Masahiro Nakatani

Masahiro Nakatani (中谷 将大, Nakatani Masahiro, born December 19, 1994) is a professional Japanese baseball player. He plays outfielder and first baseman for the Hanshin Tigers.

Masahiro Nakatani
Hanshin Tigers – No. 60
Outfielder
Born: (1993-01-05) January 5, 1993
Ogōri, Fukuoka, Japan
Bats: Right Throws: Right
debut
August 23, 2012, for the Hanshin Tigers
Career statistics
(through 2020 season)
Batting average.230
Home runs37
Runs batted in136
Teams

Early Baseball Career

A native of Fukuoka, he began playing as a catcher for the Mikuni Honeys in grade school, then went on to join the Futsukaichi Lions in junior high where he got to participate in national tournaments.

Upon entering high school, he secured the outfielder post for the Fukuoka Koudai Joto High School. He was elected as team captain in his second year, but his team never made it past the elimination rounds to summer Koshien. He attended the same high school as fellow Tiger's teammate Ryutaro Umeno who was a year ahead, and like Umeno, he started as an outfielder and graduated as a catcher.[1]

Hanshin Tigers

He was selected as the Tiger's 3rd round pick in the 2010 professional baseball draft. He signed as a catcher for a contract of 50 million yen and an annual salary of 6 million. He was given the jersey number 60.[2]

2011

He played in 23 Western League games (minors) and batted an average of 0.261 with 4 RBIs. Because he played mostly as an outfielder and not as a catcher, they changed his training regimen from a catcher to an outfielder at the end of the season.[3]

2012

He spent most of the year playing in the minors. He was selected to play in the mid-season Fresh All Star Game on July 18, and was selected as the game's MVP when he scored 2 hits and 3 RBIs.[4] On August 23, he debuted in his 1st official game as the starting right fielder in the match against the Dragons at the Kurashiki Muscat Stadium.[5] He appeared in 5 more games, but he failed to record a hit in any of them. He finished the season in the minors, with a 0.225 batting average, 3 home runs and 27 RBIs.[6]

2013

The Tigers officially changed his registration from catcher to outfielder. He spent the entire season in the farm, batted 0.201 in 100 games, with 31 RBIs and 2 homeruns.

2014

He also didn't appear in any main squad matches in this year, and batted his worst at 0.190 in 93 minor league games. His home run count improved to 7.

2015

His improved performance in the minors early in the season finally earned him a spot in the official match against the Carps on May 8.[7] He recorded his first official hit as a pro on May 9, but when he went hit-less in the next matches, he got sent back to the farm on May 15.[8] He continued to perform well in Western League games, and even got selected as the League MVP of the Month in July.[9] In all his 94 game appearances, he recorded an average of 0.290 with 9 home runs and 40 RBIs, and got awarded as the Western League's MVP of the season.[10]

2016

He spent the earlier half of the season in the farm, where new batting coach and Tigers legend Masayuki Kakefu made him undergo training to improve his batting form.[11] His efforts paid off when he got called to play with the main squad in June. He recorded his first career RBI on June 19, and his first career home run a few days after. His appearances gradually increased until October, mostly as a center fielder or as a pinch hitter, and he finished the season with 14 RBIs, 4 home runs and a batting average of 0.266 out of 64 games.[12]

2017

He had a shaky start early in the season as he competed with young guns Shun Takayama and Fumihito Haraguchi for a regular post in the outfield or first base. His breakout performance started in May when he went on a hitting spree and was down to his 5th home run by the 3rd week.[13] He was rewarded by being assigned the clean up post for the first time in the May 28 match against the Baystars, and continued to be a regular starting player in the next couple of months. He went 5-for-5 against the Lions on June 15, and recorded two hits and two RBIs including a two-run home run against Yomiuri on July 9. This earned him the Sanspo Excellent Player Award for his performance during the Sanspo’s Hanshin Tigers Gekirei Series (June 13 to July 12). By July 23, he was leading the team in home runs batted in (10 HRs).[14] He continued to hit well, and even hit home runs in 3 consecutive matches against the Swallows on August 22.[15] On the September 18 match against the Carps at Koshien Stadium, he recorded his 20th home run of the season in the fourth inning off Yusuke Nomura. He is the first Hanshin right-handed hitting lifer (a player who has played with only one team) to reach 20 home runs since Osamu Hamanaka hit 20 in 2006 (Hamanaka was a lifer at the time he recorded twenty home runs).[16] Out of 133 main squad game appearances, he topped the team in RBIs and home runs (61 RBIs, 20 home runs), with 99 hits and an OPS of 0.697. This earned him a 12 million pay raise, making an estimated annual salary of 36 million yen for 2018.

