Yusaku Iriki

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yusaku Iriki
Born	August 8, 1972 (1972-08-08) Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan
Nationality	Japanese
Education	Asia University (Japan)
Known for	Suspension for violating MLB steroids policy Players suspended for violating MLB steroids policy


Major League Baseball debut
Syracuse Chiefs — No.
Starting Pitcher
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
,
Selected MLB statistics (through )
Win-Loss
Earned Run Average
Strikeouts
Teams
Yomiuri Giants (1997-2002) Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters (2004-2005) New York Mets and affiliates (2006) Toronto Blue Jays (2007) Yokohama BayStars (2008-Present)

Yusaku Iriki (入来祐作 Iriki Yūsaku, born August 8, 1972 in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan) is a Minor League Baseball pitcher in the Toronto Blue Jays organization.

[edit] Biography

Iriki attended the Perfect Liberty High School and Asia University (Japan) before joining the Honda amateur baseball team. He was drafted by the Yomiuri Giants in 1996. In 1999, his older brother, Satoshi, was traded to the Giants from the Kintetsu Buffaloes, and the two were teammates from 1999-2000. In 2001, he led the team in wins (13), and appeared in the all-star game for the first time. His brother had also made it to the all-star game, pitching for the Yakult Swallows, and the Iriki brothers made back to back appearances in the all star game. This was the first all star sibling relay in Japanese baseball history.

In the 2003 off-season, Iriki was traded to the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, and caused some controversy by trying to make the team ensure that he would be released to play in the major leagues in two years. Iriki got his wish in 2006, signing a major league contract with the New York Mets. He did not make it onto the major league roster, and was given a minor league contract in April of the same year. On April 28, 2006, Iriki was suspended for 50 games for violating Major League Baseball's policy against performance-enhancing drug use.^[1] The suspension originated from testing during the Mets' spring training camp. Iriki was the second Japanese player to receive a doping ban from the major leagues.

Iriki was dropped by the Mets at the end of 2006, and signed with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2007. He is scheduled to start the season in the minor leagues.