is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

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 t ...

infielder for the

Tokyo Yakult Swallows The Tokyo Yakult Swallows () are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being 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). He has previously played in NPB for the Orix Buffaloes and

Chunichi Dragons The are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chūbu region of Japan. The team plays in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. They have won the Central League pennant nine times (most recently in 2011) ...

Early career

As a 6 year old, playing catch with an

Akinobu Okada (born November 25, 1957) is a retired professional baseball player and manager for the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball . Okada played, mostly as a second baseman, for the Hanshin Tigers from to , winning the Central League Rook ...

signed ball was his inspiration to start playing baseball where he played for Edogawa South Little Seniors. At Shutoku High School, he played mostly as a pitcher with time spent at short stop where he was the ace and batted 4th. In summer of his junior year he reached the best 8 of the Tokyo tournament while in spring of his senior year he reached the Tokyo tournament semi-finals where he also hit a home run in the second game against Meisei High School. In summer of his senior year he showed great poise in pitching against Kanto Daiichi High School in the tournament final. He also hit a come from behind RBI in the 7th inning. In the 8th inning however due to leg discomfort, he came off the mound where his team went down in a walk-off loss, missing his chance at reaching the

Japanese High School Baseball Championship The of Japan, commonly known as , is an annual nationwide high school baseball tournament. It is the largest scale amateur sport event in Japan. The tournament, organized by the Japan High School Baseball Federation and ''Asahi Shimbun'', ta ...

. He hit a total of 18 homeruns in his high school career. On 28 October 2010, Mitsumata was selected as the 2nd draft pick for the Orix Buffaloes at the 2010 NPB draft and on 21 November signed a provisional contract with a ¥60,000,000 sign-on bonus and a ¥6,000,000 yearly salary.

Professional career

Orix Buffaloes

2011

In his first year with the Buffloes, Mitsumata played in 103 Western League games with a .225 average where he led the league in errors. He also appeared in the 2011 Fresh All Stars Game.

2012

Mitsumata once again played the majority of games on the farm playing in 86 games and hitting .220. On August 7, he was brought up to the first team for the first time and made his debut on the following day. On the 14th of the same month, he was removed from the first team but was re-added in September where on the 22nd in a game against the

Chiba Lotte Marines The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, in the Kantō region, and owned by Lotte Holdings Co., Ltd. History The Marines franchise began in 1950 as the Mainichi Orions, an inaugural ...

he hit his first professional hit against Takahiro Fujioka in what would turn out to be a multi-hit game. He then hit in 4 consecutive games. He ended the season having played 9 games batting .238.

2013

Mitsumata made limited appearances as a pinch runner or defensive substitution where he played 21 games batting .100.

2014

On 29 July, it was announced that Mitumata was to be traded to the

in a 1-to-1 trade with

Kyohei Iwasaki Kyohei Iwasaki (岩崎恭平, born April 4, 1986) is a Japanese professional baseball second baseman. Iwasaki played for Chunichi Dragons in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, ...

Chunichi Dragons

2014

Mitsumata made his

debut against the

on 17 August. He later would play against 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 Railwa ...

Koshien Stadium , commonly referred to as simply Koshien Stadium, is a baseball park located near Kobe in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. The stadium was built to host the national high school baseball tournaments, and opened on August 1, 1924. It ...

where he would hit his first professional homerun off of

Suguru Iwazaki is a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball pitcher for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan's Central League. Iwazaki is a 6-foot tall left-handed pitcher, and wears jersey No. 67. His surname is often misread as "Iwasaki" rather than "Iwazaki". Early b ...

2015

Mitsumata made one first team appearance as a pinch runner and was demoted from the team.

2016

Playing in 15 games batting .125 Mitsumata was once again unable to prove his ability to perform in the top squad and was subsequently demoted once more.

2017

Mitsumata played 68 games batting .227 on the farm team. He would play 8 games for the first team with a single plate appearance.

2018

Mitsumata played 90 games batting .176 in the Western League. He failed to make any first-team appearances. His salary was therefore slashed by ¥1,000,000 to ¥6,000,000 per annum.

Playing style

As a pitcher he was able to throw 149 km/h with a

slider Slider or Sliders may refer to: Arts * K.K. Slider, a fictional character within the ''Animal Crossing'' franchise * '' The Slider'', a 1972 album by T. Rex * ''Sliders'' (TV series), an American science fiction and fantasy television series * ...

. In a practice game in high school he showed off his power hitting a 120-metre homerun off future teammate Shohei Tsukahara where he also showed off his strong arm.

References

External links

NPB.jp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitsumata, Taiki 1992 births Living people People from Katsushika Baseball people from Tokyo Japanese baseball players Nippon Professional Baseball infielders Chunichi Dragons players Orix Buffaloes players Tokyo Yakult Swallows players