Yuki Matsui — 2026 Season

2026 Season Stats

Pitching stats and MLB-wide rank · 2026 Season

Stat	2026	MLB Rank
ERA	1.95	—
WHIP	1.14	—
W	3	—
L	1	—
K	61	—
IP	55.1	—
SV	0	—
GS	0	—

2026 Season Highlights

As of September 1, Yuki Matsui remains active on the Padres' roster as a reliever. His ERA has improved noticeably compared to last season, reflecting steadier outings on the mound. He continues to miss bats at a high rate, making him a key contributor out of the bullpen. His performance so far marks clear progress since his move to MLB.

Yuki Matsui joined the Padres in 2024 after recording 200+ career saves with the Rakuten Eagles in NPB. He hit the ground running in MLB, logging 60+ appearances in each of his first two seasons as a versatile reliever. His effectiveness against left-handed hitters makes him a valuable bullpen weapon, and in 2026, Matsui is targeting a permanent setup role for San Diego.

1This season his ERA has improved clearly compared to last year, showing greater stability as a reliever.
2A dominant closer during his NPB career, he has continued to show swing-and-miss stuff on the MLB stage since joining the Padres in 2024.
3Going forward, how he continues to be used out of the bullpen down the stretch will be worth watching.

DETAIL · ANALYSIS

Detailed Analysis

In-depth metrics aggregated from every at-bat and pitch.

Data as of: 2026-09-06

Expand detailed analysis ▾

Recent Form (Last 10 Starts)

Older games on the left, most recent on the right. Color shows how they played.

Best: 6IP+ / ≤1ER · Good: 5IP+ / ≤2ER · OK: 4IP+ / ≤3ER · 4ER · ≥5ER (blowup)

Pitch Arsenal

Current season pitch data by type. Velocity, spin rate, movement, whiff rate, and CSW% at a glance.

Pitch	Usage	Velo (mph)	Spin	H-Mvmt	V-Mvmt	Whiff%	CSW%
Four-Seam Fastball	37.3%	91.9	2,448	+3.3"	+11.4"	18.4%	28.0%
Slider	30.4%	85.0	2,717	-2.0"	+2.2"	38.1%	34.6%
Splitter	26.3%	83.4	1,164	+5.4"	+2.4"	46.3%	31.4%
Sweeper	3.2%	81.2	2,875	-7.0"	-1.7"	27.3%	20.0%
Sinker	2.8%	90.9	2,136	+7.4"	+7.4"	10.0%	11.5%

H-Mvmt/V-Mvmt (inch): movement vs. a spinless ball. + = toward 3B / up, − = toward 1B / down. Whiff% = whiffs / swings, CSW% = (called strikes + whiffs) / pitches.

Handedness & Home/Away Splits

Situational splits for the current season. See strengths and weaknesses by scenario.

vs Handedness

Split	OAVG	OOPS	HR	K	BB
vs RHB	.198	.705	4	26	19
vs LHB	.140	.488	2	35	13

Home / Away

Split	OAVG	OOPS	HR	K	BB
Home	.220	.756	6	23	11
Away	.116	.433	0	38	21

Year-over-Year Performance Trend

Career-long performance trends for every key stat. How does this year compare to history?

Season	G	IP	ERA	WHIP	K/9	BB/9	K
2024	64	62.2	3.73	1.16	9.91	3.88	69
2025	61	63.1	3.98	1.36	8.67	4.69	61
2026Now	44	55.1	1.95	1.14	9.92	5.20	61

Full Game Log (Pitching)

All 44 games of the 2026 season. Showing latest 10; click to expand.

