Shohei Kato

Shohei Kato (加藤 翔平)

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 185 lb.

• School Jobu University
• High School Kasukabe Higashi High School

• Born March 28, 1991 in Kazo, Saitama Japan

BR register page

Biographical Informaiton

Shohei Kato is an outfielder.

Kato hit .322 in college. He was drafted by the Chiba Lotte Marines in the 4th round in the 2012 NPB draft. He homered off Satoshi Nagai on the first pitch he saw in Nippon Pro Baseball, the 7th player in NPB annals to do so, but hit only .154/.154/.269 in 28 plate appearances as a rookie in 2013.

His second career dinger came in dramatic fashion on May 19, 2014. He pinch-hit for Tatsuya Uchi and hit a three-run homer off Kentaro Kyuko in the bottom of the 10th to break a 6-6 tie. He joined Frank Bolick as the only players in NPB history to hit their first pitch for a homer and then hit their second homer as a sayonara shot. In 2014, he became a regular outfielder for Chiba Lotte and hit .253/.280/.344 with 43 runs and 18 RBI in 98 games. He got one vote for the 2014 Pacific League Rookie of the Year Award.

Kato greets a US Military man after a game.

Sources: Japanese Wikipedia entry, Yakyu Baka