is a professional Japanese

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 ...

player. He plays

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

for the Chunichi Dragons.

Early career

In Spring of his second year at Kochi High School, Kinoshita solidified himself as starting catcher for the team and in his 2nd and 3rd year he appeared with the school at the summer koshien. He attended

Hosei University is a private university based in Tokyo, Japan. The university originated in a school of law, Tōkyō Hōgakusha (, i.e. Tokyo association of law), established in 1880, and the following year renamed Tōkyō Hōgakkō (, i.e. Tokyo school of law ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

and in his third year was selected alongside future Chunichi Dragons team-mate Shota Sugiyama as catcher in the best 9 of the Autumn 2012

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League is an intercollegiate baseball league that features six prominent universities in the Tokyo area. Before the 1936 establishment of the Japanese Baseball League and subsequent growth (after 1950) of Nippon Professional Baseball, the Big6 League ...

. While at Hosei University, he formed a

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 ...

with current

Yokohama DeNA Baystars The are a professional baseball team in the Japan, Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its c ...

pitchers

Kenta Ishida is a professional Japanese baseball pitcher for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, i ...

and Kazuki Mishima. Upon graduation, Kinoshita was picked up by Toyota Motors where in his first year with the industrial league team, he helped them to victory in the 2014 All-Japan Amateur Baseball Tournament. At the 2015 NPB Draft, he was selected as the third pick for the Chunichi Dragons and on 4 December 2015, signed a contract for ¥10,000,000 per year with a ¥65,000,000 sign-on bonus. Kinoshita was given the number 35 upon joining the Dragons.

Professional career

Chunichi Dragons

2016

On 15 July, along with teammates Shun Ishikawa and

Shota Tomonaga Shota may refer to: * Shota (dance), a traditional dance from Kosovo * Shota (Georgian given name), a Georgian given name * Shōta is a common masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Shōta can be written using different kanji characters ...

, he was selected for the Western League representative team for the 2016 Fresh All-Stars game in

Okayama is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The city was founded on June 1, 1889. , the city has an estimated population of 720,841 and a population density of 910 persons per km2. The total area is . The city is ...

. He came in as a substitute catcher late in the game and was caught in center field in his only at-bat. On 5 August, Kinoshita made his first appearance for the Dragons first team off the bench 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 ...

in a 5-0 loss. On 7 August, he made his first starting debut against the

in a combined rookie battery with number 1 2015 draft pick Shinnosuke Ogasawara; the first time in 18 years (the last being

Kenshin Kawakami Kenshin Kawakami (川上憲伸) (born June 22, 1975) is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Chunichi Dragons and in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves. Japanes ...

and

Fumihiro Suzuki Fumihiro Suzuki (鈴木郁洋, born May 23, 1975) is a retired Japanese professional baseball catcher and current coach for the Orix Buffaloes in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. He previously played with the Chunichi Dragons and the Osaka K ...

in 1998). Kinoshita then struck his first home-run in pro ball in his first at-bat of the game to give the Dragons a 1-0 lead.

2017-2018

Due to the poor form of 2016 regular catcher, Shōta Sugiyama, Kinoshita saw more time behind the plate, playing in 51 games however due to injuries, the rise of Masato Matsui and the addition of Shōta Ōno via free agency, limited his appearances to 9 in 2018.

2019

Under the new management of

Tsuyoshi Yoda is a Japanese professional baseball player and manager. He managed of the Chunichi Dragons in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) between 2019 and 2021. Although born in Fukuoka prefecture, Yoda grew up in Kimitsu, Chiba Prefecture. His wife is ...

and catching staff

Tsutomu Itō is the former manager of Nippon Professional Baseball's Seibu Lions. He was the number 1 draft pick for the Seibu Lions in 1982 and went on to play for them until 2003. He was talented at leading pitcher, and led his team to winning 12 Pacific L ...

and Takeshi Nakamura, Kinoshita was on the starting day roster and rotated through much of the season alongside Takuma Katō and Ōno making 39 appearances in the first team.

References

External links

Dragons.jp

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinoshita, Takuya 1991 births Living people Baseball people from Kōchi Prefecture Japanese baseball players Nippon Professional Baseball catchers Chunichi Dragons players Sportspeople from Kōchi, Kōchi