Nobumasa Fukuda

Nobumasa Fukuda (福田永将, Fukuda Nobumasa, born July 23, 1988 in Aoba-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan) is a Japanese professional baseball player for the Chunichi Dragons in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball.

Nobumasa Fukuda
福田 永将
Chunichi Dragons – No. 55
First baseman/Third baseman
Born: (1988-07-23) 23 July 1988
Aoba-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
Bats: Right Throws: Right
NPB debut
7 July, 2009, for the Chunichi Dragons
NPB statistics
(through 2019)
Batting average.263
Home runs69
RBI243
Teams

Early career

Fukuda started playing baseball in grade 1 of primary school with the Kamoshida Swallows. In junior high, he caught the attention of scouts batting 4th for Midori Chuo Seniors and aiding his team to winning the national championship. While playing at Kamoshida Junior High Fukuda's talent was recognized by the New York Mets who invited him to a club tryout.[1]

Fukuda entered Yokohama High School based on his hitting abilities and sat on the bench in spring of his freshman year. As a catcher, he would later form a battery with Hideaki Wakui, 2 years his senior and alongside other future pro, Takehiro Ishikawa qualified for the Japanese High School Baseball Championship. While he was a regular, as it was his first year he was often changed out toward the end of games in important situations. From spring of his junior year he was installed at 4th in the batting order. At the 78th Japanese High School Baseball Invitational Tournament he performed duties at clean-up alongside Takuya Takahama and Kenji Sato. He led the team to victory as captain.[2] In summer of the same year, Yokohama High was expected to be title favorites for the 88th Summer Championship but where beaten by a Sho Nakata lead Osaka Tōin High School 6-11 on the first day of play with Fukuda failing to register a hit.[3]

Rated because of his 49 career high school homeruns, he was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2006 NPB Draft high school player round by the Chunichi Dragons and on 11 November signed a provisional contract with a ¥50,000,000 sign-on bonus and a ¥5,400,000 yearly salary.[4]

Professional career

2007-2008

Out of the Dragons draftees taken in 2006, Fukuda's batting was rated the highest and as such he was invited to train with the first team in Spring Camp.[5] He was subsequently invited to an Olympic preparation tournament by then manager Hiromitsu Ochiai. He was expected to be third string catcher behind Motonobu Tanishige and Kohei Oda but due to the existence of fellow rookie Daisuke Tanaka he finished the farm season making only 9 appearances and failing to register a hit. In order to increase his chance of appearing on the field he was instructed to convert to an infielder and in the off-season started training as a first baseman.[6]

In 2008 spring camp, Fukuda became the roommate of Dragons stalwart Masahiro Yamamoto.[7] At the request of manager, Hiromitsu Ochiai he was told to completely convert to first base.[8] However, this did not result in any first-team appearances. Other members of his draft class Naomichi Donoue, Kyohei Iwasaki and Akinobu Shimizu however all saw time in the first team which left Fukuda to be the only member of his class to not have made an appearacne in the top team. However, he made more appearances with the farm team batting 4th marking his improvement by hitting a homerun off former major leaguer Kazuhisa Ishii in the fall Phoenix League.

2009-2011

In spring camp, Fukuda was once again invited to train with the first team but injured his calf in practice where he was then demoted to the farm team to recover. He was the Western League monthly MVP in June and in July he was brought up to the first team. On 7 July 2009, Fukuda made his debut against the Tokyo Yakult Swallows pinch hitting for Kenichi Nakata at Meiji Jingu Stadium and became the 49th player in NPB history to hit a home-run in his first at-bat.[9] He made his first field appearance as a substitute for an injured Tony Blanco at first base on 31 July however poor hitting as a pinch-hitter thereafter led to his demotion to the farm in August.

In 2010 open and practice games, Fukuda was entrusted at 4th in the line-up where he hit .316 with 7 homeruns[10] however his season with the first team would end with only 15 appearances made.

After working well in the build-up to the 2011 season, he was on the opening day roster as a right-handed pinch-hitter. He continued as a pinch hitter from opening day and on 13 April, hit his second pro homerun off the pitching of Yokohama DeNA Baystars reliever Shintaro Ejiri.[11] His form would continue and on 15 April he hit his 3rd pro homerun, once again as a pinch hitter, off the pitching of Hanshin Tigers reliever Kyuji Fujikawa.[12] However, in the next 5 plate appearances he would fail to register a hit leading him to being dropped to the farm. He would return to the first team in October where he would make his first Japan Series appearance.

