Hiroto Kobukata

Hiroto Kobukata (小深田 大翔)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 6", Weight 162 lb.

• School Keio University
• High School Kobe International University High School

• Born September 28, 1995 in Sayo-gun, Hyogo Japan

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Biographical Information

Hiroto Kobukata has played in Nippon Pro Baseball and for the Japanese national team.

Kobukata played for Osaka Gas in the industrial leagues after college then was in the 2018 Asia Winter Baseball League. He was with Japan for the 2019 Asian Championship, hitting .388/.455/.500 with 5 runs in 5 games as their starting shortstop and batting second in the order. He was 2 for 4 with two runs, a walk, a steal, a RBI and an error in their 5-4 Gold Medal Game loss to Taiwan. Chun-Kai Liao beat him out as the All-Star SS.

He was the Rakuten Golden Eagles' top pick in the 2019 NPB draft after their bid for Roki Sasaki fell through in the lottery. He made his debut as a replacement for Daichi Suzuki at shortstop. His first plate appearance came June 20, 2020 (the season began late due to the COVID-19 pandemic) versus Fumiya Kambe and his first hit was ten days later versus Taiki Tojo. His first homer was off Wataru Matsumoto in September. He finished the year at .288/.364/.381 with 5 triples, 17 steals in 26 tries and 61 runs in 112 games, fielding .979 at SS and .988 at 2B. He was among the Pacific League leaders in average (6th, between Suzuki and Ryo Watanabe), OBP (7th), runs (8th), triples (tied Yuki Yanagita and Sosuke Genda for 3rd), steals (8th, between Genda and Ryoichi Adachi) and caught stealing (tied Yuji Kaneko for 1st). He was runner-up to Genda for the Best Nine at short in the PL and was a close second to Kaima Taira for the 2020 Pacific League Rookie of the Year Award, 144 votes to 125.

He made the PL All-Star team for the 2021 NPB All-Star Games. Replacing Genda at short in Game 1, he singled off Katsuki Matayoshi and was retired by Robert Suárez in a 5-4 loss to the Central League. Leading off and playing shortstop in Game 2, he was 0 for 3 with a walk in a 4-3 win; his walk was off Ryoji Kuribayashi.