Yuichi Honda

Yuichi Honda (本多 雄一)
(Pon-chan)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 160 lb.
• High School Kagoshima Jitsugyo High School

• Born November 19, 1984 in Onojo, Fukuoka Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yuichi Honda played for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan's industrial leagues after high school. The Softbank Hawks took him in the 5th round of the 2005 NPB draft.

In spring training of his rookie year, Honda suffered a major setback when a Kazuhisa Ishii pitch broke his wrist. He did not make it into a Hawks game until August 4; that day, he got his first career hit, off Shunsuke Watanabe. 13 days later, he hit his first career home run. After his return from injury, he became the primary Hawks second baseman, replacing Mitsuru Honma. He hit .245/.280/.412 in 37 games in 2006.

Honda hit .275/.319/.349 in 2007 with 34 steals in 47 tries. He was 6th in the Pacific League in hits (151), tied Hiroyuki Nakajima for 4th in triples (5), tied Daisuke Hayakawa for 4th in sacrifice hits (23), 6th in strikeouts (112), 2nd in steals (4 behind Yasuyuki Kataoka) and tied for 2nd in times caught stealing (even with Tsuyoshi Nishioka.

In 2008, Honda batted .291/.325/.355 and stole 29 bases in 42 attempts. He replaced Munenori Kawasaki in the leadoff slot. He was third in the PL in swipes and second in times caught stealing (behind Kataoka).

Source: Japanbaseballdaily.com