Shuhei Takahashi

Shuhei Takahashi (高橋 周平)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 187 lb.

• High School Kofu High School of Tokai University

• Born January 18, 1994 in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Shuhei Takahashi has played in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Takahashi represented Japan in the 2011 Asian Junior Baseball Championship. He drove in 13 RBI with 10 hits in 5 games, and claimed the MVP of that tournament. The Chunichi Dragons, Orix Buffaloes and Yakult Swallows all drafted Takahashi in the first round of the 2011 NPB draft, and the Dragons won the lottery for his rights. Takahashi debuted against the Hiroshima Toyo Carp on March 31 2012, and got his first hit off Kan Otake on May 11. He blasted the first career home run off Hayato Terahara on June 17, becoming the youngest drafted high school hitter to do so. In the NPB Farm Leagues, young Takahashi also hit a league-leading 7 dingers.

When their original third baseman Hector Luna was injured, Takahashi gained some chances at that spot in 2013. He crushed a grand slam off Kousuke Kato on August 1, becoming the second-youngest player to hit a grand slam (behind Hayato Sakamoto). He ended up at .249/.290/.401 with 5 homers. The Fujisawa native hit .257/.292/.451 with 6 homers in 2014, but struggled in 2015. His batting average fell to .208, and he spent the rest of the season after July in the minor Western League. He also played in the winter league in Taiwan. Since Luna was released after the 2015 season, Takahashi gained the everyday third baseman spot. Unfortunately, he fractured his right hand bone on April 30 and missed the game from May to July. He came back on July 28, and ended up recording a .251/.319/.369 batting line. In 2017, Takahashi struggled again, hit .233/.306/.326, and spent nearly two-thirds of the season in the Farm League.

Because Nobumasa Fukuda took the third baseman spot, Takahashi was turned into a second baseman in 2018. The 24-year-old Takahashi finally broke out in this year, hitting .254/.305/.400 with 11 home runs. He tied the NPB record for collecting doubles in four consecutive plate appearances. He had a huge improvement in 2019. He replaced Kazuma Okamoto late and collected a single from Yoshinobu Yamamoto. In Game 2, he was the starting third baseman of the Central League. He hit a single off Taisuke Yamaoka in the 1st, collected a RBI double from Kona Takahashi, and hit another RBI double against Manabu Mima. He won the Fighting Spirit Award of Game 2. Moving back to the familiar third base spot, Takahashi batted .293/.345/.430 with 9 dingers, and won both the Best Nine and NPB Gold Glove awards. Takahashi extended his stable performance in 2020, hitting .305/.368/.426 and winning the Gold Glove award again. He was 7th in batting average and 10th in hits (120). He declined slightly in 2021, when he batted .259/.315/.347 with 5 homers. Takahashi faced a left foot injury in April 2022 then tore his right flank muscle in August. He only played 78 games with a .249/.308/.306 batting line due to those injuries.