Shōta Suzuki (baseball)

Shōta Suzuki (鈴木 翔太, Suzuki Shōta, born June 16, 1995 in Kita-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan) is a professional Japanese baseball player. He plays pitcher for the Chunichi Dragons. Suzuki was the first draft pick for the Dragons in the 2013 NPB Draft.

Shōta Suzuki
Chunichi Dragons – No. 99
Pitcher
Born: (1995-06-16) June 16, 1995
Kita-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan
Bats: Right Throws: Right
NPB debut
June 17, 2014, for the Chunichi Dragons
NPB statistics
(through 2019)
Win–loss record5-5
ERA4.41
Strikeouts64
Teams

Early career

Suzuki started playing baseball from the first year of elementary school. Starting off as a short-stop he was converted to pitching in the 5th grade. As a student at Kitahamatoubu Junior High, Suzuki played for Hamamatsu Senior where in his 3rd year the team were runners up at the Shizuoka prefectural tournament.[1]

He went to high school at Seirei Christopher High and in his first year was a bench player. In his second year the team made the best four of summer prefectural tournament and in his third year a best eight appearance was the best the school could muster as they failed to qualify for the summer Koshien.[1]

At the 2013 NPB draft, Suzuki was the first pick for the Chunichi Dragons after the team missed out on now Rakuten Golden Eagles closer, Yuki Matsui. He became the first player from Seirei Christopher High School to turn pro. He signed a contract bonus worth ¥80,000,000 with a yearly salary of ¥7,200,000.[1]

Professional career

Chunichi Dragons

2014-2017

On 17 June 2014, in his native Hamamatsu, Suzuki made his debut against the Seibu Lions. He came in as a relief pitcher in the 8th inning, taking two strikeouts and giving up a solo homerun to Shogo Akiyama in his single inning.[2]

Suzuki would play in a further 4 matches in the 2014 season pitching 6 innings, taking 8 strikeouts for an ERA of 4.50.[3]

In the second team in his rookie season, he would go 2-4 taking 31 strikeouts in 38 innings at an ERA of 4.74 in the Western League.[4]

On 29 June 2015, he made his first appearance of the season with a scoreless one inning against the Hiroshima Carp[5]

On 5 July 2015, he made his first professional start against the Yomiuri Giants. Suzuki only pitched 3 innings after giving up 5 hits including 3 earned runs as well as walking 3 consecutive batters.[6]

Suzuki played in only two games with the first team in the 2015 season, pitching 4 innings with an ERA of 6.75.[3]

His results in the second team in 2015 were not too impressive either as he went 1-6 taking 26 strikeouts in 47 innings at an ERA of 3.45.[7]

In 2016, Suzuki started Spring training in the 2-gun team and impressed early by throwing 121 pitches in practice stating he wanted to give his all in any match and also admitting that last year "there was maybe something lacking technically as well as mentally."[8] 2-gun pitching coach Kenta Asakura pointed to a need for him to strengthen his body if he wanted to compete at the highest level.[9] Suzuki ended the camp having pitched 2200 pitches at an average of 90+ pitches per day.[10]

Suzuki failed to find favour in the first team in 2016, but spent time with the Western League side that took part in the Asian Winter Baseball tournament in Taiwan where he was a mainstay alongside team-mates, Hiroki Kondō and Hayato Mizowaki.

