is a Japanese

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

for the

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. They compete in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as a member of the Pacific League. The team was formerly known as the Nankai Hawks and was based in Osaka. ...

of the

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 ...

(NPB).

Professional career

On October 28, 2010, Kai was drafted by the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks as a developmental player in the 2010 Nippon Professional Baseball draft with

Kodai Senga is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) debut in for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, and played for them until . He is a three-time NPB All-S ...

and Taisei Makihara.

2011-2015 season

In 2011–2013 season, he played in informal matches against the

Shikoku Island League Plus The is an independent professional baseball league on the island of Shikoku in Japan. (None of the teams in Nippon Professional Baseball are based in Shikoku.) The league currently has four teams, and has its league headquarters in Takamatsu. Th ...

's teams and amateur baseball teams, and played in the Western League of NPB's second league. On November 21, 2013, he re-signed a ¥5 million contract with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks as a registered player under control. On June 7, 2014, Kai debuted in the

Interleague play (NPB) , officially titled Nippon Life Interleague Play for event sponsor Nippon Life, is an event consisting of 108 regular-season baseball games played between Central League (CL) and Pacific League (PL) teams in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB ...

against the

Hiroshima Toyo Carp The is a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda ...

. And he was selected as the

Japan Series The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, :File:2014_JS_logo.png is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series ...

roster in the

2014 Japan Series The 2014 Japan Series (known as the '' SMBC Nippon Series 2014'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 65th edition of Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) championship series known colloquially as the Japan Series. The best-of-seven playoff was won by ...

. In 2015 season, although he played only one game, he was selected as the Japan Series roster in the

2015 Japan Series The 2015 Japan Series was the 66th edition of Nippon Professional Baseball's postseason championship series. The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, champions of the Pacific League, played the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, champions of the Central League. The Hawks ...

2016-2020 season

On June 16, 2016, Kai recorded his first hit and RBI with a Pinch hitter. In 2016 season, he finished the regular season in 13 games with a batting average of .167 and a RBI of 1. In the 2017 season, Kai mainly teamed up with Young starter pitchers such as

, Nao Higashihama,

Shuta Ishikawa is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Professional career On October 24, 2013, Ishikawa was drafted as a Developmental player system (Nippon Professional Baseball), de ...

and Yuki Matsumoto. On May 3, he recorded his first

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

in the

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

. he finished the regular season in 103 games with a batting average of .232, a 5 home runs and a RBI of 18. In the

2017 Japan Series The 2017 Japan Series (known as the ''SMBC Nippon Series 2017'' for sponsorship reasons) was the championship series of Nippon Professional Baseball's postseason. The 68th edition of the Japan Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the F ...

, Kai and Senga's

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

were the first to win the Japan Series as players who was drafted as a developmental squad player. On November 17, He won the 2017 Pacific League

Mitsui Golden Glove Award The Mitsui Golden Glove Award, sponsored by Japan's Mitsui Group, is annually awarded to nine fielders in Japan's professional baseball leagues by the Nippon Professional Baseball Association. The players are selected based on votes by TV, radio ...

and 2017 Pacific League

Best Nine Award The Best Nine Award is awarded annually to the best player at each position in both the Central League and Pacific League of Japanese professional baseball as determined by a pool of journalists. History While the Best Nine Award was first present ...

for the first time as a player drafted as a developmental squad player. In the 2018 season, Kai finished the regular season in 133 games with a batting average of .213, a 7 home runs and a RBI of 37. On July 3, he was selected for the . In the 2018 Japan Series, Kai set a Japan Series record with six consecutive caught stealings, and won the

Japan Series Most Valuable Player Award The is given to the player deemed to have the most impact on his team's performance in the Japan Series, which is the final round of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) postseason. The award was first presented in 1950. The series follows a b ...

. On November 29, he won the 2018 Pacific League Mitsui Golden Glove Award. In the 2019 season, kai finished the regular season in 137 games with a batting average of .260, a 11 home runs and a RBI of 43, as a regular catcher of Hawks. On July 1, he as selected for the 2019

NPB All-Star game The Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star Game is an annual baseball series of All-Star Games (in most years, two games are played, but three such games can and have been played as well) between players from the Central League and the Pacific Leag ...

. On September 6, he supported Senga's No-hitter achievement as a catcher. In the

2019 Japan Series The 2019 Japan Series (known as the ''SMBC Nippon Series 2019'' for sponsorship reasons) was the championship series of Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) 2019 season. The 70th edition of the Japan Series, it was played from 19-23 October. Th ...

, he contributed to the team as a starting catcher, and Hawks achieved the third consecutive Japan Series Champion. On October 31, he was selected the 2019 Pacific League Mitsui Golden Glove Award. In 2020 season, Kai changed his

uniform number In team sports, the number, often referred to as the uniform number, squad number, jersey number, shirt number, sweater number, or similar (with such naming differences varying by sport and region) is the number worn on a player's uniform, to ...

from 62 to

Katsuya Nomura was a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) catcher and manager. During his over 26-season playing career mostly spent with the Nankai Hawks (now the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks), he became one of NPB's greatest offensive catchers. He was award ...

