The Liga Mexicana de Béisbol’s Leones de Yucatán announced Monday the signing of former Nippon Professional Baseball right-hander Katsuki Matayoshi.
Matayoshi, 35, was selected by the Chunichi Dragons in the second round of the 2013 NPB Draft after beginning his career in the independent leagues. He made an immediate impact as a rookie in 2014, posting a 2.21 ERA with a 32% strikeout rate across 81 ⅓ innings out of the bullpen.
He remained an effective contributor through 2017 and even temporarily moved into the starting rotation in 2017. The Okinawa native was also part of Samurai Japan’s gold medal-winning team at the 2017 Asia Professional Baseball Championship.
His performance dipped from 2018 to 2019, when he registered a 5.25 ERA over the two seasons, but he rebounded with solid results in 2020 and 2021, even as his swing-and-miss stuff declined. That stretch earned him a four-year contract with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks worth approximately ¥650 million (about $4.25 million).
During his tenure at SoftBank, Matayoshi managed respectable surface-level results, compiling a 2.74 ERA from 2022 to 2024, but his underlying metrics continued to decline, suggesting diminishing returns. He did not appear for the Hawks’ top team in 2025, spending the entire year at the farm level, where he logged a 3.58 ERA with just 47 strikeouts over 75 ⅓ innings, including 12 starts. He currently throws a fastball in the high-80s with a sinker, cutter, sweeper, and changeup.
After trying out for other NPB clubs in November following his departure from SoftBank, the veteran side-winder shifted his focus overseas this offseason and ultimately reached an agreement with Yucatán, which finished 42-50 in the LMB last season.
Photo: Katsuki Matayoshi delivers a pitch for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