Date	Opp	IP	H	BB	K
09/05	vs NYY	1.0	1	0	1
09/02	@ CIN	1.0	0	1	2
08/31	@ TB	1.0	0	1	2
08/30	@ TB	1.0	0	1	1
08/27	vs PIT	0.2	1	0	2
08/25	vs PIT	1.0	0	1	2
08/24	vs MIN	1.0	1	0	1
08/20	@ NYM	0.2	1	0	0
08/17	@ CLE	1.0	0	1	2
08/15	@ CLE	1.0	0	1	0

SHOW REMAINING 34 GAMES ▾

Date	Opp	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ER/9
08/11	vs MIL	1.0	0	0	0	1	0.00
08/08	vs HOU	2.0	1	1	1	0	4.50
08/04	@ ARI	1.1	1	0	1	2	0.00
08/01	vs SF	3.0	1	0	0	2	0.00
07/27	@ MIA	0.2	0	0	1	2	0.00
07/26	@ MIA	1.0	0	0	0	1	0.00
07/24	@ ATL	1.1	1	0	0	1	0.00
07/22	@ ATL	0.2	0	1	2	1	13.50
07/20	@ KC	2.0	0	0	0	3	0.00
07/12	vs TOR	0.2	0	2	1	0	27.00
07/10	vs ARI	1.0	1	1	2	0	9.00
07/08	vs ARI	0.1	2	0	0	1	0.00
07/06	@ LAD	0.2	0	0	2	0	0.00
07/03	@ LAD	1.0	2	2	2	1	18.00
06/29	vs LAD	1.2	1	0	0	2	0.00
06/27	vs LAD	0.2	1	0	1	0	0.00
06/24	vs ATL	2.1	3	1	1	3	3.86
06/22	@ TEX	1.0	0	0	1	1	0.00
06/20	@ TEX	1.2	1	0	1	3	0.00
06/17	@ STL	1.1	1	0	1	1	0.00
06/14	@ BAL	1.0	1	0	0	2	0.00
06/10	vs CIN	1.0	1	1	0	1	9.00
06/08	vs NYM	1.2	2	2	0	1	10.80
06/06	vs NYM	0.1	0	0	0	1	0.00
06/05	@ PHI	1.0	0	0	1	2	0.00
06/03	@ PHI	0.2	1	0	1	1	0.00
06/01	@ WSH	1.0	0	0	0	1	0.00
05/30	@ WSH	2.0	1	1	0	1	4.50
05/26	vs PHI	2.0	0	0	1	1	0.00
05/21	vs LAD	1.1	1	0	2	2	0.00
05/18	@ SEA	2.0	0	0	2	2	0.00
05/15	@ MIL	2.0	0	0	1	3	0.00
05/13	@ MIL	2.0	1	0	0	3	0.00
05/09	vs STL	2.2	3	0	1	2	0.00

Year-over-Year (2026 vs 2025)

Green = improvement, red = decline. "—" means no data in the same month last year.

Pitching

	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep
ERA	-3.62	-5.20	-0.53	-2.83	-1.04
K	+8	+8	+6	+0	-3
WHIP	-0.63	-0.38	-0.12	-0.37	-0.04

AI · SEASON ANALYSIS

Yuki Matsui 2026 Season AI Analysis

Comprehensive 2026 season analysis generated by Claude AI from stats data (as of Sep 7, 2026).

