Taisei Ota

Taisei Ota (翁田 大勢)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 194 lb.
• School Kansai International University
• High School Nishiwaki Kogyo High School

• Born June 29, 1999 in Taka, Hyogo Japan

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Taisei Ota has won a Rookie of the Year in Nippon Pro Baseball. He is registered only as Taisei, the first Japanese player to go by a single name for the Yomiuri Giants. A number of other players had used single names like Ichiro Suzuki being listed as Ichiro when he was with the Orix BlueWave or a number of foreign players, like Dave Nilsson going by Dingo. Michael Nakamura had been registered as Micheal but was not a Japanese national (born in Japan, he was an Australian citizen).

Ota was Yomiuri's fallback first-round pick in the 2021 NPB draft after they lost the lottery for Chihiro Sumida to the Seibu Lions. He was picked for the 2022 NPB All-Star Game but could not pitch due to a COVID-19 infection. He was 1-3 with 37 saves in 38 tries and a 2.05 ERA. He posted a 0.90 WHIP and fanned 60 in 57 innings. His fastball hit 98.8 mph and he added a forkball, slider and change-up. He tied Yasuaki Yamasaki for third in the Central League in saves for 2022, two behind Raidel Martínez and one shy of Scott McGough. He won the 2022 Central League Rookie of the Year Award, with 209 votes. Second place went to Atsuki Yuasa.