Shuto Takajoh

Shuto Takajoh (高城 俊人)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 176 lb.
• High School Kyushu International University High School

• Born May 3, 1993 in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Japan

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Biographical Information

Shuto Takajoh, whose last name is also spelled Takajo in English, is a catcher in Nippon Pro Baseball. He began playing with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in 2012 and was with them until the middle of the 2018 season, when he was traded to the Orix Buffaloes as part of a four-player deal. He only appeared with Orix's ni-gun squad that year, but was with them for part of the 2019 season, spending the rest of the year in the minor leagues, as he had every season since making his debut. He returned to play for Yokohama in 2020 and 2021 before spending all of 2022 in the minor league Eastern League (he was briefly on the top team's roster in August as the replacement for catcher Naoto Chino, who tested postive for COVID-19, but then tested positive himself four days later, before he could get into a game).

Takajoh has never been a particularly strong hitter, with a career .172 batting average in his ten seasons at the top level, and that has not come with much power either, as in 347 games, he has only hit 4 homers. His busiest season at the top level was in 2015 when he appeared in 64 games for the BayStars, batting .202. In spite of that, the highlight of his career was due to his bat in Game 4 of the 2017 Japan Series on November 1st. With Yokohama facing elimination against the powerful Fukuoka Softbank Hawks, representing the Pacific League, he drove in three runs in a 6-0 win while also catching a masterful performance by rookie Haruhiro Hamaguchi, who did not give up his first hit until one out in the 8th.