Kazuki Tanaka

Kazuki Tanaka (田中 和基)

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 165 lb.

• School Rikkyo University
• High School Seinan Gakuin High School

• Born August 8, 1994 in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Kazuki Tanaka has played in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Tanaka hit .270 for his collegiate career. He played for Japan in the 2016 Haarlem Baseball Week but hit only .174/.321/.174 in eight games. He was picked by the Rakuten Golden Eagles in the 3rd round of the 2016 NPB draft; the scout was Yoshinori Okihara.

He made his NPB debut on May 17, 2017, replacing Hiroaki Shimauchi in center late in a 15-6 rout of the Nippon Ham Fighters. Two days later, he got his first at-bat and was retired by Tatsuya Uchi. His first hit was off the Chiba Lotte Marines' Yuki Ariyoshi on the 20th. In the 10th inning that day, he took Seiya Dohi deep for his first NPB homer with Eigoro Mogi aboard for the only runs in a 2-0 win. For the season, he did not fare well at the plate - .111/.158/.204 in 59 PA over 51 games and he fielded .949.

He was much better as a regular in 2018, producing at a .265/.323/.423 clip with 67 runs, 18 homers and 21 steals in 27 tries, fielding .992. He tied Yuki Yanagita for 7th in the Pacific League in swipes. He played for Samurai Japan when they routed the MLB All-Stars 5 games to 1 in the 2018 Nichi-Bei Series. He started a rally to win game 4, pinch-hitting and drawing a Kirby Yates walk. He stole second and scored on a hit by Seiji Uebayashi. Later that month, he was named the 2018 Pacific League Rookie of the Year Award with 112 votes, 42 ahead of Yoshinobu Yamamoto.