(Translated by https://www.hiragana.jp/)
Seiya Kinami - Wikipedia
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Seiya Kinami

Seiya Kinami (木き浪なみ 聖せい也, Kinami Seiya, born June 15, 1994 in Aomori City, Aomori, Japan) is a professional Japanese baseball infielder for the Hanshin Tigers.

Seiya Kinami
Kinami batting for the Tigers
Hanshin Tigers – No. 0
Infielder
Born: (1994-06-15) June 15, 1994 (age 30)
Aomori City, Japan
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
NPB debut
March 29, 2019, for the Hanshin Tigers
Career statistics
(through April 2, 2022)
Batting average.251
Home runs9
Runs batted in73
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Early baseball career

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Seiya started playing little league softball in 1st grade for the Yasuda Yanyan Baseball club, then continued as a baseball player in junior high in his hometown in Aomori.[1] He then went to play various infielder positions for Aomori Yamada High School, but his team never made it to any national tournaments.[2]

He entered Asia University in Tokyo, and participated regularly as a starter in the Tohto University Baseball League. From his 3rd year, he helped his team win two successive league championships, as well as two championships in the Meiji Jingu National Tournament. In his 40 league appearances, he recorded a 0.236 batting average, 7 RBIs and 7 stolen bases.[3]

Wanting to pursue a career in baseball despite not being selected in the professional drafts, he joined the industrial leagues under Honda where he played various infielder positions and batted as lead-off or clean-up during Intercity Baseball Tournaments.[4] Because he never once recorded any home runs, his coaches in Honda helped him develop his lower body strength and changed his batting form which resulted to him hitting a total of 24 home runs during his 2 years in the league.[5]

Hanshin Tigers

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He was the Tiger's 3rd pick at the 2018 Nippon Professional Baseball draft. He signed a 60 million yen contract with Hanshin, for an estimated annual salary of 10 million.[6] He was assigned the jersey number 0, the same number he wore when he played for Honda.[7]

2019

He joined the main team for spring training in Okinawa, and competed with Fumiya Hojoh and veteran Takashi Toritani for the shortstop position. On March 23, he broke the NPB record for most hits by a rookie in the pre-season exhibition games when he notched his 22nd hit.[8] This performance earned him the shortstop position and lead-off spot during the season opening card with the Yakult Swallows.[9] On March 29, he and fellow rookie Koji Chikamoto became the first pair of Hanshin rookies in 47 years to bat as lead-off hitters during the season opener.[10] But he eventually got removed from the line-up when he failed to produce a single hit. He notched his first career hit on April 12 as a pinch hitter against the Dragons, and a few days later, hit his first career home run with two runners on base against Tomoyuki Sugano.[11]

His appearances gradually increased by June either as a lead-off or 2nd batter, and he even went on a 7-game hitting streak.[12] But with the entry of newly-imported Yangervis Solarte into the team, he got alternated with Solarte until he was eventually removed from the line up later in July. He redeemed himself in August by batting 0.431, and went on a 13-game hitting streak which tied the team rookie record notched by Chikamoto earlier in the season.[13]

He finished the season with an average of 0.262, and scored 32 RBIs including 4 home runs in 113 games.

References

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  1. ^ "阪神はんしんドラ３木き浪なみ「虎とら1号ごう」指名しめい後ご初はつ実戦じっせん２安打あんだ２打点だてん". Nikkan Sports. 2018-10-28.
  2. ^ "ドラ３・木き浪なみ聖せい也、黄金おうごん世代せだいに挑戦ちょうせん状じょう "虎とらのセイヤ"になる！]". Daily Sports. October 25, 2018.
  3. ^ "阪神はんしんＤ３位い・木き浪なみ、虎とら１号ごう！指名しめい後ご初はつ実戦じっせん２安打あんだ２打点だてん". Sankei Sports. 2018-10-28.
  4. ^ "阪神はんしんＤ３位い・木き浪なみ、遊ゆう撃げきポジション奪うばう！青森あおもりの同級生どうきゅうせい・北條ほうじょうに「負まけないぞ」". Sankei Sports. 2018-10-26.
  5. ^ "Ｈｏｎｄａルーキー木き浪なみ 先制せんせい３すりーラン含ふくむ４打点だてん「最高さいこうです」". Sports Nippon. 2017-07-16.
  6. ^ "阪神はんしん３位い木き浪なみ、指揮しき官かんの望のぞむ「準備じゅんび力りょく」で開幕かいまく１軍ぐんだ". Nikkan Sports. 2018-11-20.
  7. ^ "阪神はんしん近きん本ほんら７選手せんしゅ入団にゅうだん会見かいけん「幸しあわせな日ひを」矢野やの監督かんとく". Nikkan Sports. 2018-12-03.
  8. ^ "阪神はんしんドラ3木き浪なみ マルチでOP戦せん21安打あんだ、12球団きゅうだん新人しんじん最多さいた安打あんだ更新こうしん". Sports Nippon. March 24, 2019.
  9. ^ "木き浪なみ＆近きん本ほんの新人しんじん１、２番ばん／阪神はんしん開幕かいまくスタメン - プロ野球やきゅう". Nikkan Sports. 2019-03-29.
  10. ^ "阪神はんしんD1・近きん本ほん＆D3・木き浪なみ、新しん時代じだい出撃しゅつげき！新人しんじんコンビが矢野やの虎とら元年がんねん飾かざる". Sankei Sports. 2019-03-29.
  11. ^ "阪神はんしんのルーキー木き浪なみがプロ初はつ本塁打ほんるいだ 前日ぜんじつの懲罰ちょうばつ交代こうたいの汚名おめい返上へんじょう". Sankei Shimbun. 2019-04-19.
  12. ^ "阪神はんしん木き浪なみ聖せい也が7試合しあい連続れんぞく安打あんだ「どうしても先頭せんとうで」". Nikkan Sports. 2019-06-30.
  13. ^ "阪神はんしん木き浪なみ「明日あした頑張がんばります」連続れんぞく試合しあい安打あんだストップ". Nikkan Sports. 2019-09-06.
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