Hideaki Waiku

Date: 05/18/16
Position: RHP
Age: 30
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 187
B/T: R/R
Acquisition Period: 1st Rd., 2004 NPB Draft (Saitama Seibu Lions)
School: Yokohama Senior H.S.

NPB Prospect Profile

Your early Pacific League wins leader is Chiba Lotte’s veteran ace Hideaki Wakui (5-0). Wakui seems like he has been around forever since he broke into the league in 2005 as a 19 year old and took over the Ace slot after RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka signed with Boston in 2006. Wakui isn’t quite the same pitcher he was when he won the Sawamura Award in 2009 following a 16-6, 2.30, 199-strikeout season with the Seibu Lions, but he is excelling in his third season for the Marines and is still just 30 years old. Aside from a six-run outing on the road against the defending champion SoftBank Hawks (a game the Marines won 17-8), Wakui has allowed two earned runs or less in all five of his outings going at least six innings in all of them. He is one of the main reasons Chiba Lotte is currently in second place in the Pacific League, trailing only SoftBank.