Kazuhito Tadano

Full name KAZUHITO TADANO...Single...Resides in Tokyo, Japan...Pitched for four seasons at Tokyo's Rikkyo University where he was 20-14 with 334 strikeouts in his career as a starter...Earned a degree in travel and tourism while in college...One of the top amateur pitchers in Japan, he went undrafted in the 2002 Japanese amateur draft due to shoulder and elbow injuries.

2005

Spent the majority of the season between the bullpen and rotation in AAA Buffalo...Was with the big league club for 1 day, July 16, and made an impressive 4.0 inning relief appearance that day in relief of Jake Westbrook vs. Chicago-AL (4.0IP, 4H, 1R/ER, 0BB, 1K)...Was a 7-5 loss to the Sox...Was recalled when Matt Miller went on the DL...At Buffalo he was 3-1 w/5 saves and a 2.88 ERA in relief (56.1IP, 51H, 18ER, 55K) and 2-4 w/a 6.53 ERA in 8 starts (40.0IP, 54H, 29ER, 31K)...Was on the minor league disabled list from July 27-August 14 with inflammation in his right elbow...Allowed 7 runs and 9 hits in 4.0IP in start on July 26 vs. Pawtucket that forced him to the DL... Upon activation he spent the last month of the season as the Bison closer, going 2-0 w/4 saves and a 0.00 ERA over his last 8 regular season outings (11.0IP, 6H, 1R/0ER, 3BB, 17K) after going 0-2 w/an 8.62 ERA in 4 Buffalo July outings (15.2IP, 27H, 15ER, 7K)...Had an ERA of 10.80 (1.2IP, 1H, 2ER) in the IL playoffs... Started off the season by going 0-0-1 w/a 1.93 ERA in 5 April outings (18.2IP, 15H, 4ER, 17K) and over his first 12 outings his ERA was 2.48 (36.1IP, 30H, 10ER)...Overall Triple A hitters hit .277 (105-379) off him w/16HR... LH hitters hit .265 (44-166)...Batters hit .307 (27-88) off him w/RISP and .299 (47-157) off him w/runners on base.

