This season, he returned to his old team for the first time in three years and has been pitching as part of the winning lineup.

​Tyrone Guerrero pitcher has been pitching since shortly after the start of the season as one of Chiba Lotte 's relievers. Guerrero pitcher was also a set-up man for Chiba Lotte in 2022, and this season, his return to his old position after a three-year absence, he has made a strong presence with his hard fastball, earning his first save on the 5th against Tohoku Rakuten.

In this issue, we introduce Guerrero pitcher 's past pitching history as well as his characteristics as a pitcher based on the metrics he left behind during his previous Chiba Lotte stint and those he recorded with MLB-affiliated teams. We will once again confirm the strengths of the tall right-hander, who is making a splash at Makuhari's mound and look forward to even more success in the future (results are as of April 7, 2011).

In 2022, he recorded 24 hold and 3 saves, demonstrating his prowess as a setup man.

pitcher 's annual stats in the NPB are as follows:

Guerrero pitcher made his professional debut at the rookie level in 2010, when he was 19 years old, and then took steady steps with MLB affiliated teams: he made his major league debut with the Padres in 2016, and two years later, in 2018, he pitched 60 games for the Marlins, posting a strike out rate of 10.55. The following year, in 2019, he again took struck out the high pace on the world's most prestigious stage, with an 8.41 strike out rate in 52 games.

In 2022, he chose to challenge the NPB and joined Chiba Lotte, where he recorded 27 hold points in 49 games as part of a winning pattern. He also worked as a temporary closer depending on team conditions and earned three saves, and became a unique presence on bullpen as a hard arm with a maximum speed of over 160 km/h.

While he recorded an overwhelming strike out rate, he also had some bad luck during his previous time with the team.

Next, let's take a look at the various indicators that pitcher has recorded in the NPB.

Guerrero pitcher 's greatest strength is his outstanding strike out power, which makes use of his fastball, which can reach over 160 km/h. In 2022, 46 inning recorded 63 strike out, which is far more than innings pitched strike out. His strike out rate for the year was a staggering 12.33, which is exactly pitch over the hitter.

On the other hand, his BB rate of 3.91 is a bit high for a reliever pitcher, indicating that he has had some problems with his control of the ball. Even so, the "K/BB", which is calculated by dividing strike out by BB, was at a certain level of 3.15, indicating a high level of pitcher as a whole.

Next, let's turn our attention to an indicator called "BABIP," which shows the percentage of batted balls that were in-play except for Home Run that became hit. This number is considered to be largely dependent on luck and not much over the pitcher itself, and .300 is generally considered to be the baseline.

Guerrero pitcher had a .308 BABIP in 2022, slightly above average. Guerrero pitcher hitter that year had a strike out rate of 3.52 while his ERA was only 3.52, but the metrics highlight the fact that he was a little less lucky.

However, the WHIP, which indicates the average of the runner issued per inning, was 1.17, which was good enough despite the relatively high number of hit and BB. This season, his return to the NPB after a three-year absence, he could pitch even better than last time if he gets lucky and his BABIP improves.

Control has been an issue throughout his career...

Finally, let's take a look at the various metrics that pitcher has recorded while playing for MLB affiliates.

Although his minor league career ERA was 4.68, the Pacific Coast League where pitcher played during his AAA years is known as a league with extremely high hitters and low pitchers, with many stadiums in dry areas and at high altitudes. Guerrero's pitcher BABIP allowed of .325 and career Avg of .249 also show that it is a difficult environment for pitcher.

Therefore, this time I would like to focus on two figures, "strike out rate" and "BB rate" rather than ERA. Starting with a rookie-level strike out rate of 9.51 in 2010, his first year as a professional at the age of 19, he recorded more strike out than inning in 8 of his 13 seasons in the minor leagues. strike out rate in the minor leagues was also an excellent 9.11.

On the other hand, BB rate in the minor leagues was quite high at 5.72, and his control was unstable. However, in 2024, BB rate improved significantly to 2.72, the best of his career. However, strike out rate was 9.41, above his career average, and his K/BB was 3.45, the best of his career, showing his progress as pitcher.

Just before his last visit to Japan in 2021, he had an overwhelming strike out rate of 11.84, but BB rate was 5.68, which meant he had some control issues. It could be said that pitcher came to Japan in a more complete state as pitcher than he was then.

Will this strong arm, who has evolved as pitcher, be able to continue his strike out show?

pitcher is back on mound in the NPB after further evolving as pitcher while still using his strike out to get a lot of strikeouts. His pitch repertoire has also changed since three years ago, and even now at the age of 34, he is still growing tirelessly, which is a reliable factor.

Will pitcher be able to continue pitching well as a setup man and lead the team to a higher ranking with even better performance than when he was with the team last time? This season, be sure to keep an eye on the return of this powerful arm, who will be unleashing strike out show centered around his fastball that can reach speeds of over 160km/h.

Text by Ryota Mochizuki