2024 Stats
W-L
2-0
ERA
2.77
WHIP
1.15
K
7
SV
0
Rest-of-Season Projections
2024 Fantasy Outlook
Matsui signed a five-year, $28 million contract with the Padres in December, a deal which suggests he has the chance to close for his new club but isn't a lock to do so. San Diego is no stranger to the overseas reliever market, having signed Robert Suarez out of NPB prior to the 2022 season while also adding Woo Suk Go from the KBO this winter. Those two may wind up being Matsui's primary competition for the ninth inning this season, and if he can come anywhere close to repeating his numbers from Japan, he'll emerge as the favorite. The lefty may stand just 5-foot-8, and his four-seamer sits a modest 92-94 mph, but its rising action pairs perfectly with his devastating splitter, leading to a 2.40 ERA and 236 saves across his 10-year career in Japan. Over the last three years, he's produced ERAs of 0.63, 1.952 and 1.57, producing a 36.4 K% over that stretch. He hasn't always shown great control, with a 10.9 BB% for his career, but that number dropped to 5.9% last season. With a strong spring, Matsui could quickly move to the back of the Padres' bullpen. Read Past Outlooks
RANKSFrom Preseason
#339
ADP
Enters in sixth in MLB debut
Matsui pitched two-thirds of an inning in Wednesday's regular-season opener against the Dodgers in South Korea, allowing one walk and striking out one batter without allowing any runs.
ANALYSIS
Matsui worked as a closer during most of his 10-year career in Japan, but he came into Wednesday's contest in the sixth frame in his first big-league appearance. The southpaw began his outing by walking James Outman but followed that by fooling Enrique Hernandez badly for a three-pitch swinging strikeout and then retiring Gavin Lux on a flyout. Matsui could eventually ascend to higher-leverage work, but he missed much of spring training due to a back injury, so he may be still in the process of fully ramping up. For now, it looks like Robert Suarez will get the first shot to stake a claim as San Diego's closer.
Matsui worked as a closer during most of his 10-year career in Japan, but he came into Wednesday's contest in the sixth frame in his first big-league appearance. The southpaw began his outing by walking James Outman but followed that by fooling Enrique Hernandez badly for a three-pitch swinging strikeout and then retiring Gavin Lux on a flyout. Matsui could eventually ascend to higher-leverage work, but he missed much of spring training due to a back injury, so he may be still in the process of fully ramping up. For now, it looks like Robert Suarez will get the first shot to stake a claim as San Diego's closer.
Pitching Stats
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2024
Minor League Game Log
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
13
Last 10 Games
12
Last 5 Games
14
How many pitches does Yuki Matsui generally throw?
1-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
61-70
71-80
81-90
91-100
101-110
111-120
121+
What part of the game does Yuki Matsui generally pitch?
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2022
-31%
BAA vs RHP
2024
-31%
BAA vs RHP
| BAA | K | BB | H | HR | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2022vs Left | .250 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | |||
| Since 2022vs Right | .172 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 0 | |||
| 2024vs Left | .250 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | |||
| 2024vs Right | .172 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 0 | |||
| 2023vs Left | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2023vs Right | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2022vs Left | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2022vs Right | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| More Splits→ | View More Split Stats | |||||||
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2022
-30%
ERA on Road
2024
-30%
ERA on Road
| ERA | WHIP | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2022Home | 3.38 | 1.50 | 5.1 | 3.4 | 5.1 | ||||
| Since 2022Away | 2.35 | 0.91 | 7.2 | 5.9 | 3.5 | ||||
| 2024Home | 3.38 | 1.50 | 5.1 | 3.4 | 5.1 | ||||
| 2024Away | 2.35 | 0.91 | 7.2 | 5.9 | 3.5 | ||||
| 2023Home | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2023Away | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2022Home | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2022Away | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| More Splits→ | View More Split Stats | ||||||||
Stat Review
How does Yuki Matsui compare to other relievers?
This section compares his stats with all relief pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 30 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 30 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 30 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
K/BB
1.17K/9
4.8BB/9
4.2HR/9
0.0Fastball
91.9 mphERA
2.77WHIP
1.15BABIP
.233GB/FB
1.46Left On Base
66.7%Exit Velocity
82.3 mphBarrels/BBE
3.3%Spin Rate
2042 rpmBalls Hit 95+ MPH
23.3%Swinging Strike
9.3%Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Yuki Matsui See More
An early look at the state of pitching in 2024 reveals more wins going to relievers and a hint that scoring could be down this year compared to 2023.
Brad Johnson examines NL bullpens without clear closers, starting in Washington, where the Nationals currently are relying on Kyle Finnegan to finish games.
Brad Johnson offers a peek into his fantasy team's pitching staff, starting with his No. 1 pitcher, the Mets' Kodai Senga, whom he had kept from last year's roster.
Brad Johnson writes about pitching happenings this week and in Rotation Ramblings, he notes Luis Gil will get an extended look in the rotation with Gerrit Cole's injury.
Jan Levine kicks off the column for 2024 and examines all the NL positional battles.
Latest Fantasy Rumors
Close to deal with San Diego
The Padres have offered Matsui a contract, per Jon Morosi of MLB Network.
ANALYSIS
There's a report from Sankei Sports in Japan suggesting an agreement might already be in place, and Mark Feinsand of MLB.com hears it's "close" to being officially announced. Matsui, who had also been drawing heavy MLB interest from the Cardinals, registered a dominant 1.57 ERA and 72:13 K:BB over 57.1 innings of relief last season with the Rakuten Eagles of Nippon Professional Baseball. The 28-year-old left-hander boasts 236 career NPB saves.
There's a report from Sankei Sports in Japan suggesting an agreement might already be in place, and Mark Feinsand of MLB.com hears it's "close" to being officially announced. Matsui, who had also been drawing heavy MLB interest from the Cardinals, registered a dominant 1.57 ERA and 72:13 K:BB over 57.1 innings of relief last season with the Rakuten Eagles of Nippon Professional Baseball. The 28-year-old left-hander boasts 236 career NPB saves.
More Fantasy News
Returns with scoreless frame
Matsui struck out two batters and allowed one hit in a scoreless inning against Oakland in San Diego's Cactus League finale Wednesday.
ANALYSIS
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Slated to pitch Wednesday
Matsui (back) will pitch in the Padres' Cactus League finale against the A's on Wednesday, MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Uncertain to pitch in Seoul Series
Padres manager Mike Shildt told 97.3 The Fan this week that "there is a possibility" Matsui (back) will be ready for San Diego's opening regular-season series in South Korea.
ANALYSIS
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Throwing bullpen session Tuesday
Matsui (back) will throw a bullpen session Tuesday, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Back to throwing
Matsui (back) resumed playing catch Friday, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
ANALYSIS
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