Daisuke Nakai

Daisuke Nakai (中井 大介)

• Bats Right Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 185 lb.

• High School Ujiyamada Commercial High School

• Born November 27, 1989 in Ise, Mie Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Daisuke Nakai played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 13 years.

Nakai was drafted by the Yomiuri Giants in the 3rd round of the 2007 NPB draft, and he hit .267/.304/.403 with 10 homers in the NPB Farm Leagues his first season. He led the Eastern League in hits, and he was 4th in RBI (9 behind Kei Hosoya). Nakai went 7-for-30 in 2009, and he was the first Giants player who was born in the Heisei era. However, Nakai suffered from a right ankle injury, and he only played 8 games combined for the big club in the next two seasons. He recorded a .323/.365/.443 batting line in the minors in 2012, and he led the league in hits and RBI. Nakai was also 3rd in batting, between Yusuke Kosai and Itaru Hashimoto.

The Ise native crushed 4 homers with a .324/.361/.453 batting line in 48 games in 2013, and he was 1-for-4 in the 2013 Nippon Series. The Giants lost to the Rakuten Golden Eagles in 7 games. Nakai was 10-for-49 in 2014, and he went 9-for-43 in 2015. He hit .196/.300/.275 in 2016, and he played 90 games with a .249/.308/.376 batting line in 2017. It was the first time that he had more than 200 at-bats in a season. He split second base with Casey McGehee that season and also saw regular time at 1B. However, Nakai slumped to .186/.255/.279 in 2018, and the Giants released him. He signed with the Yokohama BayStars, and he hit .248/.322/.329 with 3 homers in 2019. He then recorded a .250/.279/.360 batting line in 2020, but he went 2-for-15 in 2021 and he announced his retirement.

Overall, Nakai hit .243/.300/.345 with 228 hits and 16 homers in 937 at-bats spread over 13 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan