is a Japanese professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

, playing for the

Hanshin Tigers The Hanshin Tigers (Japanese: 阪神タイガース ''Hanshin Taigāsu'') are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and is owned by Hanshin Electric Railway ...

in Japan's

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

Early baseball career

Ueda started playing baseball in 2nd grade for the Kohnan Boys Baseball Club, where he alternated between pitcher and shortstop positions. It was only when he entered junior high that he decided to become a full-time shortstop. He initially enrolled in the Japan Aviation High School in Yamanashi Prefecture, but decided to return to his hometown after a year. He transferred to Oumi High School where he secured the baseball team's shortstop position. In 2014, he helped his team make it all the way to the 96th Summer Koshien Tournament. Even though his team lost in the 3rd round, he recorded an impressive batting average of 0.571.

Hanshin Tigers

Before he graduated high school, he became the

' 5th round pick during the

2014 Nippon Professional Baseball draft The 2014 Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Draft was held on 23 October at the Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa to assign amateur baseball players to the NPB. It was arranged with the special cooperation of Taisho Pharmaceutical Co. with official namin ...

. He inked the deal with the Tigers for a 5 million annual salary, and a 30 million signing bonus. He was assigned the jersey number 62.

References

External links

NPB stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ueda, Kai 1996 births Living people Hanshin Tigers players Japanese baseball players Baseball people from Shiga Prefecture category:Nippon Professional Baseball infielders