Tomohito Yoneno

Tomohito Yoneno (米野 智人)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 181 lb.

• High School Hokusho High School

• Born January 21, 1982 in Sapporo, Hokkaido Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Tomohito Yoneno has played in Nippon Pro Baseball and for the Japanese national team.

Yoneno was drafted by the Yakult Swallows in the third round of the 1999 NPB draft. He spent the first five years of his career in the NPB Farm Leagues, and only played 72 games combined with the top club in this period. He also represented Japan in the 2002 Intercontinental Cup, backing up Fumihiro Suzuki at catcher; he was 3 for 10, fielded .920 and threw out 2 of 4 who tried to steal . Yoneno succeeded the legendary Atsuya Furuta and became the starting catcher for the Swallows in 2006, and he hit .235/.289/.344 with 7 homers in that year. The Hokkaido native only hit .179/.229/.333 in 2007, and Masakazu Fukukawa took his spot in 2008. Yoneno played 27 games combined in 2008 and 2009, then the Fighters traded him to the Seibu Lions for Minoru Yamagishi after the 2009 season. He still couldn't get many chances with the Lions, and only played 52 games in 5 seasons with them. The Lions released him after the 2015 season. The Fighters picked him up again, but Yoneno only had one appearance for them in 2016, then announced his retirement after the 2016 season.

Overall, Yoneno had hit .206/.255/.295 in 14 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• NPB site
• Wiki Japan