Yusuke Ohyama

Yusuke Ohyama (大山 悠輔)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 187 lbs.

• School Hakuoh University
• High School Tsukuba Shuei High School

• Born December 19, 1994 in Shimotsuma, Ibaraki Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yusuke Ohyama has played in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Ohyama was on the Japanese collegiate All-Star team in 2016. The Hanshin Tigers drafted him in the first round of the 2016 NPB draft; since this year had many talented pitchers, many commenters criticized Hanshin's decision to pick a hitter, but Ohyama soon proved that they were wrong. He hit .237/.309/.414 in his 2017 debut, and shined in the 2017 CLCS. He became the first rookie to get a hit in four consecutive at-bats in a Climax Series when he did so in Game 2, and ended up 7-for-13 with a homer and 4 RBI. The Tigers were beaten by the Yokohama BayStars in the first round, so Ohyama was unable to play in the Nippon Series as a rookie. He got 49 votes for the 2017 Central League Rookie of the Year Award, finishing second behind Yota Kyoda's 208 votes

The Ibaraki native was moved to third base (he had played mostly first in '17 but had seen action at all four infield spots and the outfield between the CL and the minors) in 2018. He struggled first, and the Tigers even demoted him to the NPB Farm Leagues in July. After adapting to the new position, Ohyama broke out and went 6-for-6 with 3 homers on September 16 against the BayStars, and became the first player to collect 6 hits and 3 homers in a single game in NPB history. He was also the fifth Tigers' player to blast two homers in an inning. Ohyama ended up hitting .274/.326/.447 with 11 homers. He played all 143 games in 2019, but slumped to .258/.312/.401 with 14 homers. He blasted a game-winning solo home run against Kota Nakagawa in Game 3 of the 2019 CLCS final stage, but the Tigers were still beaten by the Yomiuri Giants in four games.

Ohyama broke out in 2020, and hit .288/.357/.560 with a career-high 28 homers. He ranked 2nd in homers (3 behind Kazuma Okamoto), 8th in hits (24 behind Yohei Ohshima), 3rd in RBI (12 behind Okamoto) and 2nd in slugging (.025 behind Munetaka Murakami). Ohyama suffered a back injury, so he only hit .260/.313/.453 with 21 homers in 2021. He bounced back soon in 2022, and attended the 2022 NPB All-Star Games; he was 0-for-4. Ohyama recorded a .267/.358/.469 batting line with 23 homers this season, and ranked 7th in homers (33 behind Murakami) and 3rd in RBI (47 behind Murakami).

The Hakuoh alumni extended his solid performance in 2023, hitting .288/.403/.456 with 19 homers and led the Central League in OBP (.008 ahead of batting champion Toshiro Miyazaki) and walks (99, 9 ahead of Murakami). He was 9th in homers (22 behind Okamoto), 5th in RBI (25 behindShugo Maki), 4th in hits (16 behind Takumu Nakano and Maki), 6th in batting (.037 behind Toshiro Miyazaki) and 3rd in runs (3 behind Koji Chikamoto and Okamoto). He also attended the 2023 NPB All-Star Games, but went 0-for-4 again. In the 2023 Nippon Series, Ohyama was 8-for-26, and drew 3 walks in Game 1 against the Orix Buffaloes. He then hit a walk-off single when the bases were loaded against Jacob Waguespack in Game 4, and helped the Tigers beat the Buffaloes in 7 games. Hanshin won their first Japan Series in 38 years. He also won his first NPB Gold Glove Award as the top defensive first baseman in the Central League. He also won the Best Nine at first, with 252 votes to Okamoto's 50.