Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles right-hander Yuya Kubo will end his 18-year career as a professional baseball player at the end of the season, the Pacific League club said Saturday.
The 40-year-old started his career with the Yomiuri Giants in 2003, spent one season with the DeNA Baystars in 2016 and then joined Rakuten in 2017.
At the height of his career, he made 79 appearances in 2010 and had 20 saves in 2011.
As of Friday, he had posted 37 saves with a win-loss mark of 54-37 and a 3.45 ERA in 506 games.