Keijiro Matsumoto

Keijiro Matsumoto (松本 啓二朗)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 11", Weight 172 lb.

• School Waseda University
• High School Chiba Keizai University High School

• Born June 24, 1986 in Morioka, Iwate Japan

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Keijiro Matsumoto played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 9 years.

Matsumoto was the #3 hitter and center fielder for Japan in the 2008 World University Championship. He hit .439/.439/.732 with 11 runs and 12 RBI in 8 games for the Silver Medalists and was 5-for-5 in steal attempts. He led the tournament in runs (1 more than Micah Gibbs), hits (18, 8 more than the next player), average, RBI and steals. He was second to Hunter Morris in slugging and tied for second in homers (2, 1 behind Morris). He also threw out Tommy Mendonca at home in the 12th inning of the Gold Medal game. Matsumoto lost MVP honors to Blake Smith despite his superior performance.

The Yokohama BayStars and Hanshin Tigers picked him in the first round of the 2008 NPB draft, and Yokohama won bargaining rights and signed him. Matsumoto was sent down to ni-gun after several weeks in 2009, and he only got 44 at-bats with 6 hits for the top team that season. He then went 13-for-44 in 2010, and he hit .212/.236/.269 in 47 games in 2011. He had a 1-for-8 record in 2012, and he got some chances after Sho Aranami was injured in 2013. Matsumoto played 72 games with a .247/.266/.357 batting line, and he never had more than 75 at-bats a season in the rest of his career. He was 14-for-54 in 2014, and he hit .274/.329/.384 in 51 games in 2015. Matsumoto went 2-for-13 in 2016, and he announced his retirement after having a 3-for-12 record in 2017.

Overall, Matsumoto hit .235/.274/.320 with 119 hits and 7 homers in 9 seasons in NPB.

Related Sites

• Wiki Japan