Ryota Igarashi (五十嵐 亮太, Igarashi Ryōta, born May 28, 1979) is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in Nippon Professional Baseball\'s Pacific League. Igarashi began his career with the Yakult Swallows of NPB in 1999. For Yakult, he was a five-time All-Star. After the 2009 season, Igarashi signed with the New York Mets of MLB as a free agent and pitched for them in 2010 and 2011. He briefly pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees of MLB in 2012.\n', '

Born in Rumoi, Hokkaido, Igarashi was a second-round draft pick of the Yakult Swallows in 1997. He threw a 6-inning perfect game in ni-gun on September 26, 1998; the contest was cut short due to rain. Igarashi had a 6-4 win–loss record with a save and a 4.91 earned run average (ERA) in 36 games as a rookie in 1999. He had won 11 games before the All-Star break his next season, 2000. He finished the year 11-4 with a save and a 3.11 ERA. He allowed only 42 hits in 75 1/3 innings pitched (IP) for a .160 batting average against. He struck out 90 batters, but also walked 33. He was named to the Central League (CL) All-Star team for the first time.\n', '

Igarashi suffered a couple of injuries in 2001, going 2-3 with a 2.59 ERA. He allowed a .172 average and struck out 51 in 41 2/3 IP while walking 28. He pitched one game in the 2001 Japan Series, giving up three runs in one inning in Game Two, a loss to the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes; Yakult won the Series, taking the other four contests.\n', '

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