What years did Hideki Irabu play?

Hideki Irabu played in Major League Baseball from 1997 to 2002.

Was Hideki Irabu a pitcher?

Yes. Hideki Irabu pitched in the major leagues, recording 34 wins and 405 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Hideki Irabu hit?

Hideki Irabu hit 0 career home runs with 3 hits.

What teams did Hideki Irabu play for?

Hideki Irabu played for 3 teams: the New York Yankees (1997–1999), the Montreal Expos (2000–2001), and the Texas Rangers (2002).

What were Hideki Irabu's career stats?

In 126 games, Hideki Irabu went 34-35 with a 5.15 ERA, 405 strikeouts, 514.0 innings pitched, and 16 saves.

What was Hideki Irabu's salary?

Hideki Irabu's last recorded salary was $550,000, in 2002. His highest recorded salary was $4,125,000, in 2000, and his lowest was $550,000, in 2002. The Salary History table lists each season from 1997 to 2002.

What position did Hideki Irabu play?

Hideki Irabu played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Hideki Irabu and how much did he weigh?

Hideki Irabu was listed at 6 feet 4 inches and 240 pounds.

What was Hideki Irabu's career ERA?

Hideki Irabu finished with a 5.15 career ERA, going 34-35 with 405 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Hideki Irabu have?

Hideki Irabu recorded 405 career strikeouts.

Is Hideki Irabu in the Hall of Fame?

No. Hideki Irabu has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Hideki Irabu

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1997-2002)

Hideki Irabu was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1997 to 2002 for the New York Yankees, the Montreal Expos, and the Texas Rangers, a span of 6 seasons. Across 126 career appearances, he went 34-35 with a 5.15 ERA and 405 strikeouts.

W (Wins):: Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):: Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):: For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):: Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated October 15, 2026

W–L 34–35

ERA 5.15

WHIP 1.40

SO 405

Pitcher PIV -5448.4

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'4" / 240 lb
Born: 5/5/1969 in Hirara, Hyogo, Japan
Died: 7/27/2011 in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, USA
MLB Debut: 1997-07-10
Last Game: 2002-07-12

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Career Pitching Statistics

Hideki Irabu — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
34	35	126	80	4	2	16	514.0	547	294	91	175	405	5.15	-5448.4

Career ERA 5.15 vs. league average 4.50 across their career seasons — 14.4% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Hideki Irabu — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1997	NYA	AL	5	4	13	9	0	0	0	53.1	69	42	20	56	7.09	4.39 (-61%)	-1943.0
1998	NYA	AL	13	9	29	28	2	1	0	173.0	148	78	76	126	4.06	4.43 (+8%)	-3260.0
1999	NYA	AL	11	7	32	27	2	1	0	169.1	180	91	46	133	4.84	4.71 (-3%)	999.0
2000	MON	NL	2	5	11	11	0	0	0	54.2	77	44	14	42	7.24	4.77 (-52%)	288.2
2001	MON	NL	0	2	3	3	0	0	0	16.2	22	9	3	18	4.86	4.42 (-10%)	271.1
2002	TEX	AL	3	8	38	2	0	0	16	47.0	51	30	16	30	5.74	4.28 (-34%)	-1803.7
Career · 6 seasons			34	35	126	80	4	2	16	514.0	547	294	175	405	5.15	—	-5,448

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

Hideki Irabu — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
126	28	1	3	0	0	0	1	0	1	13	.107	.138	.107	.245	0

Career AVG .107 vs. league average .267 across their career seasons — 59.8% below league average.

Career OBP .138 vs. league average .338 across their career seasons — 59.1% below league average.

Career SLG .107 vs. league average .426 across their career seasons — 74.8% below league average.

Career OPS .245 vs. league average .763 across their career seasons — 67.9% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Hideki Irabu — Season-by-Season Batting
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1997	NYA	AL	13	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1998	NYA	AL	29	4	0	1	0	0	3	.250	—	—	—	—	0.0
1999	NYA	AL	32	4	0	0	0	1	3	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2000	MON	NL	11	16	1	2	1	0	7	.125	—	—	—	—	0.0
2001	MON	NL	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2002	TEX	AL	38	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 6 seasons			126	28	1	3	1	1	13	.107	—	—	—	—	0

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Hideki Irabu — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Hideki Irabu — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1999	ALCS	NYA	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Hideki Irabu — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
0	0	1	0	0	4.2	13	7	0	3	13.50

Playoff Pitching by Year

Hideki Irabu — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1999	ALCS	NYA	0	0	1	0	0	4.2	13	7	0	3	13.50

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (252 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Hideki Irabu — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	65	11	1	2	0	1	.182
Away	61	17	0	1	0	0	.059