2018

Falling into a slump during spring camp and batting only 0.143 during the exhibition games, he failed to make it into the main squad when the season started.[17] His slump continued in the farm, (39 games, 0.197 average, 3 home runs), but when the main squad needed batting reinforcement, he got called to play on May 22.[18] On the 9th inning of the May 26 Giants game, with 2 outs and runner in 2nd, he notched his 1st career walk off hit at Koshien.[19] From June onwards however, his performance began to deteriorate, and with the improving performance of other outfielders, his starts gradually decreased. He only appeared in a total of 77 games, hit 26 RBIs with only 5 home runs.

References
  1. 阿部祐亮 (2014-01-04). "阪神ドラフト4位・梅野、中谷"監視トレ"で激震200スイング!". Sankei Sports. Retrieved 2014-01-26.
  2. "阪神ドラフト3位・中谷「城島さん見て学ぶ」". Sankei Sports. 2010-11-24. Archived from the original on 2010-11-27. Retrieved 2018-03-28.
  3. 西垣戸理大 (2012-01-23). "外野殴り込み！阪神・中谷、初１軍や". Sankei Sports. Archived from the original on 2012-02-24. Retrieved 2019-05-28.
  4. "ウエスタン選抜が快勝！埼玉＆九州の"ダル"競演も". Sports Nippon. 2012-07-19.
  5. "【セ・リーグ公示】8月23日". Sankei Sports. 2012-08-23. Archived from the original on 2013-10-19. Retrieved 2019-05-28.
  6. "虎・中谷、3打数無安打…ホロ苦初出場". Sankei Sports. 2012-08-24. Archived from the original on 2012-10-10. Retrieved 2019-05-28.
  7. "阪神中谷「機会もらえたら頑張る」無安打で途中交代". Nikkan Sports. 2015-05-08.
  8. "阪神中谷二軍降格　鳴尾浜で残留組練習参加". Nikkan Sports. 2015-05-17.
  9. "西武水口、阪神中谷が7月ファームMVP". Nikkan Sports. 2015-08-10.
  10. "阪神石崎最多セーブ、中谷優秀選手賞　ファーム表彰". Nikkan Sports. 2015-11-25. Retrieved 2015-11-26.
  11. "阪神・中谷、3打席連発!掛布2軍監督「次が楽しみだね」（2）". Sankei Sports. 2016-04-28.
  12. "阪神中谷がギリギリ代打本塁打「たまたまです」". Nikkan Sports. 2016-08-03.
  13. "阪神・中谷"打ち直し"で5号先制3ラン　自身キャリアハイ「感触もよかった」". Daily Sports. 2017-05-16.
  14. "「阪神タイガース激励シリーズ」優秀選手に中谷外野手". Sankei Sports. 2017-07-20.
  15. 長友孝輔 (2017-08-02). "阪神・中谷、3戦連発で奇跡の予カーン!10日ぶり自力Ｖ復活や". Sankei Sports.
  16. "阪神中谷20号!生え抜き右打者では浜中以来の記録". Nikkan Sports. 2017-09-18.
  17. "阪神・中谷　はい上がる　開幕二軍スタート「自分の力不足」". Sports Nippon. 2018-03-29. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
  18. "阪神中谷昇格　昨季20発男が貧打の救世主になるか". Nikkan Sports. 2018-05-21.
  19. "中谷、プロ初サヨナラ打　G連倒で3位浮上　「よくあの場面で」金本監督シビれたぁ". Daily Sports. 2018-05-27. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
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