is a professional

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

for the

Chunichi Dragons The are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chūbu region of Japan. The team plays in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. They have won the Central League pennant nine times (most recently in ...

. He was drafted and played primarily for the

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. They compete in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as a member of the Pacific League. The team was formerly known as the Nankai Hawks and was based in Osaka ...

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formatio ...

(NPB).

Early baseball career

Uebayashi participated with Takahiro Kumagai and Kosuke Baba in the 2rd grade summer the 94th Japanese High School Baseball Championship, 3rd grade spring the 85th Japanese High School Baseball Invitational Tournament and 3rd grade summer the 98th Japanese High School Baseball Championship at the Sendai Ikuei Gakuen High School.

Professional career

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks

On October 24, 2013, Uebayashi was drafted by the

in the

2013 Nippon Professional Baseball draft The 2013 Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Draft was held on October 24, , for the 49th time at the Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa to assign amateur baseball players to the NPB.　It was arranged with the special cooperation of Taisho Pharmaceutic ...

2014–2015 season

In 2014 season, Uebayashi played in informal matches against

Shikoku Island League Plus The is an independent professional baseball league on the island of Shikoku in Japan. (None of the teams in Nippon Professional Baseball are based in Shikoku.) The league currently has four teams, and has its league headquarters in Takamatsu. T ...

's teams and amateur baseball teams, and played in the Western League of NPB's minor leagues. On May 21, 2015, Uebayashi debuted in the

Pacific League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series. It currently consi ...

against the

Orix Buffaloes The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team formed as a result of the 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball realignment by the merger of the Orix BlueWave of Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes of Osaka, Osaka Prefectur ...

. And on August 25, he recorded his first hit and

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run is ...

with a

Grand slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

against the

Chiba Lotte Marines The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, in the Kantō region, and owned by Lotte Holdings Co., Ltd. History The Marines franchise began in 1950 as the Mainichi Orions, an inaugu ...

. Uebayashi played in the

2015 Pacific League Climax Series The 2015 Pacific League Climax Series (PLCS) consisted of two consecutive series, Stage 1 being a best-of-three series and Stage 2 being a best-of-six with the top seed being awarded a one-win advantage. The winner of the series advanced to the 2 ...

and the

2015 Japan Series The 2015 Japan Series was the 66th edition of Nippon Professional Baseball's postseason championship series. The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, champions of the Pacific League, played the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, champions of the Central League. The ...

in the postseason. On November 25, he was honored for the Western League Batting Leader Award, the Western League Most Stolen base Leader Award, the Western League Outstanding Player Award, the Western League Outstanding Performance Award, the Western League Rookie of the Year Award, and the Western League Expectation Award at the NPB AWARDS 2015. In 2015 season, Uebayashi played 15 games in the Pacific League.

2016–2020 season

In 2016 season, Uebayashi played 14 games in the Pacific League. In 2017 season, Uebayashi finished the regular season in 134 games with a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average i ...

of .260, a 13 home runs, a

RBI RBI most often refers to: *Reserve Bank of India *Run batted in RBI may also refer to: Organisations *Radio Berlin International *Raiffeisen Bank International *Reed Business Information *Restaurant Brands International *Ruđer Bošković In ...

of 51, and a 12 stolen bases. And he played in the

2017 Pacific League Climax Series The 2017 Pacific League Climax Series (PLCS) consisted of two consecutive series, Stage 1 being a best-of-three series and Stage 2 being a best-of-six with the top seed being awarded a one-win advantage. The winner of the series advanced to the 20 ...

and the

2017 Japan Series The 2017 Japan Series (known as the ''SMBC Nippon Series 2017'' for sponsorship reasons) was the championship series of Nippon Professional Baseball's postseason. The 68th edition of the Japan Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the F ...

in the postseason. In 2018 season, Uebayashi played in all 143 games and recorded a batting average of .270, a 22 home runs, a RBI of 62, and a 13 stolen bases. And the 14th

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a "treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * In ...

was the first record in 65 years in the NPB with the top result of the Pacific League in 2018. And he played in the

