Takumu Nakano (中野 拓夢, Nakano, Takumu, born June 28, 1996) is a Japanese professional baseball infielder for the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
| Takumu Nakano | |||||||||||||||
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 Nakano playing for the Tigers | |||||||||||||||
| Hanshin Tigers – No. 51 | |||||||||||||||
| Infielder | |||||||||||||||
| Born: June 28, 1996 Tendō, Yamagata, Japan | |||||||||||||||
Bats: Left Throws: Right | |||||||||||||||
| NPB debut | |||||||||||||||
| March 26, 2021, for the Hanshin Tigers | |||||||||||||||
| NPB statistics (through 2023) | |||||||||||||||
| Batting average | .278 | ||||||||||||||
| Hits | 448 | ||||||||||||||
| Stolen bases | 73 | ||||||||||||||
| Home runs | 9 | ||||||||||||||
| RBI | 101 | ||||||||||||||
| Teams | |||||||||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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Medals
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Early baseball career
editBorn and raised in Tendō City, Takumu started playing ball in 3rd grade, and continued to play mainly as a shortstop for the Yamagata Seniors team in junior high.[1] He switched to second base when he entered NichiDai Yamagata High School as the shortstop position was already secured by Nobuyuki Okumura, an upper classman at the time.[2] He helped his team make it all the way to the semi-finals of the 2013 Summer Koshien tournament, but they lost to Maebashi Ikuei High. He got the shortstop position in his final year, but his team did not make it to nationals.[3]
He entered Tohoku Fukushi University, where under the guidance of the head coach, former Lions outfielder Kōji Ōtsuka, he tried his skills at switch-hitting.[2] He was selected as Best 9 in his 3rd and 4th year,[4] and contributed a run against International Budo University's Masashi Itō to win the finals of the 2018 Japan National Collegiate Baseball Championship.[1]
When he went undrafted after graduation, he joined the Industrial Leagues for two years as a shortstop under Mitsubishi Motors Okazaki.[5] He batted 0.421 and notched 4 runs during the nationals in his first season. He was also selected to play in the 2019 Asia Winter Baseball League where he helped Japan's amateur team win the finals, and finished with the most hits (26) and second best batting average (.371) in the league.[6] While he is not known as a power hitter, he was able to hit 2 home runs during the 2020 Intercity Baseball Tournament.[7]
Professional career
editHanshin Tigers
editHe was the Tiger's 6th round pick at the 2020 Nippon Professional Baseball draft.[2] He signed a 35 million yen contract with the Tigers for an estimated annual salary of 8 million.[8] He was assigned the jersey number 51.
2021
His performance during the pre-season exhibition games (0.286 and 2 stolen bases in 12 games) earned him a spot in the main squad roster when the season began. He debuted as a substitute to 2nd baseman Kento Itohara in the 7th inning of the March 26 season opener against the Swallows. He notched a hit to center field on his first at-bat in the same game. When he continued to bat well as a sub in his next 14 games (0.462 average), Manager Yano finally placed him in the starting line up on the April 10 game against the Baystars, and Nakano stepped up to the plate to score his first career RBI.[9] He continued to appear in most of the team's games as the main shortstop (2nd or 8th batter in the lineup),[10] and he finished April with a batting average of 0.340 with 6 RBIs and 2 stolen bases.
Playing style
editTakumu is a 171 cm infielder who has experience fielding as 2nd baseman and shortstop. His right arm boasts a 100-meter throwing distance, while his 50-meter dash was clocked at 5.9 seconds.[1]
Personal trivia
editDespite living in the Tohoku region, he was raised in a household of Hanshin Tigers fans.[11]
References
edit- ^ a b c "都市対抗で虎新人対決 阪神ドラ6・中野 ドラ2の伊藤将打ちで"先制"アピールだ!". Sports Nippon. 2020-11-06.
- ^ a b c "阪神６位は三菱自動車岡崎・中野、俊足巧打の即戦力". Nikkan Sports. 2020-10-26.
- ^ "県内最高成績ベスト4を持つ日大山形。石垣 雅海らを輩出する酒田南の過去10回の対戦成績を振り返る". Highschool Baseball Nippon. 2020-06-30.
- ^ "阪神6位の三菱自・中野 思い描くプロ初打席から新人王への道". Mainichi Shimbun. 2020-10-26.
- ^ "【阪神新人紹介】ドラフト６位・中野拓夢【２】". Daily Sports. 2020-11-26.
- ^ "昨冬のAWBで最多安打を記録した打てる遊撃手・中野拓夢（三菱自動車岡崎）【時は来た！ドラフト指名を待つ男たち 社会人編】". BASEBALL GATE. 2020-10-20.
- ^ "東海地区の東京ドーム行き最後の切符は三菱自動車岡崎！「打てる遊撃手」としてプロ注目の中野拓夢が先制弾で勢い". Chunichi Shimbun. 2020-10-26.
- ^ "阪神６位中野「１歩目大事に」目標は遊撃初の無失策". Nikkan Sports. 2020-11-30.
- ^ "阪神ドラフト６位中野拓夢 打率４割キープで初物ずくめ". Yahoo News JP. 2021-04-10.
- ^ "阪神佐藤輝明＆中野拓夢69年ぶり快挙なるか 同一球団２新人規定打席到達". Nikkan Sports. 2021-06-13.
- ^ "阪神６位の中野 山形出身でも「阪神ファンだった」目標は「新人王」". Daily Sports. 2020-10-26.