Hiroaki Takaya
Hiroaki Takaya (高谷 裕亮, born November 13, 1981) is a retired *anese professional baseball catcher, and currently a coach for the *uoka SoftBank Hawks in *an's Nippon Professional Baseball.
Contents
- 1 Professional career
- 1.1 2007–2010 season
- 1.2 2011–2015 season
- 1.3 2016–2020 season
- 2 Personal
- 3 References
- 4 External links
Professional career
On November 21, 2006, Takaya was drafted by the *uoka SoftBank Hawks in the 2006 Nippon Professional Baseball draft.
2007–2010 season
On April 17, 2007, he debuted in the Pacific League against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. In 2007 season, he finished the regular season in 12 games with a Batting average of .130 and a RBI of 5.
In 2008 season, he played as a starting member from July 8 in the second half of the season. On July 17, he recorded his first Home run and walk-off hit. And he finished the regular season in 62 games with a batting average of .180, 2 home runs and a RBI of 13.
On April 3, 2009, he played as a starting member in the opening game for the first time.
2011–2015 season
In 2011 season, Takaya was selected as the *an Series roster in the 2011 *an Series.
In 2012 season, he finished the regular season in 64 games with a batting average of .211 and a RBI of 10.
In 2014 season, he joined the First squad as a reserve catcher, but played only 20 games. But he was selected as the *an Series roster in the 2014 *an Series.
On May 31, 2015, Takaya recorded a home run for the first time in seven years. In 2015 season, he finished the regular season in 93 games with a batting average of .234, one home runs and a RBI of 16. And he played as a starting member in the 2015 *an Series.
2016–2020 season
On July 6, 2016, Takaya had surgery on the left knee meniscus. In the 2016 season, he played only in 37 games due to his left knee injury.
In the 2017 season, he mainly teamed up with mainstay and veteran starter pitchers such as Tsuyoshi Wada, Rick van den Hurk, Shota Takeda and Kenichi Nakata. On June 10, he broke his right middle finger but returned in July. he finished the regular season in 92 games with a batting average of .206, one home runs and a RBI of 20. In the 2017 *an Series, he recorded a block of Stolen base twice in 1 inning, a *an Series record alongside Toru Hosokawa, and contributed to the 2017 *an Series champion.
On February 27, 2018, Takaya had surgery on the right elbow. He was diagnosed with 3 months of complete cure, but he returned on April 17. he finished the regular season in 73 games with a batting average of .173, one home runs and a RBI of 4. In the 2018 *an Series, he recorded his first home run in the *an series.
In the 2019 season, he started the bench mainly to support young catcher Takuya Kai and Relief pitchers, and contributed to the team as a relief catcher. And he also played as a relief catcher in the 2019 *an Series.
In 2020 season, Takaya mainly supported the pitcher as a relief catcher and finished the regular season with a batting average of .250, 2 home runs and 10 RBIs in 33 games. On October 13, he left the team for treatment given the condition of his left knee, which had been injured in the past.
Personal
Takaya has close friends with foreign players, and when they return to their home countries, go to the *uoka Airport see they off.
References
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference (Minors)
- NPB stats
- 12 Hiroaki Takaya PLAYERS2021 - *uoka SoftBank Hawks Official site