Teruaki Satō
Teruaki Satō | |
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Hanshin Tigers – No. 8 | |
Infielder | |
Born: Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture | March 13, 1999|
Bats: Left Throws: Right | |
debut | |
March 26, 2021, for the Hanshin Tigers | |
Career statistics (through 2023) | |
Batting average | .256 |
Home runs | 68 |
Runs batted in | 240 |
Teams | |
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Career highlights and awards | |
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Teruaki Satō (
Early career
[edit]Teruaki started playing little league baseball in 1st grade for Kōtō Elementary School, and was chosen to play for the Hanshin Tigers Juniors team in his 6th grade.[1] He joined the Kōryō Junior High baseball team, and played both pitcher and catcher positions.[2]
He continued to play for Nigawa High School, but his team did not make it to any national tournaments in Koshien.[3] Because he only managed to hit 5 home runs until the end of his 2nd year, he took up weight training to improve his hitting power. This paid off and he hit 15 home runs in his 3rd year, bringing his total high school home run count to 20.[4] While he did not get scouted by any of the NPB teams, he caught the attention of the Kinki University (Kindai) baseball coach and was invited to enroll there.[5]
He became a regular in the Kindai lineup, first as a left outfielder then finally as 3rd baseman.[5] He then became the team's most productive hitter as they played in the Kansai Big Six Baseball League where he was awarded Best Nine for 3 consecutive seasons.[6] In his 2nd year, he was chosen as the League MVP, and was also selected to play for the national team in the 2018 Haarlem Baseball Week and the USA vs Japan Collegiate All-Star Series.[3] In his senior year, he broke the league home run record by hitting 14, was once more awarded league MVP, and helped his team win their first championship in 3 years.[7] He finished with a 0.288 batting average, 14 home runs and 69 RBIs in 88 appearances.
Professional career
[edit]Satō was the 1st round draft pick of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, Orix Buffaloes, Yomiuri Giants and the Hanshin Tigers during the 2020 Nippon Professional Baseball draft.[6] Hanshin manager Akihiro Yano drew the winning ticket, and Satō signed a 100 million yen contract with the team that included a 50 million yen signing bonus, for an estimated annual salary of 16 million yen.[8] He was assigned the jersey number 8, formerly worn by Kosuke Fukudome.[9]
2021
On March 17, Satō broke the Nippon Professional Baseball rookie home run record in pre-season exhibition games by hitting 6, previously held by Kyosuke Sasaki when he hit 5 in 1972.[10] This earned him a spot in the season opening game against the Tokyo Yakult Swallows on March 26. He started the season slow and was only batting at .196 by mid-April, with the worst strikeout rate in the team as he averaged above 40%. Nevertheless, he continued to display his hitting power by belting home runs, including one that flew out of Yokohama Stadium on April 9.[11] His hitting eventually picked up and by April 28, he set a new Tiger rookie record for most RBI by the end of April by driving in 18 RBIs (previously set in 1950).