Hiroyuki Nakajima

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Note: This page is for the infielder from the 2000s; for the pitcher of the same name who played in the 1950s and 1960s, click here

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Hiroyuki Nakajima (中島 裕之)

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Biographical Information[edit]

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Hiroyuki Nakajima was the shortstop for the Seibu Lions for a number of years, having succeeded Kazuo Matsui in that role. On December 7, 2011 the New York Yankees acquired his rights via the posting system.

Nakajima was a 5th-round pick of the Seibu Lions in the 2001 NPB draft. He was 1 for 7 for Seibu in 2002, spending most of the year at ni-gun and playing well. In 2003, Hiroyuki hit .258/.327/.449 in 44 games for Seibu, backing up Scott McClain at third base. When Kazuo Matsui left for the US after that season, Nakajima became Seibu's shortstop and filled in admirably, batting .287/.349/.504 with 27 home runs and 90 RBI. He also stole 18 bases in 20 tries and did much better than one would expect from a #7 hitter. He was 7th in the Pacific League in RBI, 8th in homers, 9th in total bases (253), 4th in strikeouts (108) and tied Tadahito Iguchi for 4th in steals. He failed to make the Best Nine at SS in the PL as Munenori Kawasaki was chosen instead. He made the PL All-Star team. He hit .240/.321/.520 with two home runs in the 2004 Japan Series as Seibu won in 7 games.

In 2005, Nakajima fell to .274/.327/.417 with 11 steals and 11 home runs in a significant drop-off from his first year as a starter. He was 7th in the league in steals and tied with 4th with 11 times hit by pitch. The next year, the Itami native contributed with a batting line of .306/.386/.481 batting line, 76 runs, 16 home runs and 14 steals in 18 tries. He was moved up to third in the lineup. He was 8th in the PL in average, 4th in runs (behind Hichori Morimoto, Nobuhiko Matsunaka and Michihiro Ogasawara), tied Julio Zuleta for the lead in times plunked (13), was 7th in OBP, 9th in slugging and 8th in swipes. He made his second All-Star team.

Nakajima batted .300/.361/.439 with 28 doubles, 74 RBI and just 12 home runs in 2007. He started the year in the third spot but G.G. Sato took over the role later in the season. Nakajima finished 5th in the PL in average, tied three others for 6th with 28 doubles, was 9th in runs (68), tied for 4th in triples (5), was 7th in total bases (234), was 10th in RBI, was third in strikeouts (134), tied Atsunori Inaba for 4th in times hit by pitch (13) and was 10th in both OBP and slugging. He was on the Japanese team for the 2008 Olympics, hitting .296/.424/.444 as their primary shortstop; they failed to get a Medal. In the preliminary phase, Nakajima was 10th with a .366 average.

Nakajima hit .331/.410/.527 with 25 steals (in 30 tries), 32 doubles and 21 homers in 2008. He lost the PL batting title by .001 to Rick Short, tied for 4th in doubles, tied G.G. Sato for 9th in homers, was 9th in RBI (81), 6th in walks (55), led in OBP (.016 ahead of Alex Cabrera and Tuffy Rhodes), was 5th in slugging and 4th in steals. He was second to Hisashi Iwakuma in voting for the 2008 Pacific League Most Valuable Player Award. He won a NPB Gold Glove and made the Best Nine as the PL's top shortstop. Hiroyuki hit .323/.414/.600 with 7 runs and 2 homers in the 2008 Japan Series to lead Seibu to the title. His homer off Koji Uehara in game one was the winning hit in a 2-1 victory. His 2-run home run against Hisanori Takahashi provided all of Seibu's runs in a 3-2 loss in game 2.

In the 2009 World Baseball Classic, Nakajima was Japan's top hitting starter as he batted .364/.516/.545 with 6 RBI in seven games; he missed two contests due to the flu. He hit four doubles to tie Miguel Cabrera and Atsunori Inaba for third in the tourney; two of the doubles came in the semifinal win over the USA. In the finals, Nakajima played a key role in Japan's 5-3 win. In the 3rd, he singled off Jung Bong and came home on a hit by Michihiro Ogasawara to make it 1-0. In the 7th, he singled in Yasuyuki Kataoka for a 3-1 lead. Japan won Gold in the event. Jimmy Rollins beat him out for All-Tournament honors at SS. He extended his solid performance in 2009, and he was selected into the 2009 NPB All-Star Game; he was 2-for-4 with a RBI single against Katsuhiro Nagakawa in Game 2. Nakajima ended up hitting .309/.398/.493 with 22 homers, and he won his second Best Nine award. He led the league in runs, hits and OBP, and he ranked 6th in batting (between Shinji Takahashi and Yoshio Itoi), 9th in doubles (tied with Yuya Hasegawa and Makoto Kaneko), 7th in homers (tied with Saburo Omura and Rhodes), 3rd in RBI (between Takeshi Yamasaki and Terrmel Sledge) and 8th in steals (between Takumi Kuriyama and Itoi).

