Takahiro Kumagai

Takahiro Kumagai (熊谷 敬宥, Kumagai Takahiro, born November 10, 1995 in Sendai, Miyagi) is a Japanese professional baseball infielder, playing for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball.

Takahiro Kumagai
Kumagai playing for the Tigers, 05/18
Hanshin Tigers – No. 4
Infielder
Born: (1995-11-10) November 10, 1995
Bats: Right Throws: Right
NPB debut
May 19, 2018, for the Hanshin Tigers
Career statistics
(through 2018)
Batting average.231
Home runs0
RBI2
Teams

Early Baseball Career

Born in Sendai City, he started playing baseball with his friends as early as 2nd grade, played little league for the Nankodai Shonen baseball club, and joined the Nankodai Tobu Seniors in junior high.[1]

He entered Sendai Ikuei Gakuen High School, a known baseball powerhouse, and played short stop as his team participated twice in the Summer Koshien Tournaments.[2] In his senior year, his team made it all the way to the Spring Koshien semi-finals, and during the summer nationals, he notched a walk-off hit to win the first round against Urawa Gakuin High.[3] After the nationals, he joined the national team as an outfielder to play in the 2013 18U Baseball World Cup. As the 2nd batter, he helped Japan win the runner up by recording 8 hits and 5 stolen bases.[4]

He entered Rikkyo University and secured the short stop position as his team participated in Tokyo Big6 tournaments.[4] As team captain in his 4th year, he earned the league title for most stolen bases, and led his team to win both the Tokyo Big6 championships and Japan National Collegiate Baseball Championship, a feat that hasn't been achieved by his school in the last 59 years.[5] In 61 league appearances, he finished with a batting average of 0.220, 12 RBIs including a single home run. He again joined the national team to compete at the Baseball at the 2017 Summer Universiade, where Japan took home the gold medal.[2]

Hanshin Tigers

He was the Hanshin Tigers' 3rd round pick in the 2017 annual professional baseball draft. He inked a 60 million yen contract with the Tigers for a 10 million yen annual salary.[6] He was assigned the jersey number 4.[7] The 1st round pick of the same draft, pitcher Kosuke Baba, also came from the same university.[8]

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References
  1. "阪神3位立大・熊谷「日本を代表するショートに」". Nikkan Sports. 2017-10-27.
  2. "阪神ドラフト3位・熊谷、立教の大先輩・ミスターに成長見せる". Sankei Sports. 2017-11-03.
  3. "ドラ３熊谷、ミスターに勇姿見せる　母校大先輩の前で伝統の一戦に". Daily Sports. 2017-11-03.
  4. "大学野球で仙台育英出身の３人の主将が誕生！日本一を目指し競うライバルへの想い". Sports Hochi. 2017-04-06.
  5. "立大59年ぶり4度目の日本一／全日本大学野球結果". Nikkan Sports. 2017-10-27.
  6. "ドラ３・熊谷が仮契約、金本監督印象は「熱い方だな」". Daily Sports. 2017-11-27.
  7. "ドラフト1位馬場は「18」　2位高橋は「29」新入団会見で背番号発表". Daily Sports. 2017-12-04.
  8. "阪神ドラフト3位・熊谷、ドラフト1位・馬場打って一軍！堅実遊撃守備に定評／ドラフト". Sankei Sports. 2017-11-27.


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