Chusei Mannami

Chusei Mannami (万波 中正)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 198 lb.

• High School Yokohama High School

• Born April 7, 2000 in Nerima, Tokyo Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Chusei Mannami has played in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Mannami's father is from Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Chusei was famous for his speed and power when he was a high school student. The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters drafted him in the 4th round of the 2018 NPB draft. He debuted on September 14, 2019, but he only played 4 games in this year. He mainly stayed in the NPB Farm Leagues. . Mannami spent the whole 2020 season in the ni-gun, and he only hit .198/.233/.405 with 5 homers in 49 games in 2021. When the new manager of the Fighters, Tsuyoshi Shinjo, joined the team in 2022, Mannami won a starting outfield spot with his cannon arm and power. He blasted 10 homers, but his batting average was .203.

He broke out in 2023. He blasted 15 homers before the All-Star break, and was picked for the Pacific League team for the 2023 NPB All-Star Game. The Tokyo crushed a solo shot off Noboru Shimizu in Game 1, then hit another solo homer off Trevor Bauer in Game 2. He also collected a double from Shosei Togo in the 6th inning of Game 2, and went 3-for-6 with 2 RBI overall in the 2 games. It was the first time a first-year All-Star homered in back-to-back games and earned him the MVP for Game 2. Mannami ended up hitting .265/.321/.467 in 2023, and he led the league with 33 doubles and 138 strikeouts. Mannami also ranked 4th in homers (34, 1 behind Kensuke Kondo, Gregory Polanco and Hideto Asamura), 4th in hits (128, between Asamura and Go Matsumoto) and 5th in RBI (60, between Polanco and Ariel Martínez). Mannami won 5 points in the PL MVP Voting, and he won the Best Nine and NPB Gold Glove as an outfielder.

Mannami then represented Japan in the 2023 Asia Professional Baseball Championship. He was 1-for-4 with a single off Kai-Wei Lin of Taiwan in their opener, then went 1-for-4 again with a solo shot versus Eui-lee Lee of South Korea. He was 1-for-5 with a RBI triple against Kieren Hall of Australia, then he was 3-for-4 against South Korea in the Gold Medal Game. Japan won Gold thanks to Makoto Kadowaki's walk-off hit. Mannami attended the 2024 NPB All-Star Game, and he was 3-for-5 in Game 1 then went 1-for-4 in Game 2. He ended up hitting .252/.310/.425 with 18 homers, and he won his second Gold Glove. Mannami was 2nd in doubles (34, 6 behind Ryoya Kurihara), 6th in RBI (60, tied with Asamura and Polanco), 9th in hits (128, between Neftali Soto and Itsuki Murabayashi) and 7th in homers (between Kondo and Kotaro Kiyomiya).