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Takeo Nagai – Starting Pitcher – Kyoto Kamikaze – 83.3% First Ballot

Takeo Nagai was a 6’0’’, 200 pound right-handed starting pitcher from Toba, Japan; a town of around 18,000 people in the Kansai region. Nagai had solid movement on his pitches along with above average stuff and control. His velocity topped out in the 95-97 mph range and he had a three-pitch arsenal of cutter, changeup and slider. Each was equally potent and led to an extreme groundball tendency.

Nagai’s stamina was on the low end compared to other EAB aces, but excellent durability meant he still delivered 200+ innings in all but his first two seasons. Nagai struggled at holding runners, but he was excellent at fielding his position, winning four Gold Gloves. He was criticized for coasting on his natural abilities as well as selfishness. Critics claimed Nagai was selfish and lazy, but his talent was still strong enough for a great career regardless.

He was a beast at Chiba’s Keiai University, earning the #6 overall pick by Kitakyushu in the 2005 EAB Draft. Nagai was split between starting and relief in his first two years with decent results, even winning his first Gold Glove in 2007. The Kodiaks made him a full-time starter in 2008 and he was worth 4+ WAR each year through 2019.

Kitakyushu bounced back and forth in the standings during Nagai’s tenure, but was never quite good enough to end their playoff drought. He won his second Gold Gove in 2011, but never quite reached elite status with the Kodiaks. Over six seasons, Nagai had a 62-67 record, 3.15 ERA, 1238 innings, 1165 strikeouts, 302 walks, 106 ERA+, and 27.0 WAR. He left for free agency after the 2011 season heading towards his age 28 campaign.

Nagai signed a seven-year, $64,600,000 deal with Kyoto to begin his signature run. The Kamikaze were coming off back-to-back EAB Championship wins and wanted to fully cement a dynasty. Kyoto was 95-67 in 2012, but missed the playoffs by one game. Nagai had a strong debut, posting his career bests instrikeouts (277), record (21-4), and WAR (8.5). That earned a third place in Pitcher of the Year voting.

He fell back towards his Kitakyushu production in 2013, but did win a Gold Glove. He gave up three runs in eight innings in his one playoff start as Kyoto lost in the first round. In 2014, Nagai was elite and led in wins (21-7) and quality starts (27) while posting a 2.40 ERA. He earned his lone Pitcher of the Year and his fourth Gold Glove. Nagai also had a no-hitter against Yokohama with five strikeouts and two walks on July 21.

Kyoto also reclaimed the throne, winning the EAB Championship at 101-61 for their third title in five years. Nagai had a great postseason with a 2.14 ERA over 46.1 innings, 4-1 record in 6 stats, 38 strikeouts, and 1.3 WAR. He carried that into the Baseball Grand Championship with a 3-0 record and 1.88 ERA over four starts, 28.2 innings, and 35 strikeouts. Although Nagai did well personally, the Kamikaze finished in the bottom half at 8-11.

That was the peak of this dynasty run for Kyoto, who hovered around the middle of the standings for the following five seasons. Nagai stayed fairly steady and even had his career best ERA of 2.39 in both 2017 and 2018. Over seven years for the Kamikaze, Nagai had a 125-61 record, 2.70 ERA, 1709 innings, 1653 strikeouts, 301 walks, 125 ERA+, and 43.0 WAR.

Nagai was a free agent again for 2019 coming up on age 35. He joined Chiba with a four-year, $45,400,000 and ultimately gave them three steady seasons. The Comets did have a first round playoff exit in 2020, but were losers in Nagai’s other years. He posted a 30-36 record, 2.89 ERA, 662.2 innings, 610 strikeouts, 123 walks, 116 ERA+, and 14.5 WAR.

With a year left on his deal, Nagai was traded after the 2021 season by Chiba to Seoul for two prospects. In his one year with the Seahawks, Nagai had a 3.84 ERA over 204 innings, 162 strikeouts, and 4.0 WAR. He might have been able to stick around another few years, but with his contract expiring Nagai retired at age 38.

Nagai finished with a 225-181 record, 2.94 ERA, 3813.2 innings, 3590 strikeouts, 775 walks, 346/496 quality starts, 79 complete games, 21 shutouts, 115 ERA+, 79 FIP-, and 88.4 WAR. As of 2037, Nagai ranks 38^th in wins, 28^th in innings, 43^rd in strikeouts, and 23^rd in pitching WAR.

He wasn’t at the tip-top of the leaderboards, but he checked the accumulation boxes most voters wanted. Nagai also had a Pitcher of the Year win and championship ring to put his resume over the top. At 83.3%, Nagai received first ballot honors and was the third of four added into the East Asia Baseball Hall of Fame in 2028.



Hyogo Murayama – First Base/Designated Hitter – Ulsan Swallows – 70.9% First Ballot

Hyogo Murayama was a 6’2’’, 205 pound left-handed first baseman and designated hitter from Tokyo, Japan. Murayama was a great contact hitter with a respectable eye for drawing walks and avoiding strikeouts. His power wasn’t prolific, but was steady with 34 doubles, 4 triples, and 27 home runs per his 162 game average. Murayama was stronger facing right-handed pitching (150 wRC+, .897 OPS) but wasn’t bad against lefties (126 wRC+, .803 OPS).

