Eri Yoshida Update

Eri Yoshida will make her eighth start of the season for the Chico Outlaws tonight, facing Maui Na Koa Ikaika, winners of the Golden Baseball League South Division first-half crown. In the second half, Maui is 18-4.

Yoshida, 18, is still looking for her first win. In seven starts, she is 0-3 with a 12.68 ERA.

                IP   H   R  ER  BB   K   BF
0529 Tijuana    3    5   4   4   1   0   14
0612 Yuma       4    4   2   1   2   1   18
0624 Edmonton   5    3   3   2   3   0   23 L
0702 St. George 3    5   5   4   1   0   17
0723 OC         3.1  7   6   6   2   2   18 L
0727 @ Victoria 2.1  1   8   8   7   1   18 L
0801 @ Calgary  1.1  5   8   6   1   0   13
  7 starts     22   30  34  29  17   4  ERA 12.68

Yoshida's last two starts were in Canada, pitching in Victoria on July 27 (pictured above) and in Calgary on August 1. She is the first woman to pitch professionally in three countries, including her native Japan. (Here is an article about the British Columbia connection to women who have played pro ball.)

At first, there was about two weeks between Yoshida's starts, but then, after a gap of three weeks in July, she started twice in five days. I wonder if the infrequency of her starts is contributing to her ineffectiveness. There are plenty of general articles on the web, but very little information on something like usage patterns.

Chico has won four of Yoshida's seven starts, but she has not pitched enough innings to qualify for the win in any of them. She was given the loss in the other three games. (She pitched five solid innings against Edmonton, but the pen allowed six runs in the eighth inning and Chico lost 10-2.)

She is 1-for-7 at the plate, with one walk and two RBI.