Overview

```json { "summary": "Matsui's 1.95 ERA sits well inside the MLB top decile (P90 2.55, P75 3.04), and his 1.14 WHIP lands between league median (1.18) and P75 (1.09). Strikeout rate at 9.92 K/9 is r

AI-generated content (Claude) · Based on stats as of Sep 7, 2026

Detailed Analysis

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Season Analysis

Season Progress

ERA

↓ Lower is better

WHIP

↓ Lower is better

Strikeouts

Wins

Monthly Stats

ERA

vs MLB Monthly Avg↓ Lower is better

WHIP

vs MLB Monthly Avg↓ Lower is better

Strikeouts

Wins

Season Analysis

Loading season chart…

Splits vs LHP / RHP

Season stats vs right-handed and left-handed batters

vs RHP/RHB

.198OPS .705 / HR 4

vs LHP/LHB

.140OPS .488 / HR 2

Metrics Deep Dive

MLB-wide percentile rank, defensive and pitching metric summaries, pitch-type stats, and batted-ball distribution.

Pitching — MLB-wide Standing

ERA ranks in the top 1% of MLB. K/9 and WHIP also rank in the top 42%, with no clear weak spot.

ERA1.95

100

WHIP1.14

strikeouts61

K/99.92

Bars show percentile rank among MLB-wide qualified players.

PITCHER · FIP

What is Yuki Matsui's FIP? 4.15 in 2026

FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) measures a pitcher's true skill using only home runs, walks, hit-by-pitches and strikeouts — outcomes the pitcher controls. By stripping out defense and luck, it tracks real ability more closely than ERA.

Yuki Matsui's 2026 FIP is 4.15, rated as "MLB average". That's 0.15 above the MLB average of about 4.00, leaving room to improve.

Compare with other Japanese pitchers in the FIP ranking

Pitch Type K% & BA Against

K% / BA-against / Whiff% by pitch type this season. K% is based on at-bats where each type was the strikeout pitch.

Pitch	Usage	K%	BAA	Whiff%
Four-Seam Fastball	37.3%	17.6%	.294	18.4%
Slider	30.4%	27.1%	.162	38.1%
Splitter	26.3%	40.6%	.281	46.3%
Sweeper	3.2%	40.0%	—	27.3%
Sinker	2.8%	0.0%	.000	10.0%

K%: rate of strikeouts among plate appearances where this pitch type was the final pitch. Whiff%: whiffs per swing. Types with fewer than 10 pitches excluded.

Splits by Batter Handedness

BA / OPS against and WHIP vs right-handed and left-handed batters this season. Spot weaknesses by batter type.

Split	BAA	OPS	WHIP	K	IP
vs RHB	.198	.705	1.48	26	24.1
vs LHB	.140	.488	0.88	35	30.2

Game Log

2026 Season Appearance Log

44 starts · 61 total strikeouts

Season Best K

Mon, Jul 20 @ KC

Season Debut

Sat, May 9 vs STL

2.2IP · 2K

Date	Opp	IP	K	HR	BB	Dec
9/5	vsNYY	1.0	1	-	0	-
9/2	@CIN	1.0	2	-	1	-
8/31	@TB	1.0	2	-	1	-
8/30	@TB	1.0	1	-	1	-
8/27	vsPIT	0.2	2	-	0	-
8/25	vsPIT	1.0	2	-	1	-
8/24	vsMIN	1.0	1	-	0	-
8/20	@NYM	0.2	0	-	0	-
8/17	@CLE	1.0	2	-	1	-
8/15	@CLE	1.0	0	-	1	-
8/11	vsMIL	1.0	1	-	0	W
8/8	vsHOU	2.0	0	1	1	-
8/4	@ARI	1.1	2	-	1	-
8/1	vsSF	3.0	2	-	0	W
7/27	@MIA	0.2	2	-	1	-
7/26	@MIA	1.0	1	-	0	-
7/24	@ATL	1.1	1	-	0	-
7/22	@ATL	0.2	1	-	2	-
7/20	@KC	2.0	3	-	0	W
7/12	vsTOR	0.2	0	-	1	-
7/10	vsARI	1.0	0	1	2	-
7/8	vsARI	0.1	1	-	0	-
7/6	@LAD	0.2	0	-	2	-
7/3	@LAD	1.0	1	-	2	-
6/29	vsLAD	1.2	2	-	0	-
6/27	vsLAD	0.2	0	-	1	-
6/24	vsATL	2.1	3	1	1	-
6/22	@TEX	1.0	1	-	1	-
6/20	@TEX	1.2	3	-	1	-
6/17	@STL	1.1	1	-	1	-
6/14	@BAL	1.0	2	-	0	-
6/10	vsCIN	1.0	1	1	0	L
6/8	vsNYM	1.2	1	2	0	-
6/6	vsNYM	0.1	1	-	0	-
6/5	@PHI	1.0	2	-	1	-
6/3	@PHI	0.2	1	-	1	-
6/1	@WSH	1.0	1	-	0	-
5/30	@WSH	2.0	1	-	0	-
5/26	vsPHI	2.0	1	-	1	-
5/21	vsLAD	1.1	2	-	2	-
5/18	@SEA	2.0	2	-	2	-
5/15	@MIL	2.0	3	-	1	-
5/13	@MIL	2.0	3	-	0	-
5/9	vsSTL	2.2	2	-	1	-