Shogo Akada

From BR Bullpen

Shogo Akada (赤田 将吾)

  • Bats Both, Throws Right
  • Height 5' 10", Weight 183 lb.

BR register page

Biographical Information[edit]

Shogo Akada has been an outfielder for several teams in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Akada was picked out of high school in the 2nd round of the 1998 NPB draft by the Seibu Lions. He debuted in 1999, hitting .286/.300/.327 in 13 games, backing up Hiroyuki Takagi at second base. He stole 5 bases in 6 tries. In 2000, he hit .151/.304/.231 in 31 games.At age 20, he hit .188/.229/.219 in 17 games. He became a switch-hitter in 2002 and batted .158/.172/.228 in 37 contests.

Akada backed up Hiroyuki Oshima in center field in 2003, hitting .250/.292/.432 in 46 games. In 2004, he got his big break, taking over the starting CF job for Seibu. He produced at a .259/.335/.390 rate and stole 16 bases in 21 tries. He finished sixth in the Pacific League in stolen bases. Akada hit .292/.346/.417 in the 2004 Japan Series and stole two bases in two tries to help Seibu win the Series.

Serving as the #2 hitter in the Seibu lineup in 2005, Akada batted .272/.322/.351 and swiped 20 bases while being caught six times. He was 4th in the PL with 18 sacrifice hits and was 5th in steals.

Akada hit .293/.345/.373 in 2006 with 16 steals (in 25 tries) and 7 triples. He tied Munenori Kawasaki, Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Teppei Tsuchiya for the PL lead in three-baggers. He was 5th with 25 sacrifice hits and 7th in steals. He fielded .992 and made 10 assists from the outfield.

In 2007, Akada missed most of the year with a right thigh injury. He hit .162/.279/.189 in the 20 games he made it into. In 2008, Akada batted .244/.305/.338 in 68 games, as Hiram Bocachica and Takumi Kuriyama took over primary duties in center. He was 3 for 11 in the 2008 Japan Series as Seibu topped the Yomiuri Giants. In the 2008 Asia Series, his double off Wei-Lun Pan scored Ginjiro Sumitani with the winner over the Uni-President Lions in the first round; Seibu won it all.

In June 2009, Seibu traded Akada to the Hanshin Tigers for Taiyo Fujita. While with Seibu that year, he hit .205/.259/.256 in 78 at-bats while he never appeared for Hanshin. With the Orix Buffaloes (following a trade for Masahiro Abe) in 2010, he hit .217/.279/.352 with eight home runs and 34 RBI in 79 games. He hit .305/.357/.350 with no home runs and 17 RBI in 77 games in 2011. His slash line dropped to .139/.184/.250 with one home run and five RBI in 2012. He was then traded a third time, this time packaged with Hiroshi Kisanuki and Keiji Obiki in a deal to the Nippon Ham Fighters for Tomoya Yagi and Yoshio Itoi. He hit .273/.340/.357 with two home runs and 12 RBI in 57 games in 2013. Akada only played 8 games in 2014, then announced his retirement after that season. He became a coach for the Lions since 2015.

Overall, Akada had hit .255/.315/.346 in 16 seasons in NPB.

Sources[edit]

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