Takayoshi Kawabata

Takayoshi Kawabata (川端 崇義)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 176 lb.

• School International Budo University
• High School Tokai University Sagami High School

• Born February 4, 1985 in Yaizu, Shizuoka Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Takayoshi Kawabata has been an outfielder in Nippon Pro Baseball

He played for Japan in the 2006 World University Championship then played for JR Higashi Nihon in the industrial leagues in Japan. He played for Japan in the 2011 Baseball World Cup, the only one of their five flyhawks to not have represented the country at the senior level previously. Starting in left, he went 5 for 18 with a run and two RBI. He was an 8th-round pick of the Orix Buffaloes in the 2011 NPB draft.

Kawabata made his NPB debut on Opening Day 2012 as a defensive substitute in right field. His first hit came off Masaru Takeda. His first homer was a huge blow May 22, a game-winning grand slam off Randy Messenger in an interleague contest. He finished the year as Orix's main right fielder, hitting .266/.315/.317 with only two dingers. He tied Manabu Mima for 4th in voting for the 2012 Pacific League Rookie of the Year Award, behind Naoya Masuda, Shota Takeda and Yoshinao Kamata. That offseason, Orix picked up a much better option in Yoshio Itoi and Kawabata became a backup to Tomotaka Sakaguchi in LF; he produced at a .244/.315/.313 clip in 257 plate appearances over 74 games.