's Hawks era number 19. He supported the pitchers as a starter catcher and finished the regular season with a batting average of .211 and 11 home runs, 33 RBIs, 44 stolen bases and 22 sacrifice bunts in 104 games. As a Hawks catcher, he has recorded more than 10 home runs for the second consecutive year since Kenji Jojima, and 22 sacrifice hits were the most in the Pacific League in 2020. Kai played full innings in the postseason to support pitchers, and he recorded home runs in Game 2 and Game 3 and contributed to the team's fourth consecutive Japan Series champion in the

2020 Japan Series The 2020 Japan Series (known as the ''SMBC Nippon Series 2020'' for sponsorship reasons) was the championship series of Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) 2020 season. The 71st edition of the Japan Series, it was played from November 21 to 25. ...

against the

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They ...

. December 17, Kai was honored for the 4th Mitsui Golden Glove Award for 4 consecutive years, the 2nd Pacific League Best Nine Award for the first time in 3 years, and the Best

Battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

Award with Kodai Senga at the NPB AWARD 2020.

2021 season-present

In 2021 season, Kai played in all 143 games and finished regulation with a .227 batting average, 12 home runs and 44 RBI. He also had 26 Sacrifice bunt, a .999 Fielding percentage, a .452 Stealing base prevention percentage, and

Assist Assist or ASSIST may refer to: Sports Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team: *Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a ba ...

102, which led the league. On December 16, 2021, He was honored with a Pacific League Golden Glove Award for the fifth year in a row. On December 17, He renewed his contract with an estimated annual salary of 210 million yen, making him the highest paid active catcher. On June 28, 2022, Kai tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

and was removed from the player registered by regulation, but returned on July 17. As a result, his appearances were reduced to 130 games, even though he was a regular catcher, and his batting average slumped to .180. However, his a 38 sacrifice bunts, the most in his career, were the highest in the league. On November 25, Kai won the Pacific League Golden Glove Award for the sixth consecutive year and the Pacific League Best Nine Award for the third time in two years, and was honored at the NPB Awards 2022.

International career

Kai represented the

Japan national baseball team The is the national team representing Japan in international baseball competitions. It won the World Baseball Classic in 2006 and 2009, as well as WBSC Premier12 in 2019. The team is currently ranked 1st in the world by the World Baseball Softb ...

in the

2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series The 2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series was the twelfth edition of the MLB Japan All-Star Series, a best-of-six series between an All-Star team from Major League Baseball (MLB) and for the second time in series history, the Japanese national team, Sam ...

and

2019 WBSC Premier12 The 2019 WBSC Premier12 was an international baseball championship featuring the 12 highest-ranked national teams in the world, held by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). It was the second WBSC Premier12 event. The championship ...

. On October 12, 2017, he was selected as the Japan national baseball team in the 2017 Asia Professional Baseball Championship. On October 10, 2018, he was selected to the 2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series. He was presented with a bat, Catcher's mitts, leggers and protector from

Yadier Molina Yadier Benjamín Molina (; born July 13, 1982), nicknamed "Yadi", is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball catcher who played his entire career with the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Widely considered one of the grea ...

. On October 1, 2019, he was selected as the Japan national baseball team to the

. On June 16, 2021, he was selected as the Japan national baseball team in the Baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics. He appeared in four games and went 5-for-10, .500 batting average. And he didn't commit an error. On August 7, he was selected Tokyo 2020 All-Olympic Baseball Team (Best Nine Award) by the WBSC. Kai represented the Japan national baseball team in the Samurai Japan Series 2022.

Skills profile

Kai's pop-time averaged 1.83 seconds ( Innings), the fastest recorded 1.73 seconds. His strong throw is called Kai

Cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

(甲斐キャノン). "Kai Cannon" is named after Gun Cannon appearing in

Mobile Suit Gundam , also known as ''First Gundam'', ''Gundam 0079'' or simply ''Gundam '79'', is an anime television series, produced and animated by Nippon Sunrise. Created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, it premiered in Japan on Nagoya Broadcastin ...

and its pilot

Kai Shiden This is a list of fictional characters from the 1979 Japanese science fiction anime television series ''Mobile Suit Gundam''. Earth Federation Amuro Ray is the son of Tem Ray, the project leader for the Earth Federation's Project V, whi ...

References

External links

Career statistics - NPB.jp
- Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Kai, Takuya 1992 births Living people Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks players Nippon Professional Baseball catchers Baseball people from Ōita Prefecture 2019 WBSC Premier12 players Baseball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic baseball players of Japan Olympic medalists in baseball Olympic gold medalists for Japan Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics