Yuki Matsui – San Diego Union-Tribune

YUKI MATSUI

Position(s): Left-handed pitcher
Bats / Throws: Left / Left
2026 opening day age: 30
Height / Weight: 5-foot-8 / 165 pounds
How acquired: Signed as a free agent in December 2023
Contract status: Will make $5.75 million in the third year of a five-year, $28 million deal; the agreement includes an opt-out after the third year if Matsui has not had a significant elbow injury and it could be worth as much as $33.6 million over five seasons if Matsui becomes the Padres’ closer. Matsui would be $6.5 million in 2027 and $7 million in 2028.
fWAR in 2025: Minus-0.3
Key 2025 stats: 3-1, 3.98 ERA, 1 save, 3 holds, 61 strikeouts, 33 walks, 1.36 WHIP, .227 opponent average, 63⅓ innings (61 games)

STAT TO NOTE

.849 — Opposing left-handed hitters’ OPS against Matsui in 2025, up from .673 as a rookie in 2024. Matsui had rather even splits in his first year in the majors (.659 OPS against righties), but he wasn’t nearly as effective against lefties last year (.263/.354/.495).

TRENDING

Down — A five-time All-Star who piled up 236 saves over a decade in Japan, Matsui to date has recorded just one save in the majors as he’s yet to truly grab hold of a job in the Padres’ victory formation. In fact, he appeared in just four save situations in 2025 — down from 13 a year earlier — largely because the Padres have used the last two trade deadlines to upgrade the bridge to closer Robert Suarez. Two years ago, the team acquired LHP Tanner Scott and Jason Adam. Last year, the big get was RHP Mason Miller. Thus, Matsui’s usage in high-leverage situations dropped from 27 appearances to 16 in 2025. Even the save that he recorded in 2025 was in June (before the arrival of Miller) in a game in which Suarez was ejected for throwing at Shohei Ohtani (LHP Adrián Morejón and RHPs Adam and Jeremiah Estrada had already been used) and Matsui walked a batter and allowed an inherited run to score on a wild pitch before finishing the game. The bottom line is Matsui, two years into his stay in the States, is allowing more hits per nine innings (7.1) than he did in Japan (6.0), more home homers (1.3 vs. 0.5) and more walks (4.3 vs. 4.0) and striking out fewer batters (9.3 vs. 12.0). Maybe that’s best explained by basic physics: The 5-foot-8 pitcher ranked in the bottom 16th percentile in fastball velocity (92.0 mph) in 2025, in the bottom 7th percentile in extension (5.9 feet) and saw opponents’ barrel rate jump from 6.8% in 2024 to 9% in 2025.

2026 OUTLOOK

By virtue of a guaranteed contract, Matsui is entrenched in a middle relief role in the majors, though he could find himself in more higher-leverage situations early in the season as Adam works his way back from a ruptured quad tendon. If every one in the bullpen is healthy, Matsui is behind Miller, Adam, Morejón, Estrada and in the mix for middle-inning work with LHP Wandy Peralta and up-and-coming RHP David Morgan.

San Diego Padres’ Yuki Matsui on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
ROSTER RANKINGS

23. LHP Yuki Matsui
24. INF Sung-Mun Song
25. RHP Matt Waldron
26. OF Bryce Johnson
27. RHP Ron Marinaccio
28. RHP Bryan Hoeing
29. LHP Kyle Hart
30. RHP Jhony Brito
31. INF Will Wagner
32. OF Tirso Ornelas
33. RHP Garrett Hawkins
34. RHP Miguel Mendez
35. RHP Daison Acosta
36. RHP Ty Adcock
37. RHP Alek Jacob
38. INF Mason McCoy

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