Pitching — Home / Away

Hideki Irabu — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	65	259.0	283	154	96	196	5.35
Away	61	255.0	264	140	79	209	4.94

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Hideki Irabu — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
2002-07-12	TEX	MIN	L	1.1	2	1	1	0	1	0
2002-07-07	TEX	BAL	—	1.0	0	0	0	2	0	0
2002-07-04	TEX	TBR	SV	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0
2002-07-03	TEX	TBR	—	0.2	2	2	2	1	0	0
2002-07-02	TEX	TBR	SV	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0
2002-06-26	TEX	LAA	L	1.0	3	1	1	0	0	0
2002-06-24	TEX	LAA	SV	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0
2002-06-24	TEX	LAA	—	0.2	1	1	1	0	2	1
2002-06-22	TEX	PIT	SV	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0
2002-06-21	TEX	PIT	—	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Hideki Irabu — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	126	80	13	55	4	3

Season-by-Season Fielding

Hideki Irabu — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1997	NYA	P	13	9	1	5	2	1
1998	NYA	P	29	28	6	17	2	1
1999	NYA	P	32	27	2	13	0	0
2000	MON	P	11	11	2	6	0	0
2001	MON	P	3	3	0	5	0	0
2002	TEX	P	38	2	2	9	0	1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Hideki Irabu — Career Games by Position
Position	Games
Pitcher	126

Awards & Honors

Hideki Irabu — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1999	Pitcher of the Month	July
1998	Pitcher of the Month	May

Salary History

Hideki Irabu's recorded salaries total $15,550,000 over 6 seasons, 1997 to 2002. Irabu's career, 1997 to 2002, falls within 1985 to 2016, the years the salary data covers.

Hideki Irabu — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
2002	TEX	AL	$550,000
2001	MON	NL	$2,500,000
2000	MON	NL	$4,125,000
1999	NYA	AL	$3,125,000
1998	NYA	AL	$2,925,000
1997	NYA	AL	$2,325,000
Total recorded salary			$15,550,000

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Hideki Irabu (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Hideki Irabu: the record in brief

Between the debut on July 10, 1997 and the final game on July 12, 2002, Hideki Irabu built the record summarized on this page. The team column moves through the New York Yankees (1997 to 1999), the Montreal Expos (2000 through 2001), and the Texas Rangers (2002). Irabu is listed as a pitcher at 6 feet, 4 inches and 240 pounds. Irabu batted and threw right-handed, per the bio block. The recorded birth is May 5, 1969, in Hirara, Hyogo, Japan. Irabu died on July 27, 2011, in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, USA.

Irabu's career pitching line is 34 wins, 35 losses and a 5.15 ERA over 126 appearances. The same table counts 405 strikeouts and 16 saves. The league ERA over Irabu's seasons was 4.50, so the 5.15 figure ran 14.4% worse than average. 1998 brought Irabu a season-high 13 wins. The strikeout high was 133 in 1999. The most saves in one season was 16, in 2002.

Frequently Asked Questions about Hideki Irabu

What years did Hideki Irabu play?: Hideki Irabu played in Major League Baseball from 1997 to 2002.
Was Hideki Irabu a pitcher?: Yes. Hideki Irabu pitched in the major leagues, recording 34 wins and 405 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Hideki Irabu hit?: Hideki Irabu hit 0 career home runs with 3 hits.
What teams did Hideki Irabu play for?: Hideki Irabu played for 3 teams: the New York Yankees (1997–1999), the Montreal Expos (2000–2001), and the Texas Rangers (2002).
What were Hideki Irabu's career stats?: In 126 games, Hideki Irabu went 34-35 with a 5.15 ERA, 405 strikeouts, 514.0 innings pitched, and 16 saves.
How much did Hideki Irabu earn in his career?: Hideki Irabu's recorded salaries total $15,550,000 over 6 seasons, 1997 to 2002. Irabu's career, 1997 to 2002, falls within 1985 to 2016, the years the salary data covers.
What was Hideki Irabu's salary?: Hideki Irabu's last recorded salary was $550,000, in 2002. His highest recorded salary was $4,125,000, in 2000, and his lowest was $550,000, in 2002. The Salary History table lists each season from 1997 to 2002.
What position did Hideki Irabu play?: Hideki Irabu played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Hideki Irabu and how much did he weigh?: Hideki Irabu was listed at 6 feet 4 inches and 240 pounds.
What was Hideki Irabu's career ERA?: Hideki Irabu finished with a 5.15 career ERA, going 34-35 with 405 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Hideki Irabu have?: Hideki Irabu recorded 405 career strikeouts.
Is Hideki Irabu in the Hall of Fame?: No. Hideki Irabu has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.