is a Japanese

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catcher ...

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 ...

of the

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).

Professional career

On October 28, 2010, Kai was drafted by the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks as a

developmental player In Major League Soccer, in addition to the senior roster, each team can carry a developmental roster of a certain number of young players whose contracts do not count against the salary cap. The allowable size of developmental rosters has varied th ...

in the 2010 Nippon Professional Baseball draft with

Kodai Senga is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) debut in for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, and played for them until . He is a three-time NPB ...

and Taisei Makihara.

2011-2015 season

In 2011–2013 season, he played in informal matches against the

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 second league. On November 21, 2013, he re-signed a ¥5 million contract with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks as a registered player under control. On June 7, 2014, Kai debuted in the

Interleague play (NPB) , officially titled Nippon Life Interleague Play for event sponsor Nippon Life, is an event consisting of 108 regular-season baseball games played between Central League (CL) and Pacific League (PL) teams in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB ...

against the

Hiroshima Toyo Carp The is a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda founder Jujiro Mat ...

. And he was selected as the

Japan Series The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, :File:2014_JS_logo.png is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series ...

roster in the 2014 Japan Series. In 2015 season, although he played only one game, he was selected as the Japan Series roster in 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 ...

2016-2020 season

On June 16, 2016, Kai recorded his first hit and

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 ...

with a

Pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, American ...

. In 2016 season, he finished the regular season in 13 games with a batting average of .167 and a RBI of 1. In the 2017 season, Kai mainly teamed up with Young starter pitchers such as

, Nao Higashihama, Shuta Ishikawa and Yuki Matsumoto. On May 3, he recorded his first

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 ...

in the Grand Slam. he finished the regular season in 103 games with a batting average of .232, a 5 home runs and a RBI of 18. In the 2017 Japan Series, Kai and Senga's

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

were the first to win the Japan Series as players who was drafted as a developmental squad player. On November 17, He won the 2017 Pacific League

Mitsui Golden Glove Award The Mitsui Golden Glove Award, sponsored by Japan's Mitsui Group, is annually awarded to nine fielders in Japan's professional baseball leagues by the Nippon Professional Baseball Association. The players are selected based on votes by TV, radi ...

and 2017 Pacific League

Best Nine Award The Best Nine Award is awarded annually to the best player at each position in both the Central League and Pacific League of Japanese professional baseball as determined by a pool of journalists. History While the Best Nine Award was first present ...

for the first time as a player drafted as a developmental squad player. In the 2018 season, Kai finished the regular season in 133 games with a batting average of .213, a 7 home runs and a RBI of 37. On July 3, he was selected for the . In 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 ...

, Kai set a Japan Series record with six consecutive

caught stealing In baseball, a runner is charged, and the fielders involved are credited, with a time caught stealing when the runner attempts to advance or lead off from one base to another without the ball being batted and then is tagged out by a fielder whil ...

s, and won the

Japan Series Most Valuable Player Award The is given to the player deemed to have the most impact on his team's performance in the Japan Series, which is the final round of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) postseason. The award was first presented in 1950. The series follows a b ...

. On November 29, he won the 2018 Pacific League Mitsui Golden Glove Award. In the 2019 season, kai finished the regular season in 137 games with a batting average of .260, a 11 home runs and a RBI of 43, as a regular catcher of Hawks. On July 1, he as selected for the 2019 NPB All-Star game. On September 6, he supported Senga's

No-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher w ...

achievement as a catcher. In the 2019 Japan Series, he contributed to the team as a starting catcher, and Hawks achieved the third consecutive Japan Series Champion. On October 31, he was selected the 2019 Pacific League Mitsui Golden Glove Award. In 2020 season, Kai changed his

uniform number In team sports, the number, often referred to as the uniform number, squad number, jersey number, shirt number, sweater number, or similar (with such naming differences varying by sport and region) is the number worn on a player's uniform, to ...

from 62 to

Katsuya Nomura was a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) catcher and manager. During his over 26-season playing career mostly spent with the Nankai Hawks (now the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks), he became one of NPB's greatest offensive catchers. He was awar ...

