Tadashi Settsu

Former Hawks pitcher Tadashi Settsu announced his retirement late last month.  He'd been released by Softbank at the end of last season and had hoped to sign on with another team but no one made him an offer.  Settsu was the Hawks's fifth pick in the 2008 draft of the roster of JR East Tohoku of the industrial leagues.  He immediately joined the ichi-gun team's bullpen and went 5-2 with an ERA of 1.47 in 70 games in middle relief.  He led the league in "Hold Points" that season, made the All Star team and was named Rookie Of The Year.  He led the league in "Hold Points" again in 2010 and then the Hawks moved him into the starting rotation for 2011.  He made the All Star team again in 2011 and then had his best season in 2012, going 17-5 with a 1.91 ERA, leading the Pacific League in wins and winning the Sawamura Award.  His numbers began to decline after that with his ERA topping 3 runs each of the next three seasons.  After 2015 his appearances with the top team severely dropped off as he only made 7 starts in each of his last three seasons.  I don't think there was an injury involved, just a lack of effectiveness.

Settsu pitched for the Hawks in four of the five Nippon Series that they played in (and won) during his career - 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2017 - he was left off the Series roster this autumn.  He pitched for the Japanese National Team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

His main BBM rookie cards are #043 from the 2009 Rookie Edition set and #214 from the 2009 1st Version set.  His first Calbee card was #HP-06 from the "Hot Player" subset in the 2009 Series Two set although his first "regular" card wasn't until Series Three that year (#250).

2009 BBM Rookie Edition #043

2009 BBM 1st Version #214

2009 BBM All Stars #A05

2010 BBM 1st Version #436

2011 BBM Nippon Series #S08

2013 Topps Tribute WBC #82

2015 Bandai Owners League 01 #003

2016 Calbee #006

2018 Epoch NPB #13