Kyota Fujiwara

Kyota Fujiwara (藤原 恭大)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 11", Weight 171 lbs.

• High School Osaka Toin High School

• Born May 6, 2000 in Toyonaka, Osaka Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Kyota Fujiwara has played in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Fujiwara represented Japan in the 2017 U-18 Baseball World Cup; starting in right for the Bronze Medalists, he hit .333/.368/.389 with 7 runs in 8 games and 7 putouts without an error. He tied for 6th in the tourney with 12 hits. The Rakuten Golden Eagles, Hanshin Tigers and Chiba Lotte Marines drafted him in the first round of the 2018 NPB draft, and the Marines won the lottery for his rights. Fujiwara became the first high school graduate to start as leadoff batter on opening day since Yukio Iida did it in 1966, but he only hit .105/.105/.105 in the first six games then the Marines demoted him to the NPB Farm Leagues; he hit .227/.286/.333 there. Fujiwara improved to .260/.301/.406 in 2020, and the Marines advanced to the 2020 PLCS. He was 0-for-4 in Game 1, then went 3-for-4 with a walk the next game against the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks. He was the youngest player to have 3 hits in a game in a Climax Series, but the Hawks still swept the Marines.

The Osaka native only hit .161 in the first 22 games in 2021, and Lotte demoted him again. He came back in July, hitting .348 with 5 homers to win the Player of the Month award. Fujiwara was 0-for-2 against the Golden Eagles in the first stage of the 2021 PLCS, and he only appeared in Game 3 as a pinch-runner against the Orix Buffaloes in the final stage. The Buffaloes swept the Marines. He ended up recording a .217/.301/.350 batting line for the season. Fujiwara slumped to .209/.272/.252 in 2022, then hit .238/.285/.323 in 2023. In the 2023 PLCS, the young outfielder hit a clutch 2-run single off Yuki Tsumori in Game 1 of the first stage against the Hawks, but went 0-for-3 in the next two games. He then was 1-for-4, with a solo shot against Soichiro Yamazaki in the Game 4 of the final stage versus the Buffaloes, but Orix still eliminated them in 4 games.

Fujiwara next made it onto Japan's roster for the 2023 Asia Professional Baseball Championship. He was 3-for-4, with a 2-run single against Brodie Cooper-Vassalakis of Australia, but he only was 0-for-5 against South Korea in the Gold Medal game. Japan still beat South Korea and won Gold.