Kuniyuki Kimoto

Kuniyuki Kimoto (木元 邦之)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 187 lb.

• School Ryukoku University
• High School Kyoto Gaidai Nishi High School

• Born October 7, 1978 in Kyoto, Kyoto Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Kuniyuki Kimoto has played in Nippon Pro Baseball and for the Japanese national team.

Kimoto was drafted by the Nippon Ham Fighters in the second round of the 2000 NPB draft. He suffered a right shoulder injury, so he spent his first pro season in the NPB Farm Leagues. He came back and hit .242/.295/.381 with 9 homers in 2002 (his first NPB hit was off Keisaburo Tanoue and his first homer off Hisashi Tokano), and also represented Japan in the 2002 Intercontinental Cup (batting .286/.375/.429 with 5 runs and 5 RBI in 8 games, fielding .981 at 1B and going 0-for-3 in steal attempts; homered off Ilo Bartolucci of Italy). Kimoto improved to .300/.354/.456 with 14 homers in 2003, then recorded a .285/.349/.390 batting line in a career-high 132 games played in 2005.The Kyoto native had a career-year in 2005. He batted .281/.342/.433 with 18 homers, and attended the All-Star Game for the only time in his career. He was 2-for-4 in 2 games.

When José Macías joined the team in 2006, Kimoto was moved to third base. However, he couldn't adapt to that position and struggled for the whole season. He only hit .239/.294/.294 in 65 games. The Fighters then traded him with Akio Shimizu to the Orix Buffaloes for Jun Hagiwara and Tatsuo Kato in the middle of the 2007 season. Kimoto only played 31 more games for the Buffaloes in 2007, then he was demoted after he recorded a 3-for-33 in 2008. He spent the whole 2009 season in the ni-gun, then announced his retirement after the 2009 season.

Overall, Kimoto had hit .269/.326/.390 with 49 homers in 7 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• NPB site
• Wiki Japan
• Defunct IBAF site
• Defunct Japanbaseballdaily site