year (2002) for the first time in university history since 1950. He received the league Best Nine Award in both seasons.
That year, Waseda earned a berth in both the 51st All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series as well as the Meiji Jingu Tournament, but the team fell short of a championship in both tournaments, losing to Asia University (whose pitching staff featured right-handers Katsuhiro Nagakawa and Hiroshi Kisanuki, both of whom would later turn professional) in the finals in the former and succumbing to Tohoku Fukushi University in the semi-finals in the latter.
Wada set a new Tokyo Big6 record for career strikeouts that year, surpassing the 443 set by Suguru Egawa (who later pitched for the Yomiuri Giants) and finishing with 476."Special Report: Path of Waseda Athletics" Waseda Online He also set a new Waseda record in wins for left-handed pitchers, finishing his college career with a 27–13 record and a 1.35 ERA. His dedication and commitment were said to have had a positive influence on younger players on the team like Norichika Aoki, Takashi Toritani, Toshimitsu Higa and Shintaro Yoshida (all of whom later went pro), the core that later led Waseda to four consecutive league titles for the first time in Tokyo Big6 history.
Wada was dubbed the "Dr. K (à la former Major League Baseball pitcher Dwight Gooden) of the Tokyo Big6" during his college years and was one of the most coveted prospects in Japanese college baseball as he entered his senior year. He was signed by the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks as a pre-draft pick along with right-handermdy Nagisa Arakaki of Kyushu Kyoritsu University prior to the 2002 NPB amateur draft that fall"Arakaki top rookie prospect" The Japan Times and was assigned the uniform number 21.
Professional career Fukuoka (Daiei / SoftBank) Hawks 2003 Wada secured a spot in the Hawks' starting rotation from his rookie year (2003), making his professional debut in a regular season game against the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes on April 1 (he gave up five runs in innings). He earned the first win of his career against the Seibu Lions on April 8, pitching six shutout innings, and recorded his first career complete game win (a shutout) against the Chiba Lotte Marines on April 16. Overall, he finished the year with a 14–5 record,"Rain postpones Game 3" The Japan Times 3.38 ERA and 195 strikeouts (second only to young Lions right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka's 215), earning Pacific League Most Valuable Rookie honors. He also played an instrumental role in the Hawks' league title and subsequent Japan Series championship,"Tigers get teeth stuck in" The Japan Times pitching a complete game win as a rookie for the first time in Japan Series history in Game 7 of the series. He played in the 2003 Asian Baseball Championship (which also functioned as the Asian qualifying tournament for the 2004 Athens Olympics) as a member of the Japanese national team in November, pitching shutout innings against South Korea in the final game of the tournament to clinch a berth in the Olympics."Japan earns ticket to Athens Olympics" The Japan Times
2004 Wada played in the 2004 Athens Olympics, contributing to Japan's bronze medal finish in the tournament"Olympic medals won by Tsuyoshi Wada" Australian Broadcast Corporation by earning two wins against Canada (one in the preliminary round,"Japan back on winning track" The Japan Times the other in the bronze medal game) while holding them to two runs over twelve innings. However, he fell victim to a sophomore slump in the NPB regular season, going 10–6 but racking up a 4.35 ERA and striking out just 115 batters (despite this, his batting average against was a league-best .228).
2005 In 2005, Wada was named the starter for the Hawks' season opener for the first time in his career, taking the mound against the Fighters on March 26 and holding them to one run over innings while striking out eight en route to the win (though he required 135 pitches). He finished the year with a 12–8 record and a much-improved 3.27 ERA,"Hawks hoping to get over playoff hump" The Japan Times becoming the first pitcher to record double-digit wins in each of his first three seasons in Hawks franchise history since Tadashi Sugiura accomplished the feat in 1960.
On December 10, the Hawks made it public that Wada had married swimsuit model and actress Kasumi Nakane. The couple had their wedding ceremony at Izumo Taisha, a Shinto shrine, on December 14.
2006 Wada was chosen for the inaugural 2006 World Baseball Classic as a member of the Japanese national team but saw little playing time as a middle reliever, coming on in relief in Japan's second-round match against Mexico and pitching two shutout innings in his first and only appearance of the tournament. (Japan won the game 6–1.)
Wada had perhaps his finest year yet in the regular season, pitching just innings but going 14–6 with a career-best 2.98 ERA and allowing the fewest walks and hits per inning pitched of his career (1.10). His wife, Kasumi, gave birth to their first child on September 13.
2007 Though Wada improved on his ERA still more by lowering it to 2.82 in the 2007 season, he was plagued by poor run support and went 12–10 for the year."Pair of rookie hurlers could make big impact for their teams this season" The Japan Times He pitched the most innings (182) and amassed the most strikeouts (169) since his rookie campaign and became the only active pitcher other than Masanori Ishikawa (and the first in Hawks franchise history since Sugiura) to record double-digit wins in each of the first five seasons of his professional career.
Wada underwent endoscopic surgery in Los Angeles during the season to remove articular cartilage fragments in his left elbow after experiencing discomfort in the region during the season.
2008 The rehab that Wada had to undergo following the elbow surgery kept him from making his first start of 2008 until April 6, roughly two and a half weeks into the season. Despite the delay, he started the season of well, putting up eight wins before the All-Star break and garnering selection to the Japanese national team that would play in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. However, he did not pitch well in the Olympics,"Beijing exit must spur bout of soul-searching" The Japan Times giving up six runs (five earned) in two starts en route to a 4.82 ERA over 9 innings (albeit while striking out 13) and being one of the factors in Japan's disappointing fourth-place finish"Japan fails to win medal" The Japan Times behind South Korea, Cuba and the United States.
After returning to Japan in late August, Wada pitched 10 shutout innings and struck out 10 in one no-decision against the Lions on August 31 (the game ended in a 0–0 tie after 12 innings) and held the Lions to one run in 10 innings yet again while striking out 12 on September 20, this time in a tough 1–0 loss. While he pitched reliably, recording a 3.18 ERA in his final six starts of the season, he was victimized by a lack of run support and failed to put up double-digit wins for the first time in his professional career.
2009 In 2009, Wada was named to the national team's preliminary roster for the upcoming World Baseball Classic"Ichiro, Dice-K headline Japan WBC candidates" The Japan Times along with teammates first baseman Nobuhiko Matsunaka, starter Toshiya Sugiuchi, closer Takahiro Mahara and shortstop Munenori Kawasaki. However, though he took part in the training camp held in Miyazaki in mid-February, he and Matsunaka were cut from the final 28-man team before the tournament."Japan finalizes WBC roster" The Japan Times
Wada showed no signs of disappointment in his pitching, taking the mound in the Hawks' season opener on April 3 and striking out 14 (tying both his career high and the NPB record for strikeouts in a season opener) en route to a three-hit, complete game shutout against the Buffaloes"Iwakuma wins battle of WBC aces" The Yomiuri Shimbun"Opening Day" NPB Tracker in one of the most dominant starts of his young career. However, more injury trouble found Wada in the form of left elbow inflammation. He went to the United States for treatment, and was taken off the active roster on June 11. He was expected to miss at least three weeks initially but did not return until September 9, when he was hammered by the Chiba Lotte Marines for 6 runs in innings. Wada finished 2009 with a record of 4–5 with a 4.06 ERA.
2010