Kohei Oda

Kohei Oda (小田 幸平)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 185 lb.

• High School Ichikawa High School

• Born March 15, 1977 in Takasago, Hyogo Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Kohei Oda caught in Nippon Pro Baseball and the Japanese national team.

Oda represented Japan in the 1997 Asian Championship. The Yomiuri Giants drafted him in the fourth round of the 1997 NPB draft. Since the Giants already had All-Star catcher Shinichi Murata, Oda couldn't get many chances with the big club. He lost the competition with Yoshinori Murata for the backup catcher spot, and only got 161 at-bats combined in his 7-year Giants career. When the Giants signed Shigeki Noguchi in 2005, the Chunichi Dragons selected Oda as their compensation. The Dragons already had another legend catcher Motonobu Tanishige, so Oda still couldn't get the starting spot. He was the main backup of Tanishige, but he never played more than 45 games in a season with the Dragons. He announced his retirement after the 2014 season.

Overall, Oda had hit .197/.235/.248 in 17 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• NPB site
• Wiki Japan