2017-Present

After showing promise in spring training, Suzuki was called up to the first team for the first time in over a year where he pitched 1 inning of relief on 28 April against the Hanshin Tigers in a 6-0 loss.[11] On 2 May Suzuki made his first start since 2015 against the Hiroshima Carp.[11] On May 9, Suzuki recorded his first win in a Chunichi shirt in an 8-3 victory at Gifu Prefectural Baseball Stadium over the Yokohama DeNA Baystars in Gifu.[12]

Following a good showing on the farm in mid-2018, on September 9, Suzuki started his first game of the season against the Hiroshima Carp where he threw 5 innings for 2 earned runs in a no-decision.[13]

Pitching Style

Suzuki can throw 5 pitches including a fastball that tops out at 143 km/h, a curve, a change-up, a fork and a slider.[14]

Personal

His spikes, glove and batting gloves are all of the "Sure Play" series provided by Sankyo Sports.[15] As of 2014 only a very few players use the sports gear, including Rakuten's Yoshitaka Muto and former Swallow Hiroki Sanada.[16] According to Suzuki, because he used to train late for baseball he is fairly unaware of common trends on television such as Momoiro Clover Z and AKB48. His favorite actress is Nanako Matsushima as he watched the program 24 Hour Emergency Ward which she starred in when he was in middle school.[17] He is said to be a big believer in cleanliness and fully cleaned his dormitory room before making his first pro appearance.[1]

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References
  1. "中日鈴木翔１軍合流「奇跡というか幸せ」 (Chunichi's Suzuki joins with first team "The happiness that is cleanliness")". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 17 June 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  2. "Tuesday, June 17, 2014". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  3. "プロ野球 - 中日ドラゴンズ - 鈴木翔太 (Pro-Baseball - Chunichi Dragons - Shota Suzuki)". SportsNavi (in Japanese). Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  4. "2014年度 中日ドラゴンズ 中日ドラゴンズ 個人投手成績（ウエスタン・リーグ）(2015 Chunichi Dragons individual pitching statistics for 2015 (Western League))". Nippon Professional Baseball (in Japanese). Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  5. "上々の初登板　広島戦、１回を無失点 (A good first appearance in Hiroshima game: one scoreless inning)". Chunichi Web (in Japanese). 29 June 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  6. "若い初先発　野村と静岡リレー (Young first start: Shizuoka relay with Nomura)". Chunichi Web (in Japanese). 5 July 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  7. "2015年度 中日ドラゴンズ 中日ドラゴンズ 個人投手成績（ウエスタン・リーグ）(2015 Chunichi Dragons individual pitching statistics for 2015 (Western League))". Nippon Professional Baseball (in Japanese). Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  8. "翔太いきなり１２１球　沖縄キャンプ始まる(Shota surprisingly throws 121 pitches, the beginning of Okinawa Spring camp)". Chunichi Web (in Japanese). 2 February 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  9. "キャンプ報告　朝倉コーチ「体をもっと太く」(Camp Report: Asakura "Bulk up")". Chunichi Web (in Japanese). 28 February 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  10. "キャンプ報告　勝負の年　投げ込む (Camp Report: Win or Lose year, throw hard)". Chunichi Web (in Japanese). 1 March 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  11. "中日・鈴木、プロ初星誓った　２日今季初先発" [Chunichi's Suzuki promises first win; penned in for start on 2nd]. Daily Sports Online (in Japanese). 2 May 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  12. "【中日】プロ初勝利の鈴木翔太、ユーチューブを"封印"して進化" [Chunichi; Suzuki Shota's first win; grew by sealing off Youtube]. Sports Hochi (in Japanese). 10 May 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  13. "翔太、制球不満「変化球修正できなかった」　不完全燃焼の今季初登板" [Shota disappointed with lead-off "I hadn't fixed my breaking pitches"; Incomplete first start of the season]. Chunichi Sports (in Japanese). 9 September 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  14. "鈴木 翔太（聖隷クリストファー）(Shota Suzuki (Seirei Christopher))". DraftRepo (in Japanese). 17 November 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  15. "Sankyo Sports - Sure Play". SurePlay. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  16. "中日ドラ１鈴木翔「ＳＰ」の顔になる (Chunichi's First Draft Pick Shota Suzuki to become face of SP)". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 10 January 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  17. "中日鈴木「ＡＫＢも、ももクロ知らない」 (Chunichi's Suzuki "I don't know about Momokuro or AKB")". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 14 January 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
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