2012-2014

With the trade of catcher Keiji Oyama to the Rakuten Golden Eagles, Fukuda made a return to catching.[13] Efforts were made to give him play time in pre-season matches and he made the opening day roster as third string catcher. On May 5, Fukuda made his professional catching debut against the Yokohama DeNA Baystars, but in the same game but his first ever appearance at second base.[14] Once again in the same game, Fukuda would hit his first homerun of the season. At the end of the season, Fukuda has played a personal best 49 games but he was unable to shine with the bat, registering a .176 average and one homerun. Once again he found himself mostly as a first baseman throughout the season and made the conversion back to the infield in the off-season.

In 2013 Fukuda's playing time was limited to 4 appearance in the first team where he averaged .286 in 7 at-bats. On the farm, Fukuda would average just .234, hitting two homeruns in 58 games.[15]

The following season once again play time was limited in the first team where he hit .250 in 12 at bats. On the farm however, Fukuda showed an uptick in production hitting .302 with 7 homeruns in 94 games.[16]

2015-2016

From spring training in 2015, Fukuda changed his batting form and hit 4 homeruns and a league top 13 RBIs in pre-season fixtures[17] where he made the opening day roster for the first time in 3 years.[18] Due to an injury to opening day first baseman, Masahiko Morino, Fukuda made his first seasons start on March 31 against the Yomiuri Giants where he raked 3 hits, 2 RBIs and a homerun.[1] From April, Fukuda was given more opportunities at first-base. On 21 June, it was announced that the Dragons cheering section had created a personalized song and from 23 June became common use. In the middle of the season, his result as a pinch-hitter declined but he was able to play in a personal best 79 games and hit 6 homeruns. During the season pre-match practice, Fukuda was also seen practicing in left field. On 13 November, Fukuda signed an improved contact deal increasing ¥8,500,000 to ¥15,000,000.[19]

With former Chicago White Sox major leaguer, Dayan Viciedo joining the team as first baseman in 2016, Fukuda found most of his appearances at third base after Shuhei Takahashi's injury in April[20] and then later in left field. With Viciedo's injury toward the end of season, he also saw time at first base and fourth in the order where he ended the season with 10 homeruns.

2017-2018

An injury to his right shoulder in the lead-up to opening day,[21] Fukuda joined the team on 23 April.[22] He hit his season first homerun on 7 July against the Yokohama DeNA Baystars[23] and between July and August hit a personal best 14 homeruns,[24] ending the season with 18.[25]

For the 2018 season, Fukuda replaced Yudai Ono as player chairman at the beginning of the year[26] and was a regular at third base throughout the season where he passed the stipulate at-bats to be considered for post-season awards. It also marked his first 100 hit season. He hit 14 homeruns with a slash line of .261/.322/.405 playing in 133 games.

On 24 November, Fukuda signed an improved contract deal increasing ¥11,000,000 to a total of ¥47,000,000.[27]

