Soichiro Amaya

Soichiro Amaya (天谷 宗一朗)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 10", Weight 171 lb.
• High School Fukui Shogyo High School

• Born November 8, 1983 in Sabae, Fukui Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Soichiro Amaya has played for the Hiroshima Carp.

Amaya was picked by the Carp in the 9th round of the 2001 NPB draft out of high school. He led the minor Western League in steals in both 2003 and 2004. In 2004, he debuted in the Central League, going 2 for 11 with a triple, run, RBI, 4 strikeouts, walk and one steal in 2 tries. His first hit was a single off Naohisa Sugiyama.

The Sabae native was 0 for 2 for the Carp in 2005 while missing time to a shoulder injury and 0 for 8 with 3 runs in 17 games in 2006. That year, he led the Western League in both swipes and OBP.

In 2007, Amaya got into 20 games with the Carp, hitting .258/.378/.355 and going 2-for-4 in steal attempts. His first career home run was on April 28; like his first hit, it came off Naohisa Sugiyama. He became a regular in 2008, splitting left field with Tomonori Maeda and Shigenobu Shima and center field with Masato Akamatsu. In 135 games, he hit .263/.326/.319 and stole 13 bases in 22 attempts; he alternated at leadoff with Akamatsu and Akihiro Higashide.

Despite unimpressive power to that point, Amaya became a frequent right fielder for the Carp in 2009 with the departure of Alex Ochoa. Soichiro batted .300/.361/.435 with 7 triples and 12 steals (he was caught stealing 10 times). He tied Norichika Aoki for second in the Central League in times caught stealing, behind only Masahiro Araki, despite not ranking in the top 10 in steal successes. He also was second in triples, one behind Higashide (who came from the same hometown). Had he qualified, he would have ranked 8th in the CL in average.

Source

• Japan Baseball Daily by Gary Garland