Seiya Suzuki

is a Japanese professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. Suzuki is a five-time NPB All-Star, six-time NPB Best Nine Award winner, and a five-time winner of the NPB Golden Glove Award. Internationally, Suzuki represents Japan.

Seiya Suzuki is the third Cubs player in the last 100 seasons to start his career with an 8-game hitting streak, joining Andy Pafko (9 in 1943) and Joe Munson (8 in 1925). He is the second Japanese player with an 8-game hit streak to begin his MLB career.

Professional career

Hiroshima Toyo Carp (2013–21)

2013–2014: Minor leagues

The Hiroshima Toyo Carp drafted Suzuki in the second round of the 2012 NPB draft. He was mainly a pitcher during his high school career and was drafted as such, but switched to an infielder upon joining the team. Suzuki was given #51 as his uniform number.

Suzuki made his NPB debut on September 14, 2013, at the age of 19 and appeared in 11 games, spending most of the season in the farm system.

Suzuki continued to spend most of the 2014 season in the farm system, playing 36 games with a batting average of .344, an on-base percentage of .382, and a slugging percentage of .500.

2015: Switch to outfield

Before the 2015 season, the Carp changed Suzuki's position designation from an infielder to an outfielder. Suzuki started the season with a spot on the opening day starting lineup, and eventually played in 97 games, hitting 5 home runs with a batting average of .275, an on-base percentage of .329, and a slugging percentage of .403.

2016: Emergence

Suzuki could not make the 2016 opening day roster due to a hamstring strain he suffered during spring training, and returned to the team on April 5. Suzuki made his first NPB All-Star Series appearance this year, recording his first hit on the 1st game of the series, and his first RBI on the 2nd. Suzuki led the team in batting average (.335), home runs (29) and OPS (1.016), winning the Gold Glove Award and the Best Nine Award. He had also helped drive the Carp to their first pennant in twenty five years.

2017: Continued success

Suzuki made his second consecutive All-Star appearance, receiving the most votes among Central League outfielders. On August 23, Suzuki left the game due to an ankle injury. Six days later, the Carp announced that he underwent surgery to treat a malleolar fracture on his right tibia and a deltoid ligament injury, ending his 2017 season. He finished the season batting .300/.389/.547 with 26 home runs, 90 RBIs and 16 stolen bases, and led the Central League with a .936 OPS.

End of the season awards for Suzuki included his second consecutive Gold Glove Award and Best Nine Award.

2018: Face of the Carp

On April 4, 2018, Suzuki was removed from the roster after experiencing muscle stiffness in his lower body. He was reactivated on the 18th. Suzuki was named for his third consecutive NPB All-Star Series, and marked his first All-Star game home run off of Yusei Kikuchi.

Suzuki finished the season batting .320/.438/.618, with 30 home runs and 94 RBIs. The Carp won their third consecutive Central League pennant that year, and went on to face the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in the Japan Series. While his team lost the series, Suzuki hit 10-for-22 (.455) with 3 home runs and 6 RBIs during the Japan Series.

Suzuki won his third consecutive Best Nine Award. On November 19, the team announced that Suzuki's uniform number would be changed to #1.

2019: First CL batting title

Suzuki was named for his fourth consecutive NPB All-Star Series after receiving the most votes among all Central League players. On July 13, he won the 2019 NPB Home Run Derby, defeating Orix Buffaloes outfielder Masataka Yoshida 4-3 in the final round.

For the season, Suzuki appeared in a career-high 140 games, leading the NPB in batting average (.335), OBP (.453), OPS (1.018) with 112 runs scored (1st in the Central League), 28 home runs (9th), 87 RBIs (9th), 25 stolen bases (4th). After the season, Suzuki was awarded his fourth consecutive Best Nine Award and his third Gold Glove.

2020: COVID-19 season

In the COVID-19-affected 2020 season, Suzuki played in 118 games for Hiroshima, slashing .300/.409/.544 with 25 home runs and 75 RBI. Following the season, Suzuki was awarded his fourth career Central League Golden Glove Award and his fifth career Best Nine Award.

2021: Second CL batting title

In 2021, Suzuki played in 132 games for the Carp, setting a career-high in home runs, with 38, to go along with 88 RBI and a .317/.433/.636 slash line. Suzuki was the Central League batting champion and on-base percentage leader and was named a NPB All-Star for the fifth time in his career. He was also awarded his fifth career Central League Golden Glove Award and sixth career, and sixth straight Best Nine Award.

Chicago Cubs (2022–present)

