Hiroyasu Tanaka (02)

Hiroyasu Tanaka (田中 浩康)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 170 lb.
• School Waseda University
• High School Jinsei Gakuen High School

• Born May 24, 1982 in Kyoto, Kyoto Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Hiroyasu Tanaka has been a middle infielder with the Yakult Swallows. He was a first-round pick of the Swallows in the 2004 NPB draft and was 2 for 4 with a double for them in 2005. His first hit came off Kenta Asakura on May 4. In 2006, he hit .266/.326/.393 while backing up Greg LaRocca at second base; he also saw some action at short.

Tanaka became a starter at 2B in 2007 and produced at a .295/.348/.415 rate with 8 steals in 9 tries. He led the Central League in triples (8, 3 more than runner-up Ryota Wakiya) and sacrifice hits (51, 31 more than runner-up Masahiro Araki). He usually hit second behind Norichika Aoki. Tanaka was named to the Best Nine as the best second sacker in the Central circuit.

In 2008, Hiroyasu fell to .290/.358/.361 with only one triple. His 34 sacrifice hits tied Toshihisa Nishi for third in the CL.

Main Source: Japan Baseball Daily by Gary Garland