Was the No. 1 overall pick when the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles won his rights in October 2013...Was a member of Team Japan in the 2017 World Baseball Classic and was teammates with Yu Darvish on the 2023 championship team...When he signed with the Padres, Matsui noted that a big part of his decision to sign with San Diego was that countryman Yu Darvish is the Padres' ace...Preceded his first official media scrum of Spring Training with a 95-second opening statement in which he spoke in English and Spanish. Matsui began by saying, “Hello everyone. My name is Yuki Matsui. Hola. ¿Qué onda todos? Me nombre es Yuki Matsui. You can call me Yuki, Mat, Mats, whatever." He closed by addressing San Diegans: “Lastly, to San Diego and all Padres fans, nice to meet you. Mucho gusto. I promise you that I will always give my best to bring you joy with my pitches. My family and I are so glad to be a part of this beautiful city. So we would be very happy if you give us a warm welcome. Thank you very much. Muchas gracias."
2025
2025 marked his second consecutive Opening Day roster with SD…He set a new career high in IP (63.1), surpassing his 62.2 IP from his rookie 2024 campaign…His 61 appearances were three fewer than his 64 from ‘24...Posted four consecutive scoreless outings to begin the season from March 27-April 4, including going hitless in each of the first three...Allowed five runs (four earned) across his next six outings from April 8-23 before posting a 7.2 consecutive scoreless IP streak from April 26-May 17 (eight games) with just one hit and two walks allowed, lowering his season-long ERA to 1.93...Allowed just two home runs and his season ERA sat at an even 3.00 across his first 32 appearances from March 27-June 19…Allowed eight home runs and posted a 4.86 ERA across his final 29 outings from June 23-Sept. 27...Two of his three winning decisions came in a three-outing stretch on June 3 @ SF and June 8 @ MIL…His other win came in his final outing of the season on Sept. 27 vs. ARI, when he tossed a career-high 2.1 IP in SD’s 5-1 victory...Picked up his first Major League save on June 19 @ LAD (0.1 IP, BB, SO)...His 19 games finished were second-most in SD’s pen, trailing only Robert Suarez’s 56...Five of the 19 games finished came in wins...Posted a 3.22 ERA (13 ER, 36.1 IP) with 34 strikeouts in 36.1 IP and 32 appearances on the road, compared to a 5.00 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 29 appearances at Petco Park...Posted reverse splits, limiting RHH to a .201 AVG and .656 OPS compared to a .263 AVG and .849 OPS to LHH...With none on, opponents hit .238 (29-for-122)…With RISP, they hit .185 (11-for-58), which ranked tied for sixth among all NL relievers (min. 80 BF)...On first pitches of an at-bat that got put in play, opponents hit just .160 (4-for-25), and once he had opponents in two-strike counts, they hit .154 (19-for-123)…Half of his home runs allowed (five of 10) came in two-strike counts...Ranked in the 84th percentile league-wide in whiff rate (30.3%)...Per Statcast, he relied on six pitches: four-seamer (39.5%), split finger (32.2%), slider (15.9%), sweeper (10.7%), sinker (1.5%) and curveball (0.2%)...His four-seamer had 2,439 rpm, ranking in the 86th percentile in fastball spin rate.
POSTSEASON: Was not a part of the Wild Card series roster vs. CHC at Wrigley Field.
2024
Made 64 appearances out of SD's pen in his rookie year, trailing only Robert Suarez's 65...the 64 app also ranked T-2nd among all NL rookies and T-fourth among ML rookies...Went scoreless in 10 of his first 11 appearances from March 20-April 16 to begin his MLB career, going 2-0 with three holds and a 0.90 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and .182 AVG against over that span...Picked up his first ML win in his third outing of the season on Mach 28 vs. SF, his third of four consecutive scoreless appearances to begin his ML career...Posted the 2nd-longest scoreless-inning streak by an SD reliever in ’24 – a career-best 12 IP from June 7-July 3 with seven hits allowed (.163 AVG) and a 1.08 WHIP over that span… the streak trailed only Robert Suarez’s 20.1 consecutive scoreless frames from April 3-May 26...Notched reverse splits, limiting RHH to a .196 clip while LHH batted .216, but five of his eight HR allowed came against RHH...eight of his nine holds came in the first half of the season, with his lone second half hold coming on July 26 at BAL...his nine holds were sixth-most in the SD pen, trailing Estrada (16), Morejon (12), Adam (12), Peralta (11) and Scott (10)...Owned a 3.41 ERA in 29 home appearances and a 4.01 ERA in his 35 road outings...With no runners on, opponents hit .215 (28-130)...with runners on, they hit .188 (18-96), including .163 (7-43) with RISP and .125 with RISP 2/out (3-24)...got out of all 4 of his bases loaded jams...Among all NL relievers that faced at least 140 batters with two strikes, his .122 AVG in such scenarios ranked T-9th with bullpen-mate Jeremiah Estrada...24 of his 64 appearances came vs. NL West opponents, going 2-0 with a 2.22 ERA (6 ER, 24.1 IP) and a .210 AVG against the division...Including Postseason action, went scoreless in eight of his nine appearances vs. the eventual World Series-champion LAD, going 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA (1 ER, 7 IP)...When he pitched in Padres’ wins, he went 4-0 with a 1.70 ERA (7 ER, 37 IP), and when he pitched in Padres’ losses, he went 0-2 with a 6.66 ERA (19 ER, 25.2 IP)...Made just five appearances in September, including a gap of 14 team games in between appearances from Sept. 7-26… allowed two ER in each of his first two September outings before going scoreless across his final three appearances in the last week of the season from Sept. 26-29...Ranked in the 90th percentile in xERA (2.90), xBA (.204) and whiff rate (31.8%), while ranking 89th in chase rate (33.0%)...Per Statcast, relied on four pitches: sinker (50.5%), slider (22.9%), split finger (20.6%) and four-seamer (6.0%). POSTSEASON: Made his Postseason debut in G4 of the NLDS vs. LAD, allowing one hit and with one SO in the ninth inning of SD's 8-0 defeat in.