While a strong batter, Murayama’s overall athleticism was poor. He was very slow and sluggish as a baserunner and as a defender. Just over half of Murayama’s career starts were at first base, where he graded as a terrible glove man. Most of his time at 1B came in the second half of his career. Murayama was a designated hitter in all of his non-1B appearances. Excellent durability did mean that his quality bat was always ready to go. Murayama was also a known prankster in the clubhouse who could break even his most stone-faced teammates.

Murayama attended Choshi Shogyo High School and his batting potential was noticed even then. He was picked 22^nd overall by Kobe in the 2005 EAB Draft, who hoped to develop him into a star. Most don’t realize he was picked by the Blaze since he never played for them. After only seven months in their academy, Murayama was sent to Ulsan in a three-player trade. The Swallows debuted Murayama in 2007 at age 20, but he struggled as mostly a pinch hitter with 54 games and 3 starts.

Ulsan moved him into a starting role in 2008 with decent results initially. Murayama found his power stroke by 2010 and had his finest season in 2011. That year, Murayama won a Silver Slugger at DH and took second in MVP voting, leading the Korea League in runs (121), hits (234), RBI (132), total bases (417), and average (.357). Murayama’s runs, hits, and total bases were career bests as were his 45 home runs, .636 slugging, 1.029 OPS, 184 wRC+, and 9.0 WAR. He finished four homers short of a Triple Crown season.

Murayama never matched that power production, but he topped 5+ WAR, 100+ runs, 200+ hits, 30+ homers, and 125+ RBI in each of the next three seasons. He won his second Silver Slugger in 2012 and took third in 2013’s MVP voting. Murayama also hit for the cycle in 2012, a feat he’d match in 2017. In March 2013, Murayama signed a six-year, $156,200,000 extension with Ulsan.

The Swallows ended a four-year playoff drought in 2012 and started a four-year streak. They lost in the first round from 2012-14, despite winning 100+ games in the latter two years. Ulsan finally broke through in 2015 at 90-72, upsetting Seongnam in the Korea League Championship Series. The Swallows were later defeated by Yokohama in the EAB Championship. In that playoff run, Murayama had 18 hits, 10 runs, 5 homers, 16 RBI, and .854 OPS over 18 starts. He had similar stats in the Baseball Grand Championship with 19 hits, 6 runs, 4 doubles, 6 homers, 10 RBI, and .838 OPS over 19 starts. Ulsan would be near the bottom in the BGC at 6-13.

Ulsan surprisingly fell to 70-92 in 2016, then rebounded in 2017 with a first round exit at 93-69. The Swallows began an eight-year playoff drought after that and started the 2020s at the very bottom. Murayama’s playoff stats were good overall with 36 games, 43 hits, 19 runs, 6 doubles, 2 triples, 7 home runs, 25 RBI, 14 walks, .319/.382/.548 slash, 151 wRC+, and 1.7 WAR.

While Murayama was still a positive value starter, he was no longer in awards conversations in the back end with Ulsan. He finished with 1953 games, 2357 hits, 1110 runs, 433 doubles, 330 home runs, 1358 RBI, 581 walks, .319/.366/.523 slash, 143 wRC+, and 58.2 WAR. The Swallows would retire his #33 uniform at the end of his playing career. His deal expired after the 2019 season, becoming a free agent at age 33.

Murayama returned home to Japan on a three-year, $15,880,000 deal with Hiroshima. He had a strong debut season with .907 OPS and 5.8 WAR, but fell to more modest production the following years. For the Hammerheads, Murayama played 459 games with 440 hits, 183 runs, 71 doubles, 73 home runs, 218 RBI, .281/.324/.478 slash, 147 wRC+, and 10.3 WAR. Hiroshima would be outside the playoffs as Fukuoka rose in the West Division at this time. Murayama went unsigned in 2023 and retired that winter at age 36.

In total, Murayama had 2412 games, 2797 hits, 1293 runs, 504 doubles, 53 triples, 403 home runs, 1576 RBI, 679 walks, 1364 strikeouts, .312/.359/.515 slash, 144 wRC+, and 68.5 WAR. As of 2037, Murayama ranks 45^th in hits, 25^th in doubles, 76^th in total bases (4616), and 39^th in RBI. He does rank outside the top 100 in WAR, losing plenty of points as a designated hitter.

The DH penalty did impact some voters, but he hit some nice milestones like 2500+ hits, 1000+ runs, 500+ doubles, 400+ homers, and 1500+ RBI. Murayama also was twice an MVP finalist with a batting title and helped Ulsan to a pennant. The good outweighed the bad for the majority of voters as Murayama debuted with 70.9%. That crossed the 66% requirement for a first ballot induction to cap off a strong four-player 2028 Hall of Fame class for East Asia Baseball.