Kensuke Kondo

Kensuke Kondo (近藤 健介)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 7", Weight 176 lb.

• High School Yokohama High School

• Born August 9, 1993 in Chiba, Chiba Japan

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Biographical Information

Kensuke Kondo has been a MVP in Japan and played for the Japanese national team.

Kondo was the All-Star catcher when Japan won the 2011 Asian Junior Championship. He was taken by the Nippon Ham Fighters in the 4th round of the 2011 NPB draft. His first hit in the Pacific League came off Hayato Terahara and he finished the 2012 season at .192/.241/.192 in 30 plate appearances, backing up Shinya Tsuruoka and Shota Ono at catcher. In 2013, he fell to .152/.269/.152 in 80 plate appearances, again the third-stringer.

Moving to mostly third base in 2014, he fielded .952 there and batted .258/.296/.386. He hit his first NPB homer on May 16, off Yoshihisa Naruse. On May 29, he crushed his first grand slam, and he broke Isao Harimoto's PL record for youngest player to hit a grand slam. He also represented Japan in the [[2014 U-21 Baseball World Cup], batting .200/.394/.320 for the second-place team. He tied for 8th in walks (8). In 2015, he was mostly a DH but also caught regularly (58 G), backing up Ono. He produced at a .326/.405/.467 clip and rapped 33 doubles to show big strides in his age-21 season. He was among the PL leaders in batting average (3rd, after Yuki Yanagita and Shogo Akiyama), OBP (3rd, behind the same two), runs (tied for 8th with Dae-ho Lee and Haruki Nishikawa at 68) and doubles (tied Tomoya Mori for 4th).

In 2016, he was a DH-OF, switching positions again. He hit .265/.337/.323 in an off-season. He was 3 for 17 with a double and two runs in the 2016 Japan Series, as Nippon Ham beat the Hiroshima Carp. He bounced back in a big way in 2017 at .413/.567/.557 in 57 games, on pace to set a new Nippon Pro Baseball record for OBP before he had to have surgery for a lumbar disc.

The Chiba native was healthy and hitting in 2018 - .323/.427/.457, 29 2B, 87 BB, 69 RBI. He was again 3rd in the PL in average behind Yanagita and Akiyama, though he moved up to 2nd in OBP (just .004 behind Yanagita). He was 6th in OPS (between Hideto Asamura and Seiya Inoue), tied Seiji Uebayashi for 8th with 149 hits, tied Yanagita for 6th in doubles and was 3rd in walks (after Nishikawa and Hotaka Yamakawa). He was named to the Best Nine as the PL's top DH. He also made the PL team for the 2018 NPB All-Star Games. In Game 1, he hit 3rd and played DH, singling off Daisuke Matsuzaka in the 1st and coming around to score; he was 1 for 3 before being replaced by Alfredo Despaigne. In Game 2, he replaced Akira Nakamura in left field and went 2 for 3, with hits off Koji Uehara and Yasuaki Yamasaki in a 5-1 PL win.

Kondo fielded .993 in 86 games in the outfield in 2019 and returned to third base for the first time in four years, fielding .905 in 30 games. He kept on hitting well, .302/.422/.400 with 32 doubles, 74 runs and 103 walks. In 2019 NPB All-Star Game 1, he hit second and played DH, going 0 for 3 before Despaigne replaced him in a PL victory. In Game 2, he replaced Yurisbel Gracial in right in a 11-3 loss to the Central League and went 0 for 2. For the season, he was on the PL leaderboards in average (6th, between Akiyama and Taishi Ota), OBP (1st, .009 ahead of Masataka Yoshida), doubles (4th, between Daichi Suzuki and Akiyama), triples (5, tied for 6th) and walks (1st, 10 ahead of Asamura and Nishikawa). While he led the league in OBP and walks, he did not make the Best Nine this time - Despaigne was picked at DH and the outfield spots went to Yoshida, Akiyama and Takashi Ogino.

He made the Japanese squad for the 2019 Premier 12. In the opener, his bases-loaded walk from Elvis Escobar put Japan ahead for the first time against Venezuela in a comeback win; he had 4 walks that day. He scored the winner against Australia; tied at two in the 8th, he doubled off Jon Kennedy and came home on a walk to Asamura with the bases loaded. As Japan's starting left fielder, he showed off his OBP talents in the event - .190/.452/.238, 9 BB in 8 G. He had 7 putouts, one assist and no errors. In the Gold Medal Game, he was 0 for 4 but Japan beat South Korea, the defending champions, for the title. He finished the event 4th in OBP among those with 20+ at-bats (between Hyun-soo Kim and Asamura) and he led in walks, two ahead of Esteban Quiroz.