2023
In his 10th season for the Tohuku Rakuten Golden Eagles in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), posted a 1.57 ERA (10 ER, 57.1 IP) with a career-best 39 saves, 0.89 WHIP and 72 strikeouts in 59 appearances...Set a career high in SO/BB ratio with a 5.54 mark (72 SO against 13 BB)...bested his previous-high of a 4.46 SO/BB ratio in 2019...Recorded an ERA under 2.00 for the third consecutive season (1.92 in '22 and 0.63 in '21) while compiling 95 saves with a 1.42 cumulative ERA (24 ER, 152.0 IP) over that stretch...It was also his sixth total season with a sub-2.00 ERA...also: 2015 (0.87), 2017 (1.20) and 2019 (1.94)...His 0.89 WHIP marked his second-best mark in a season, trailing just his 0.77 WHIP he had the previous season in 2022...Pitched for the Gold Medal-winning Team Japan in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
2022
In 53 appearances in his ninth season for the Golden Eagles, owned a 1-3 record with 32 saves and a 1.92 ERA (11 ER, 51.2 IP)...It was his second consecutive season posting a sub-2.00 ERA, after owning a 0.63 ERA in 2021. • Struck out 83 batters with just 19 walks allowed...his 83 punchouts were his most in a season since his 107 strikeouts in 2019...Set a career high in strikeouts per 9.0 innings pitched at 14.5, besting his previous best of 13.8 SO/9 IP in 2019...also set a career-best in WHIP (0.77).
2021
Owned a career-best 0.63 ERA (3 ER, 43.0 IP) with just one home run allowed in his 43 appearances...Besides his 2014 rookie season (27 appearances) and his 2020 season (25 appearances), his 43 appearances in 2021 were the fewest he made in a single season in his career...Marked his only winless season, posting an 0-2 record in 43 appearances...also faced just 172 batters, the fewest in a season in his career.
2020
His 25 appearances in 2020 with Rakuten were his fewest in a single season in his career, and he went 4-5 with just two saves and a 3.18 ERA (24 ER, 68.0 IP)...Matsui's two saves were the second-fewest he had in a campaign, ahead of just his save-less rookie 2014 season...His 286 batters faced also ranked second most to just his 504 batters faced in his rookie 2014 campaign...2014 was the only season he worked as a starter (made 17 starts and 10 relief appearances in 2014).
2019
Appeared in 68 games, going 2-8 with 38 saves and a career-high-tying 12 holds (also 2015) and a 1.94 ERA (15 ER, 69.2 IP)...Posted his third-career 100+ strikeout season (also: 126 in 2014 and 103 in 2015), fanning 107 of his 271 batters faced...Allowed a career-high five home runs, which was later matched in his 2020 season.
2018
In his fifth season in the NPB in 2018, went 5-8 with 11 holds and a 3.65 ERA in 53 appearances for Rakuten...his 72.2 innings of work were his third most in a season in his career, behind just his 85.0 IP and 136.1 IP in 2014.
2017
In 2017, fanned just 62 batters in 214 batters faced... posted a 1.20 ERA (7 ER, 52.2 IP) and a 3-3 record in 52 appearances...his 33 saves at the time tied his 33 in 2015 for his most in a single season.
2016
In his third season in 2016, logged a 3.32 ERA and 1-4 record in 58 appearances for the Golden Eagles
2015
Made 63 appearances with a 0.87 ERA in 2015 in his sophomore season logging 33 saves, 12 holds and 103 strikeouts
2014
Made his professional debut in 2014, going 4-8 with a 3.80 ERA (49 ER, 116.0 IP) across 27 appearances (17 starts)...his 17 starts in 2014 would be the only starts of his career.
