Yūsuke Kinoshita (木下雄介, Kinoshita Yūsuke, 10 October 1993 – 3 August 2021) was a Japanese professional baseball player. He was a pitcher for the Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Professional Baseball.

Yūsuke Kinoshita
木下雄介
Kinoshita pitching for the Dragons in 2019
Pitcher
Born: (1993-10-10)10 October 1993
Hirano-ku, Osaka, Japan
Died: 3 August 2021(2021-08-03) (aged 27)[1]
Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
NPB debut
15 April 2018, for the Chunichi Dragons
Last NPB appearance
24 October 2020, for the Chunichi Dragons
NPB statistics
Win–loss record0–0
Innings pitched40.2
Earned run average4.87
Strikeouts48
Teams

Kinoshita began his professional career in 2015 with the Tokushima Indigo Socks of the Shikoku Island League Plus.[citation needed] In June 2016, Kinoshita played for a team of All-Stars from that league which visited the United States and played against teams from the Can-Am League and the Cuban National Team.[2]

On 20 October 2016, Kinoshita was selected as the 1st round development draft pick by the Chunichi Dragons at the 2016 NPB Draft and on 9 November signed a provisional contract with a ¥2,000,000 sign-on bonus and a ¥3,000,000 yearly salary.[3]

On 23 March 2018, Kinoshita was upgraded to a fully rostered contract and presented with the number 98.[4]

Kinoshita collapsed due to cardiopulmonary arrest[5] on 6 July 2021, during rehabilitation training on his right shoulder at Nagoya Stadium and was rushed to the hospital, where he was put on a ventilator. He died without regaining consciousness on 3 August 2021. There was some media speculation that his death was connected to his having received his first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine eight days prior to his collapse, but no such causal link has been established.[6]

References

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  1. ^ "中日・木下雄介投手死去 27歳 7月6日練習中に倒れ意識不明に 育成からはい上がった5年目右腕". スポーツニッポン. スポーツニッポン新聞社. 6 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Shikoku Island - Roster". canam.bbstats.pointstreak.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  3. ^ "中日、育成D1指名の木下雄と合意 支度金200万円". Sankei Sports (in Japanese). 9 November 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  4. ^ "中日木下雄介が支配下に 異色の経歴、妻は叫ぶ - プロ野球 : 日刊スポーツ". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  5. ^ "中日・木下雄介投手が27歳で死去 7月6日の練習中に倒れ意識戻らず 育成出身、右肩脱臼からのリハビリ中". Chunichi Shimbun (in Japanese). 6 August 2021.
  6. ^ "与田中日あまりにショック、木下雄介投手27歳急死 死因、病名明かされず". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 6 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
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