Keeping on rolling in 2020, he hit .340/.465/.469 with 31 doubles and 89 walks. He trailed only Yoshida and Yanagita in average, led in OBP (.012 ahead of Yoshida), led in doubles (four ahead of Suzuki), was 3rd in walks (behind Nishikawa and Asamura), was 8th in slugging (between Cory Spangenberg and Yamakawa) and was 4th in OPS (between Yoshida and Stefen Romero). He was named to the PL Best Nine team, joining Yoshida and Yanagita in the outfield. In the 2020 Olympics (held in 2021 after delays from COVID-19), he was 2-for-6 with a run, backing up Yoshida in left for the Gold Medal winners.

Kondo won another Best Nine at DH in 2021, producing at a .298/.413/.472 rate with 88 walks and 37 doubles. He tied Mori for 7th in hits (133), led in two-baggers (one ahead of Yanagita and Shogo Nakamura), tied for 7th in triples (7), was 9th in RBI (69), placed 4th in walks (between Nishikawa and Mori), was 5th in average (between Yanagita and Ogino), trailed only Yoshida and Mori in OBP, was 7th in slugging (between Hiroaki Shimauchi and Mori) and was 5th in OPS (between Mori and Shimauchi).

2022 was somewhat of a down year. He hit .302/.418/.462 but did not win any awards. Had he qualified (he was 7 plate appearances shy), he would've been 3rd in average (behind Go Matsumoto and Yoshida) and second to Yoshida in OBP. He was 5th in doubles (26) and 6th in walks (66). He was originally slated as a backup for Japan in the 2023 World Baseball Classic but became a starter when Seiya Suzuki withdrew due to injury. He hit .346/.500/.615 with 9 runs in 9 games for the champs and homered off Tae-in Won of South Korea. He finished tied for 6th in hits (9), tied with Shohei Ohtani for the most runs, tied Yoán Moncada, Ohtani and Salvador Pérez for second in doubles (4), tied Joey Meneses and Yoshida for 5th in total bases (16) and tied Kazuma Okamoto for second in walks (8, 2 behind Ohtani). He missed out on the All-Tournament Team when Yoshida, Mike Trout and Randy Arozarena were picked as the outfielders.

Following the international glory, he was 3-for-3 in 2023 NPB All-Star Game 1, but 0-for-3 in Game 2. Moving to the Softbank Hawks as a free agent, he was all over the PL leaderboards for 2023, when he batted .303/.431/.528 with 75 runs, 33 doubles, 26 homers, 87 RBI and 109 walks. He lost the batting title by .004 to Yuma Tongu, led in OBP (by .046 ahead of Mori), led in slugging (.020 ahead of Mori), obviously led in OPS, led in runs (6 ahead of Chusei Mannami), was second to Yanagita in hits, tied Minnami for the double lead, tied Asamura and Gregory Polanco for the home run title, led in RBI (two ahead of Yanagita) and led in walks by 34 ahead of Asamura. He was an easy pick for the Best Nine (joining Minnami and Yanagita in the outfield) and also won a Gold Glove, alongside Minnami and Ryosuke Tatsumi. He finished a distant second in voting for the 2023 PL MVP, behind star hurler Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

The veteran was 0 for 1 in 2024 NPB All-Star Game 1 but 5-for-6 with two doubles, three runs and two RBI in a Game 2 PL romp over the CL. He did not win MVP, which went to Toshiya Satoh, who also had five hits. The last NPB All-Star to have a five-hit game was Koji Chikamoto. He hit .319/.439/.521 for 2024 and batted .385/.500/.462 in the 2024 Japan Series but his teammates did not chip in enough in a loss to the Yokohama BayStars. He won the PL batting title in a pitcher's season (.020 ahead of Tatsumi), routed the field in OBP (.071 ahead of runner-up Mori), led in slugging (.037 ahead of Yamakawa), won another OPS title going away, tied Yamakawa for 3rd in runs (66), was 5th in hits (137), ranked 3rd in doubles (29, behind Ryoya Kurihara and Mannami), was 6th with 19 homers (between the same pair), was 4th with 72 RBI (between Kurihara and Franmil Reyes) and led with 92 walks (24 more than Yuya Ogoh and Asamura). He joined Ukyo Shuto and Tatsumi in the Best Nine outfield in the PL. He won the MVP, getting 989 vote points to 694 for runner-up Yamakawa; he had 158 first-place votes to Yamakawa's 78 (no one else had more than 9).