2004

Split the season between AAA Buffalo and Cleveland as the versatile pitcher bounced between the rotation and bullpen between both locations before his season ended in mid-September...Enjoyed a solid spring in his first major league camp as he was a spring invitee...He went 0-0 with a 2.25ERA in four appearances (4.0IP, 5H, 1R/ ER, 2BB, 1SO) despite being limited early in camp from the lingering effects from a January illness. He started the season in AAA Buffalo as a starter...In his '04 debut he suffered the loss in the Herd's 1-0 loss against Pawtucket (3.1IP, 3H, 1R/ER, 1BB, 3SO)...He suffered another loss in his next start on April 18 in Buffalo's 5-7 loss vs. Ottawa (4.1IP, 5H, 3R/ER, 0BB, 4SO, HR)...After he was promoted to Cleveland on April 24 he was optioned back to Buffalo on May 7 and was inserted into the bullpen in Buffalo...He returned to the Herd rotation on May 20, making three starts before returning to Cleveland on June 7...In those three starts, he went 1-0 w/ a 1.15ERA (15.2IP, 12H, 2R/ER, 5BB, 13SO). The Indians purchased his contract on April 24 and he made his major league debut on April 27 at Chicago (1.1IP, 4H, 1R/ER, 1BB, 0SO)...He made three appearances (9.64ERA, 4.2IP, 9H, 5R/ER, 2BB, 2SO) before being optioned back to AAA Buffalo on May 7 when Jose Jimenez was activated from the 15-Day DL...Had a breakthrough outing on June 26 vs. Colorado when he came in relief of C.C. Sabathia, who left after 1.0IP with shoulder soreness...He allowed only one run on four hits in six innings of work, including 9 strikeouts in the Tribe's 4-3 victory against the Rockies that earned him a spot start on July 2 in Cincinnati...9SO most by an Indians reliever since Victor Cruz had 9 K's on 7/20/80 vs. Oakland. Won his first major league start on July 2 against the Cincinnati Reds in the Great American Ballpark, a 15-2 win over the Reds and Jesus Sanchez as he struck out a career-high 10 and worked a career-long 7.0IP (7.0IP, 4H, 2R/ER, 2BB, 10K) while picking up his first major league win and base hit...The 10K were the most by an Indians pitcher in 2004 at the time and ended up 2nd among starters in 2004 (Sabathia 11)...His 9th outing was in relief of Scott Elarton on July 8 vs. Texas (ND, 3.1IP, 5H, 5R/ER, 2BB, 4K, 3-run HR to Delucci)...Did not get a decision in his 2nd start of July 19 in Anaheim, an 8-5, 10.0 inning over the Halos and Troy Percival...6.1IP, 4H, 2R/ER, 1BB, 5K...Was optioned back to Buffalo on August 8th and overall during his 2nd stint with the Tribe in June and July he was 1-1 w/a 4.38 ERA (9G/4GS, 39.0IP, 42H, 19ER). Was with Buffalo from August 9-27 (1-1, 6.88ERA, 17.0IP, 23H, 13ER) before returning to Cleveland for the remainder of the regular season on August 27...Made 2 appearances, August 28 & Sept. 2, before being shutdown on September 10th with lower back soreness (6.2IP, 4H, 2R/ER)...At the time of his shutdown he was a candidate to enter the starting rotation after Jason Davis was converted to relief...MRI & exam on September 13th revealed a bulging disc in his lower back...Was given a series of epidural shots in late September before heading home Japan for the off-season in early October. Over his 4 stints in Buffalo he went 2-4 w/a 5.44 ERA in 12 outings (8GS, 44.2IP, 49H, 27ER, 39K)...As a starter he was 2-3 w/a 3.99ERA in 8 starts (38.1IP, 41H, 17ER) and as a reliever his ERA was 14.21 (6.1IP, 8H, 10ER, 6BB)...Averaged 7.9 SO/9.0IP with Buffalo...STATS/MISC - With Cleveland he was 1-1 w/a 3.27ERA in 4 starts (22.0IP, 21H, 8ER) and 0-0 w/a 5.72 ERA in 10 relief outings (28.1IP, 34H, 18ER)...Batters hit .276 (16-58) him with RISP and were 1 for 8 against him w/the bases loaded...His ERA to his first 9 batters faced was 1.63 (27.2IP, 24H, 5ER).

2003

Was one of the most dominant relievers in the Tribe system after he was signed in spring training after a twoweek tryout in minor league camp...Went a combined 6-2 w/3 saves and a 1.55 ERA in 40 appearances/1 start between A Kinston, AA Akron & AAA Buffalo (98.2IP, 81H, 17ER, 22BB, 112K)...His 1.55 ERA was the lowest ERA in the Indians minor league system among pitchers with at least 94.0IP...Averaged 10.2 strikeouts and 9.4 baserunners per 9.0IP...Spent the bulk of his season at AA Akron after starting the season at A Kinston (April 6 to May 7) and made 2 appearances at AAA Buffalo on July 31 and August 4...Made his lone start at Kinston in game 2 of a doubleheader at Frederick on May 7 (4.0IP, 3H, 0R, 0BB, 4K)...Struck out 28 and walked only 3 in 19.0 innings at Kinston before being promoted to Akron on May 10...Did not allow an earned run over his first 28.0 innings at Akron from May 12 to June 22 (28.0IP, 22H, 2R/ 0ER)...Did not allow a run or a walk over his last 6 outings as well from August 14-31 (13.1IP, 9H, 0R, 17K)...Went at least 2.0IP in 35 of his 39 relief outings on the year...Went 3.0 or more innings in 20 of the outings...Fanned 6 batters over three different relief outings... An outstanding fielding pitcher, Tadano committed only 1 error in 17 total chances between his three minor league stops in 2003...Kaz was 0-1 with a 2.16 ERA in 4 relief outings (8.1IP, 6H, 2R/ER, 2BB, 11K) in the post-season for the Eastern League Champion Aeros...Batters hit a combined .220 (81-368) off him with 4HR allowed in 98.2IP...RH hitters hit .215 (47-219) with 1 HR and LH hitters hit .228 (34-149) with 3HR...Batters hit .170 (15- 88) off him with RISP, .135 (5-37) with RISP-2outs and .202 (33-163) with runners on base.