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References
  1. Ohyama, Kumao (22 February 2015). "初戦で猛打 開花近し？中日の"ロマン枠"福田永将という男" [First game modasho, is an awakening close? Chunichi's 'romanesque' man, Nobumasa Fukuda]. Baseball Channel (in Japanese). Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  2. "「支え合いチーム一つに　主将・福田、副主将・下水流両選手」 - 第７８回選抜高校野球大会" [支え合いチーム一つに　主将・福田、副主将・下水流両選手]. Asahi Shimbun (One aspect of helping each other out; captain Fukuda and Vice Captain Shimozuru) (in Japanese). 5 May 2006. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  3. "１回戦 横浜(神奈川) 6-11 大阪桐蔭(大阪) - 第８８回全国高校野球選手権大会" [First round: Yokokhama (Kanagawa) 6-11 Osaka Toin (Osaka) 88th Summer Championship]. Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). 2 August 2006. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  4. "中日が横浜高・福田と仮契約". Nikkan Sports Nagoya. 11 November 2006.
  5. "福田、プロ初打席弾" [Fukuda's first pro homer]. Chunichi Sports (in Japanese). 8 July 2009. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  6. Takamori, Yuki (13 April 2015). "かつての世代最強打者。中日・福田永将「９年目の飛躍」の真相｜プロ野球｜集英社 スポルティーバ 公式サイト web Sportiva" [Power hitter of a generation, Chunichi's Nobumasa Fukuda's "9th year high flying" reality]. Web Sportiva (in Japanese). Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  7. Tsuchiya, Masamitsu (19 December 2016). "ドラゴンズの４番・福田永将は有馬記念でシュヴァルグランを狙い打ち" [Dragons #4, Nobumasa Fukuda aims for Arima Memorial's Cheval Grand]. Web Sportiva (in Japanese). Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  8. "落合監督「福田を一塁手に育てろ」　渡辺育成コーチに特命" [Manager Ochiai tells trainer Watanabe "Train Fukuda to be a first baseman"]. Chunichi Sports (in Japanese). 22 November 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  9. "大砲として開花しつつある福田　恩師評価する打「教えてもマネできない」(Blooming as a big hitter, Fukuda. Teacher rates hitting "Even if it is taught, you can't copy it.")". Sponichi (in Japanese). 19 April 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  10. 一般社団法人日本野球機構. "2010年度 中日ドラゴンズ 個人打撃成績（ウエスタン・リーグ）" [2010 Western League Hitting Statistics - Chunichi Dragons]. npb.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  11. "asahi.com（朝日新聞社）：横浜対中日 - 公式戦 - プロ野球試合速報 - スポーツ" [Yokohama vs Chunichi - Official Game - Pro Baseball play by play]. Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). 13 April 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  12. "中日・福田が９年目で習得した独自打法 華麗なスイングで竜の"ゴジラ"へ" [中日・福田が９年目で習得した独自打法 華麗なスイングで竜の"ゴジラ"へ Chunichi's Fukuda 9th year and a personalised batting style. A beautiful swing to become Chunichi's "Godzilla"]. Baseball Times (in Japanese). 15 April 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  13. "救世主現る！ 中日の和製大砲・福田永将の球歴とは ｜ BASEBALL KING" [A saviour appears! Chunichi's Japanese big gun, Nobumasa Fukuda's history]. Baseball King (in Japanese). 14 May 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  14. "紆余曲折を経て巡ってきたチャンス 中日・福田永将にブレイクの兆し" [The chance that came down a long winding path, Chunichi's Nobumasa Fukuda misses his chance to break out]. Full Count (in Japanese). 18 March 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  15. 一般社団法人日本野球機構. "2013年度 中日ドラゴンズ 個人打撃成績（ウエスタン・リーグ）" [2013 Western League Hitting Statistics - Chunichi Dragons]. npb.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  16. 一般社団法人日本野球機構. "2014年度 中日ドラゴンズ 個人打撃成績（ウエスタン・リーグ）" [2014 Western League Hitting Statistics - Chunichi Dragons]. npb.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  17. "福田、一撃に執念" [Fukuda's tenacious big hit]. Chunichi Sports (in Japanese). 26 March 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  18. "12球団の開幕一軍登録選手まとめ ｜ BASEBALL KING" [NPB Opening Day Rosters]. Baseball King (in Japanese). 25 March 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  19. "天国か地獄か!? 中日の契約更改が今年もスゴい... ｜ BASEBALL KING" [Heaven or hell? Chunichi's contract updates are amazing]. Baseball King (in Japanese). 24 November 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  20. "周平、来季こそ三塁フル出場" [Shuhei as of next year aims for full season at 3rd base]. Chunichi Sports (in Japanese). 13 November 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  21. "福田、２カ月ぶりキャッチボール" [Fukuda plays catch for first time in 2 months]. Chunichi Sports (in Japanese). 20 January 2017. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  22. Fukuda, Nobumasa (23 March 2017). "福田永将『今季初打席！』" [Nobumasa Fukuda "This year's first plate appearance"]. Ameblo (in Japanese). Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  23. "福田、今季１号は七夕弾" [Fukuda's first homer of the season comes on tanabata]. Chunichi Sports (in Japanese). 8 July 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  24. "中日福田 月間10本塁打なるか／セリーグ見どころ - 野球 : 日刊スポーツ" [Chunichi's Fukuda; will he hit 10 homers in a month?/ Central League talking points]. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 31 August 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  25. "Nobumasa Fukuda Japanese Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball Reference. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  26. "福田が竜の顔 新選手会長に内定" [New face of the Dragons, Fukuda given player chairman role]. Chunichi Sports (in Japanese). 4 November 2017. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  27. "福田、来季目標は３０発１００打点 初の規定打席到達で１１００万円アップの４７００万円" [Fukuda aims for 30 homers, 100 RBIs. First time passing stipulates at-bats, 11 million raise to 47 million.]. Chunichi Sports (in Japanese). 24 November 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
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