[12] As Yūsuke Ōyama was recovering from an injury on May 2, Satō was assigned the clean-up spot and he notched 5 RBIs including his first career grand slam that stole the lead from the Hiroshima Toyo Carp and propelled him to the top of the team leaderboard in both home runs (9) and RBI (24).[13] In his 33rd appearance of the year on May 7, Satō hit his 10th home run and broke the record for fastest drafted NPB rookie to reach double digit homers (36 games).[14] On May 28, he again drove in 5 RBIs including a 3-run home run on the 9th that won the game against the Saitama Seibu Lions. This made him the first rookie in 63 years to hit 3 home runs in a single game since Shigeo Nagashima in 1958.[15] In a July 4 game against the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, Satō struck out 5 times in the game, tying an NPB record.[16] On September 29, Satō set the NPB record for most plate appearances without getting a hit by a non-pitcher after going 54 consecutive plate appearances without a hit.[17]
Personal life
[edit]He is the eldest son in a sporting family. His father was a national judo champion, and his brother currently plays infielder for Kwansei Gakuin University.[18] His interest in baseball waned in junior high and he was leaning towards joining the soccer club before one of his friends persuaded him to join the baseball club instead.[19]
References
[edit]- ^ "
近大 ・佐藤 の阪神 指名 に地元 沸 いた佐藤 も所属 した甲 東 ブルーサンダース歓喜 ". Sports Nippon. 2020-10-26. - ^ "
阪神 ドラフト1位 ・佐藤 輝明 の軌跡 <3> タイガースジュニア選出 も右 肘 痛 で1年間 プレーできず". Sports Hochi. 2020-10-29. - ^ a b "
近大 「佐藤 輝明 」、野球 エリートではない巨 人 のドラ1位 候補 、"糸井 2世 "と呼 ばれるまで". Daily Shincho. 2020-10-21. - ^ "
阪神 ドラフト1位 ・佐藤 輝明 の軌跡 <4>高校 2年 で開始 ウェートトレで巨大 化 本塁打 量産 で校舎 の窓 ガラス破壊 ". Sports Hochi. 2020-10-30. - ^ a b "
阪神 ドラフト1位 ・佐藤 輝明 の軌跡 <5> 「恋 をした」近大 ・田中 監督 がワンスイングで一目 ぼれ". Sports Hochi. 2020-10-31. - ^ a b "
近大 ・佐藤 輝明 は阪神 1位 「地元 の球団 で良 かった」". Nikkan Sports. 2020-10-26. - ^ "【
関西 学生 】巨人 ドラ1候補 の近大 ・佐藤 輝明 、二 岡 智宏 超 えリーグ通算 最多 14本塁打 「偉大 な先輩 更新 できてうれしい」". Sports Hochi. 2020-10-18. - ^ "
阪神 ドラ1佐藤 、背番号 は8福留 級 の球界 代表 選手 へ…「頑張 りたい」]". Daily Sports. 2020-11-12. - ^ "
阪神 ドラ2伊藤 将司 は「27」/新人 背番号 一覧 ". Nikkan Sports. 2020-12-07. - ^ "
歴史 的 快音 だ阪神 ・佐藤 輝 がオープン戦 6号 でドラフト新人 最多 本塁打 記録 更新 凄 すぎる3戦 連発 ". Sports Nippon. 2021-03-17. - ^ "Tigers hit ground running as Teruaki Sato continues to excite". The Japan Times. 2021-04-12.
- ^ "
阪神 ・佐藤 輝 の歴史 的 一 撃 !3&4月 ではドラフト制 以降 の新人 最多 に並 ぶ7号 「いい感 じで打 てました」". Yahoo News Japan. 2021-04-28. - ^ "
阪神 ・ドラ1佐藤 輝 4番 デビューでプロ初 の満塁 弾 !「打 つことができてよかった」". Daily Sports. 2021-05-02. Retrieved 2021-05-02. - ^ "
阪神 佐藤 輝明 が新人 最速 10号 、村田 上回 る33戦 右翼 席 最 上段 看板 手前 へ". Nikkan Sports. 2021-05-07. Retrieved 2021-05-07. - ^ "
阪神 佐藤 輝明 3発 、長嶋 茂雄 以来 新人 63年 ぶり「スゴかったなぁ」矢野 監督 ". Nikkan Sports. 2021-05-29. Retrieved 2021-05-29. - ^ @NPB_Reddit (4 July 2021). "Hanshin Tigers rookie Teruaki Sato tied an NPB record by striking out 5 times in one game. #npb" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ @NPB_Reddit (29 September 2021). "Hanshin Tigers rookie Teruaki Sato has now gone 54 consecutive Plate Appearances without getting a hit, setting a ne…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "
近大 ・佐藤 輝明 の弟 ・太紀 さんが語 る「巨人 のドラフト1位 候補 の兄 」". Sports Hochi. 2020-09-16. - ^ "
阪神 1位 佐藤 輝 「サッカー部 に入 ろうか」母校 で告白 ". Nikkan Sports. 2020-11-18.