Nakajima crushed 20 homers with a .314/.385/.511 batting line in 2010, and he was 9th in batting (between Motohiro Shima and Eiichi Koyano), 6th in doubles (tied with Hitoshi Tamura and Itoi), 10th in triples (3), 9th in homers, 4th in RBI (tied with Yamasaki) and 10th in steals (tied with Yoshifumi Okada). He was voted into the 2010 NPB All-Star Game, and he went 2-for-5 with a double against Chang-yong Lim in Game 2. He then attended the 2011 NPB All-Star Game, and he was 1-for-6 with a single against Shohei Tateyama in Game 2. Nakajima's batting line was .297/.354/.433 with 16 homers, and he was the first PL shortstop to get 100 RBI. Nakajima ranked 6th in batting (between Yuichi Honda and Tomotaka Sakaguchi), 3rd in hits (between Kuriyama and Mitsutaka Goto), 8th in doubles, 6th in homers (tied with Takahiro Okada) and 2nd in RBI (16 behind his teammate Takeya Nakamura). Nakajima and Nakamura was the first pair of Seibu teammates to both get 100 RBI in a season. He won the Gold Glove and Best Nine again.

After the 2011 season, Nakajima requested that his name be placed on the posting system in order to be able to play in the United States. Seibu agreed and on December 7th, it was announced that the successful bid for his services had been placed by the New York Yankees, for an estimated $2 million. However, the Yankees were unable to come to an agreement with Nakajima, whom they viewed as a potential back-up to Derek Jeter at SS and Alex Rodriguez at 3B, so he returned to Seibu for another season, after which he would become a full free agent. It was speculated that the Yankees had been surprised that their very low bid had been successful, and as a result were not prepared to offer him a contract commensurate with his experience and track record.

Nakajima extended his elite performance in 2012, and he hit .311/.382/.451 with 13 homers. He was 2nd in batting (.001 behind Katsuya Kakunaka), 2nd in hits (2 behind Seiichi Uchikawa), 5th in doubles (29), 6th in homers (between Micah Hoffpauir and Tadahito Iguchi) and 5th in RBI (74). After the season, Nakajima was now a full free agent and this time found a major league team willing to pay for his services. On December 18th, the Oakland Athletics announced that they had signed him with a two years, $6.5 million contract. However, Nakajima suffered from left foot injury, and he hit .283/.331/.367 in 90 games for the Sacramento River Cats in 2013. Nakajima then slumped to .128/.222/.179 in AAA, and his batting line was .266/.337/.367 for the AA Midland RockHounds. Oakland declined his team option, and Nakajima announced that he would return to Japan.

The Orix Buffaloes signed him, and Nakajima hit .240/.342/.357 in 117 games in 2015, and he played 96 games with a .290/.346/.439 batting line in 2016. Nakajima was qualified for the batting title for the first time after he return to Japan in 2017, and he recorded a .285/.360/.392 batting line in 124 games. He was 7th in batting, between Hideto Asamura and Carlos Peguero. He only played 77 games with a .289/.356/.387 batting line in 2018, and Orix released him. Nakajima joined the Yomiuri Giants, but he only hit .148/.277/.278 in 43 games. He bounced back with a .297/.369/.419 batting line in 100 games with 7 homers in 2020, and he played 81 games with a .271/.314/.425 batting line in 2021. Nakajima batted .242/.315/.333 in 2022, but he only had 18 at-bats in 2023 and he was released. The Chunichi Dragons signed him, but Nakajima was hitless in 15 at-bats in 2024 and he announced his retirement.

Overall, Nakajima hit .292/.363/.447 with 1,928 hits and 209 homers in 21 season in NPB. As of 2025, he was 93rd in runs (845), 63rd in hits (tied with Yoshitomo Tani), 50th in doubles (tied with Shuichi Murata), 50th in RBI (between Atsuya Furuta and Nobuhiro Matsuda), 95th in walks (between Wladimir Balentien and Sho Nakata) and 41st in batting (between Hiromi Matsunaga and Kawasaki).

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