2022: First season in the MLB

Following the 2021 season, on November 22, 2021, Suzuki was posted by Hiroshima and made available to all 30 Major League Baseball (MLB) teams, opening a 30-day period to negotiate a contract. However, due to the 2021–22 MLB lockout, Suzuki's 30-day posting window was paused. On March 18, 2022, Suzuki officially agreed to a five-year contract worth $85 million. He went .235/.350/.558 with 2 home runs, 4 hits, and 10 total bases during the 2022 Spring Training. Suzuki made his Cubs debut on April 7, 2022, working a full-count walk against Corbin Burnes in his first MLB plate appearance. He was the first Cub to make their MLB debut as an Opening Day starter since Kosuke Fukudome in 2008. Suzuki collected his first major league hit in the 5th inning of that game, a line drive single to shallow left field off of Burnes. On April 10, he hit his first major league home run, a three-run shot off of Milwaukee starter Freddy Peralta. Suzuki was awarded the National League Player of the Week award for April 11-17, a span in which he batted .412 (7-17) with 5 runs, 3 home runs, 5 RBI, and an OPS of 1.604. Suzuki was also named the NL Rookie of the Month for April. He injured his left ring finger while stealing second base on May 26 against the Cincinnati Reds and was placed on the 10-day injured list (IL). After three injury rehabilitation games with Iowa, he returned for the first time in 39 days on July 4 against the Milwaukee Brewers. On September 30, 2024, he hit his 100th career hit, a single off Cincinnati starter Graham Ashcraft in the bottom of the third inning. Suzuki finished the season batting .262/.336/.433 in 111 games with 14 home runs and 46 runs batted in.

2023

In 2023, Suzuki suffered left oblique tightness before the 2023 World Baseball Classic and because of that, he withdrew from Japan's roster for the World Baseball Classic. Due to that same tightness, Suzuki missed the first eleven games of the 2023 season. He made his 2023 debut against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 14 where he went 1-for-5 with a solo home run in the top of the 8th inning off Andre Jackson. On August 21, he recorded his 200th career major hit when he hit a single to left field off starting pitcher Alex Faedo. On September 15, Suzuki collected his 100 career RBI against the Arizona Diamondbacks when he hit a two-run home run in the top of the 9th inning. On September 27, 2023, against the Atlanta Braves, Suzuki missed a routine fly ball off the bat of catcher Sean Murphy, allowing the tying and eventual winning runs to score. Afterward, Suzuki said the lights at Truist Park played a part in the error, but he refused to use that as an excuse. "I was seeing it pretty well until the very last second," Suzuki said through his interpreter. "I honestly thought it went into my glove. So it was just that split second where I blurred my vision. Ever since I was playing in Japan you do have to take that he lightsinto consideration...If I do say that, then it's an excuse, so I'm not going to say that." Suzuki finished the season batting .285/.357/.485 in 138 games with 20 home runs and 74 runs batted in.

2024

On April 15, 2024, Suzuki was placed on the 10-day injured list on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain after tweaking his oblique running to first base against the Seattle Mariners. He didn't play for 23 games due to the injury but got activated from the injured list on May 10 prior before the Cubs start a three-game road series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. On June 22 versus the New York Mets, Suzuki recorded his 300th career major hit off starting pitcher Tylor Megill in the bottom of the first inning by hitting a RBI single, scoring Michael Busch. On August 24, 2024, against the Miami Marlins, Suzuki hit his 50th career home run as he went for 3-5 with 2 HR, a triple, 4 RBI, and 3 runs scored as the Cubs powered the Marlins with 14-2. Suzuki finished the season batting .283/.366/.482 in 132 games with 21 home runs and 73 runs batted in.

2025

On May 26, 2025, Suzuki was awarded the National League Player of the Week award for May 19-25, a span in which he batted .480 (12–25) with 9 runs, 3 home runs, 10 RBI, and an OPS of 1.552.

International career

Suzuki represented the Japan national baseball team in the 2017 World Baseball Classic and 2019 WBSC Premier12.

On October 1, 2019, he was selected at the 2019 WBSC Premier12. He was named the tournament MVP, after leading the tournament with a .478 batting average, .567 OBP, 1.130 slugging percentage, two triples, 9 runs, and 12 RBIs and tying for the lead with 11 hits and three home runs.

On June 16, 2021, he was selected to Team Japan for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Player profile

Suzuki is a 5 ft 11 in, 182 lb (1.80 m, 82 kg) outfielder that is considered a five-tool player due to his high batting averages, home run totals, baserunning, fielding abilities, and throwing abilities. He posted a career .315 batting average in NPB and won the league's batting title in 2019 with a .335 average. In his final five seasons with Hiroshima, Suzuki hit at least 25 home runs, including a career-high 38 in 2021. A month into his rookie season with Chicago, Suzuki averaged a 28.6 feet per second sprint speed, ranking 12th in the major leagues at the time and first among right fielders. His swing speed, hard-hit, and chase rates are in the higher percentiles in the MLB; showing that he has power-hitter ability while still being a disciplined hitter. Suzuki also pitched while in high school, reaching 92 miles per hour (148 km/h) on his fastball.

Suzuki has received player comparisons to A. J. Pollock as well as Mike Trout, the latter of which he chose his jersey number 27 in honor of.

Personal life

Suzuki married former Olympic rhythmic gymnast Airi Hatakeyama on December 7, 2019.

He went to the same middle school as Japanese actress Seika Furuhata and knew each other through a mutual friend.古畑星夏、女優業で飛躍の年　広島・ 鈴木誠也先輩にあやかりたい！
''デイリー''

Career statistics

Hitting

Fielding

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suzuki, Seiya

1994 births
Living people
Hiroshima Toyo Carp players
Chicago Cubs players
Iowa Cubs players
Nippon Professional Baseball outfielders
Major League Baseball outfielders
Baseball people from Tokyo
2017 World Baseball Classic players
2019 WBSC Premier12 players
Baseball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Olympic baseball players for Japan
Olympic medalists in baseball
Olympic gold medalists for Japan
Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
World Baseball Classic players of Japan