Rafael Fernandes

Rafael Fernandes is a name Japanese baseball fans will recognize more than American ones, and that's what makes him interesting to me. A Brazilian pitcher reaching Nippon Professional Baseball with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows is a rare path; Brazil is a football country, so a kid from Sao Paulo carving out a pro pitching career is genuinely against the grain. That he also works as an interpreter tells you he's adaptable and bridges cultures, which matters in a league full of imported players. I can't claim he was a star, but his existence quietly widens the map of where baseball talent can come from.

Name (English)

Rafael Fernandes

Name (Japanese)

ラファエル・フェルナンデス

Reading

らふぁえる・ふぇるなんです

Born

April 23, 1986 (age 40)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Taurus / Tiger

Origin

São Paulo, Brazil

Height

181 cm

Occupation

baseball player / interpreter

Motto

Private

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%A9%E3%83%95%E3%82%A1%E3%82%A8%E3%83%AB%E3%83%BB%E3%83%95%E3%82%A7%E3%83%AB%E3%83%8A%E3%83%B3%E3%83%87%E3%82%B9

Tags

• São Paulo
• baseball player
• interpreter

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.