Former Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks right-hander Nagisa Arakaki revealed his decision to retire Tuesday after 14 years in Nippon Professional Baseball.
"I thought it was about time to decide after speaking to my family," said Arakaki, who was released by the Tokyo Yakult Swallows last month and was waiting for offers from other teams.
The 36-year-old hangs up his spikes with a 64-64 record and a 3.99 ERA in 172 games, plus 101 wild pitches — third-highest in NPB history.
Arakaki joined the Daiei Hawks in 2003 and posted an 8-7 record in his first year to help them to the Japan Series title, before adding 34 more wins over the following three seasons.
But injuries limited him to 18 wins over the next five seasons before he was traded to the Swallows in 2014. He could not turn his fortunes around in his new home, going 4-14 in three years.