Career
Akira began pitching in third grade, then went on to become the ace of Kuwanoyama Junior High where he led his school in winning the prefectural championship. In his sophomore high school year, he pitched 2 consecutive complete games, and brought his team to the quarterfinals of Spring Koshien. The next year, his school made it to Summer Koshien, but got eliminated in the 1st round (2-1), despite him finishing the game with 99 pitches without relief nor walks issued.
In October 2010, he submitted his application for the 2010 professional baseball draft, with the condition that he will only turn pro should he receive 4th nomination or higher.
Otherwise, he would join the industrial leagues. The Tigers selected him as their 4th pick on October 28, and he signed a contract for an annual salary of 6 million yen, plus a 40 million yen signing bonus.
2011
He spent his first year playing in Western League games (minors), where he pitched 6 games, recorded 1 save and an European Research Area of 2.84. 2012
He continued pitching in ni-gun games, and recorded his 1st shutout game against Orix in August.
His success in ni-gun paid off, and he finally made it to the active roster on September 8.
The following day, he debuted as a starter against the Dragons in Nagoya Dome, where he pitched 6 shutout innings (2 hits) and recorded his first pro victory. He finished the season with a 2-1 record and a 0.00 European Research Area. 2013
He again spent the first half of the season playing in ni-gun. His first appearance came on August 1 against the Dragons, where he pitted against 48-year-old veteran Masahiro Yamamoto in what was called the battle of pitchers with the widest age gap in NPB history (27 years, 2 months).
But despite the advantage of youth, Iwamoto suffered the loss when he gave up 2 runs in 4 innings, and was consequently taken off the roster the following day.
2014
He joined the ichi-gun spring training camp in Okinawa. Pitching Coach Nakanishi saw his potential as a long reliever and was appointed as such during the pre-season exhibition games.
He appeared in April 1 as a closer against the Dragons, and gave up 1 run in an inning. He appeared for 3 more games until May 29 as a closer, but never saw any more playing time in ichi-gun afterwards.
Listed at 182 centimeters, Iwamoto is a right-handed pitcher who throws mostly fastballs, the occasional slider, and forkballs as changeup.
He has been called "Tsuda the 2nd" because his 150 kph fastball is reminiscent of the late pitcher.