Exactly a decade after his baseball career at Fayette County High came to an end, David Buchanan is taking the mound in 2017 nearly 7,000 miles from Fayetteville.
The righthander signed a one-year contract last winter with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball’s Central League after seven years in the Philadelphia Phillies organization, two of which were at the major league level. According to a report on a Japanese website, his deal is worth an estimated 88 million yen, or $750,000.
Through July 30 he was tied for the team lead in wins while sporting a 5-8 record. He also leads the Swallows in innings pitched (114) and strikeouts (84).
Over 2014 and 2015 he amassed eight wins in 35 games for the Phillies, and he finished the 2016 season with a 10-9 record for Lehigh Valley, the Phillies’ AAA affiliate, before being released in November.
Buchanan is a 2007 graduate of FCHS, and as a senior he was the Tigers’ MVP while setting a school record with 19 strikeouts in a game. He was drafted by the New York Mets in 2009 after junior college but went to Georgia State, where he was the Panthers’ top pitcher in 2010 and was selected by the Phillies in the seventh round of that year’s draft.
Above he is seen here pitching in a June 17 game at Meiji Jingu Stadium in Tokyo. Photo/yagi-s/Wikimedia.
