Susumu Otomo

Susumu Otomo (大友 進)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 167 lb.

• High School Hitachi Technical High School

• Born June 18, 1974 in Hitachi, Ibaraki Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Susumu Otomo played in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Otomo was drafted by the Seibu Lions in the second round of the 1995 NPB draft. He hit .301/.346/.420 in his rookie year, and secured a starting outfield spot in the late 1996 season. Otomo recorded a .278/.355/.387 batting line with a career-high 31 steals in 1997, and ranked 5th in swipes (31 behind Kazuo Matsui). The Ibaraki native hit .269/.351/.335 with 13 steals in the next year, and won the NPB Gold Glove award for the first time in his career as an outfielder. Otomo was selected into the 1999 NPB All-Star Game. He blasted a solo shot off Takeo Kawamura in Game 1, but went 0-for-4 in the rest of the games. Otomo ended up batting .270/.371/.352 in the 1999 season, and won the Gold Glove for the second consecutive year. However, the 1999 season was the last productive season for Otomo. He suffered a right shoulder injury and missed half of the 2000 and 2001 seasons. After coming back, Otomo slumped to .235/.278/.320 in 2002, and was limited to 14 games played in 2003. The Lions traded him with Hiromasa Tamano to the Chunichi Dragons for Eiji Shotsu and Akira Miyakoshi after the 2003 season, then the Dragons released him after the 2004 season.

Overall, Otomo had hit .263/.347/.351 in 9 seasons in NPB.