2018 Pacific League Climax Series The 2018 Pacific League Climax Series (PLCS) consisted of two consecutive series, Stage 1 being a best-of-three series and Stage 2 being a best-of-six with the top seed being awarded a one-win advantage. The winner of the series advanced to the 20 ...

and the

2018 Japan Series The 2018 Japan Series (known as the ''SMBC Nippon Series 2018'' for sponsorship reasons) was the championship series of Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) 2018 season. The 69th edition of the Japan Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff betwe ...

in the postseason. In 2019 season, Uebayashi finished the regular season in 99 games with a batting average of .194, a 11 home runs, a RBI of 31, and a 10 stolen bases. And he played in the

2019 Pacific League Climax Series The 2019 Pacific League Climax Series (PLCS) was a post-season Climax Series playoff consisting of two consecutive series that determined which of the three teams who finished in the top three during the 2019 regular season would represent the Pa ...

and the

2019 Japan Series The 2019 Japan Series (known as the ''SMBC Nippon Series 2019'' for sponsorship reasons) was the championship series of Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) 2019 season. The 70th edition of the Japan Series, it was played from 19-23 October. Th ...

in the postseason. In 2020 season, Uebayashi finished the regular season in 69 games with a batting average of .181, a 6 home runs, a RBI of 20, and a 8 stolen bases. And he played in the

2020 Pacific League Climax Series The 2020 Pacific League Climax Series (PLCS) was Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) playoff series to decide which Pacific League (PL) team would advance to the 2020 Japan Series. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the PL decided to modify the tradit ...

and the

2020 Japan Series The 2020 Japan Series (known as the ''SMBC Nippon Series 2020'' for sponsorship reasons) was the championship series of Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) 2020 season. The 71st edition of the Japan Series, it was played from November 21 to 25. ...

in the postseason.

2021–2023 season

On June 29, 2021, Uebayashi was hit in the shoulder by a pitch in a farm game. He was later diagnosed with a fractured right shoulder blade, necessitating a recovery period of 4-6 weeks. As a result, he finished the regular season with only 39 appearances. In 2022 season, Uebayasi had batted .301 with one home run and 12 RBI in 33 games to start the season. However, he injured his right leg in practice before a game against the Saitama Seibu Lions on May 18, and on May 20 he was diagnosed with a ruptured Achilles tendon that required four weeks of hospitalization and six months of rehabilitation, making it impossible for him to return during the season. In 2023 season, Uebayashi finished the regular season in 56 games with a batting average of .185, a RBI of 9. On October 22, the Hawks announced release him.

Chunichi Dragons

On November 29, 2023, Uebayashi signed with the

2024 season–present

International career

In 2013, Uebayashi represented the

Japan national baseball team The is the national team representing Japan in international baseball competitions. It won the World Baseball Classic in 2006 and 2009, as well as WBSC Premier12 in 2019. The team is currently ranked 1st in the world by the World Baseball S ...

at the

2013 18U Baseball World Cup The 2013 18U Baseball World Cup was an international baseball competition held in Taichung and Yunlin (Douliu), Taiwan from August 30 to September 8, 2013. There were no games played on August 30 and August 31, due to rain. Medalists Teams The ...

. On November 25, 2017, Uebayashi represented the Japan national baseball team at the 2017 Asia Professional Baseball Championship. In the match against

South Korea national baseball team The South Korean national baseball team ( ko, 대한민국 야구 국가대표팀) is the national baseball team of South Korea. It won the Baseball World Cup in 1982, and participated in the Summer Olympic Games of 1984, 1988, 1996, and 2000. ...

On November 16, he hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the tenth inning after the team lost three points in the top of the tenth inning. On October 26, 2018, he was selected Japan national baseball team at the

2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series The 2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series was the twelfth edition of the MLB Japan All-Star Series, a best-of-six series between an All-Star team from Major League Baseball (MLB) and for the second time in series history, the Japanese national team, Sa ...

. On February 27, 2019, he was selected for Japan national baseball team at the 2019 exhibition games against

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

References

External links

Career statistics - NPB.jp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uebayashi, Seiji 1995 births Living people Chunichi Dragons players Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks players Japanese baseball players Nippon Professional Baseball outfielders Baseball people from Saitama (city)