's Hawks era number 19. He supported the pitchers as a starter catcher and finished the regular season with a batting average of .211 and 11 home runs, 33 RBIs, 44 stolen bases and 22 sacrifice bunts in 104 games. As a Hawks catcher, he has recorded more than 10 home runs for the second consecutive year since Kenji Jojima, and 22 sacrifice hits were the most in the Pacific League in 2020. Kai played full innings in the postseason to support pitchers, and he recorded home runs in Game 2 and Game 3 and contributed to the team's fourth consecutive Japan Series champion in 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. ...

against the

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They ...

. December 17, Kai was honored for the 4th Mitsui Golden Glove Award for 4 consecutive years, the 2nd Pacific League Best Nine Award for the first time in 3 years, and the Best

Battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

Award with Kodai Senga at the NPB AWARD 2020.

2021 season-present

In 2021 season, Kai played in all 143 games and finished regulation with a .227 batting average, 12 home runs and 44 RBI. He also had 26

Sacrifice bunt In baseball, a sacrifice bunt (also called a sacrifice hit) is a batter's act of deliberately bunting the ball, before there are two outs, in a manner that allows a baserunner to advance to another base. The batter is almost always put out, an ...

, a .999

Fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

, a .452 Stealing base prevention percentage, and Assist 102, which led the league. On December 16, 2021, He was honored with a Pacific League Golden Glove Award for the fifth year in a row. On December 17, He renewed his contract with an estimated annual salary of 210 million yen, making him the highest paid active catcher. On June 28, 2022, Kai tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

and was removed from the player registered by regulation, but returned on July 17. As a result, his appearances were reduced to 130 games, even though he was a regular catcher, and his batting average slumped to .180. However, his a 38 sacrifice bunts, the most in his career, were the highest in the league. On November 25, Kai won the Pacific League Golden Glove Award for the sixth consecutive year and the Pacific League Best Nine Award for the third time in two years, and was honored at the NPB Awards 2022.

International career

Kai 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 ...

in the 2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series and 2019 WBSC Premier12. On October 12, 2017, he was selected as the Japan national baseball team in the 2017 Asia Professional Baseball Championship. On October 10, 2018, he was selected to the 2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series. He was presented with a bat, Catcher's mitts, leggers and protector from

Yadier Molina Yadier Benjamín Molina (; born July 13, 1982), nicknamed "Yadi", is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball catcher who played his entire career with the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Widely considered one of the grea ...

. On October 1, 2019, he was selected as the Japan national baseball team to the 2019 WBSC Premier12. On June 16, 2021, he was selected as the Japan national baseball team in the

Baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics Baseball was featured at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Tokyo, for the first time since the 2008 Summer Olympics. Six national teams competed in the tournament: Israel, Japan (host), Mexico, South Korea, the United States, and the Dominican Rep ...

. He appeared in four games and went 5-for-10, .500 batting average. And he didn't commit an error. On August 7, he was selected Tokyo 2020 All-Olympic Baseball Team (Best Nine Award) by the WBSC. Kai represented the Japan national baseball team in the Samurai Japan Series 2022.

Skills profile

Kai's pop-time averaged 1.83 seconds ( Innings), the fastest recorded 1.73 seconds. His strong throw is called Kai

Cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder duri ...

(甲斐キャノン). "Kai Cannon" is named after Gun Cannon appearing in

Mobile Suit Gundam , also known as ''First Gundam'', ''Gundam 0079'' or simply ''Gundam '79'', is an anime television series, produced and animated by Nippon Sunrise. Created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, it premiered in Japan on Nagoya Broadcasting ...

and its pilot

Kai Shiden This is a list of fictional characters from the 1979 Japanese science fiction anime television series '' Mobile Suit Gundam''. Earth Federation Amuro Ray is the son of Tem Ray, the project leader for the Earth Federation's Project V, w ...

References

External links

Career statistics - NPB.jp
- Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Kai, Takuya 1992 births Living people Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks players Nippon Professional Baseball catchers Baseball people from Ōita Prefecture 2019 WBSC Premier12 players Baseball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic baseball players of Japan Olympic medalists in baseball Olympic gold medalists for Japan Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics