Nobuhiro Matsuda

From BR Bullpen

NobuhiroMatsuda.jpg

Nobuhiro Matsuda (松田 宣浩)

BR Register page

Biographical Information[edit]

Nobuhiro Matsuda has played in Nippon Pro Baseball. His twin brother has pitched in Japan's industrial leagues.

Matsuda hit 60 home runs in high school. In college, he led his league in home runs once. He starred for Japan in the 2002 World University Championship, hitting .478/.520/.826 with 5 runs and 6 RBI in 7 games; he played error-free defense at third base. He was 3 for 4 with a double, run and a RBI in their 5-0 win over Taiwan in the Bronze Medal Game. In the 2005 NPB draft, the Softbank Hawks picked him in the first round. Softbank installed Matsuda as their starting third baseman as a rookie, replacing the departed Tony Batista. He struggled at .211/.258/.324 in 62 games, fanning in 53 of 204 at-bats. He fielded .937. His first hit was a double off Kazuyuki Hoashi on March 29. On April 22, he got his first homer, taking Toyoji Matsumura deep. He was sent down to the minors and finished the season there, with Jolbert Cabrera taking over at third for the Hawks. In 2007, #5 was called up after starring in the minors and he batted .254/.321/.451.

Nobuhiro improved to .279/.322/.468 with 33 doubles, 10 triples and 17 home runs in 2008. One negative was 28 walks to 115 whiffs in 595 plate appearances. He got the only PL homer that Hisashi Iwakuma allowed in a great season. Matsuda finished second in the Pacific League in at-bats (551, trailing Yasuyuki Kataoka), third in doubles (behind Jose Fernandez and Toshiaki Imae), 9th in hits (154), first in triples, 6th in strikeouts (115) and 5th in total bases (258, between Nobuhiko Matsunaka and Fernandez).

Matsuda again was productive (.281/.315/.538) in 2009 but missed moth of the season due to injuries, playing just 46 games. He broke his finger while sliding on opening day then fractured his wrist when he was hit by a Yuki Karakawa pitch. He hit .255/.284/.450 with 19 home runs, 71 RBI and 17 steals in 20 tries in 2010; the low OBP was in part due to just 14 walks in 458 plate appearances. The free-swinging slugger missed six weeks with a broken wrist. He was 9th in the Pacific League in steals and tied for 6th with six sacrifice flies.

The Shiga native had a 20-20 season in 2011, batting .282/.344/.510 with 31 doubles, 7 triples, 25 home runs, 77 runs, 83 RBI and 27 stolen bases (caught 9 times). He walked more often, with 41 free passes. He made his first All-Star team, and he was 1--6 2011 NPB All-Star Games. Matsuda finished among the league leaders in batting average (10th between Ryo Hijirisawa and Yosuke Takasu), doubles (3rd behind Kazuo Matsui and Sho Nakata), runs (6th between Hiroyuki Nakajima and Yoshio Itoi), hits (148, 9th between Yoshifumi Okada and Chung-Shou Yang), home runs (2nd, 23 behind leader Takeya Nakamura and 7 ahead of the next players on the list, Aarom Baldiris and Nakata), total bases (268, 47 behind leader Nakamura), triples (tied for the lead with Yuichi Honda, Tomotaka Sakaguchi and Munenori Kawasaki), RBI (5th between Takahiro Okada and Fernandez), strikeouts (128, 4th between Nakata and Seung-yeop Lee), times hit by pitch (10, 8th), walks (10th), steals (8th), OBP (10th) and slugging (2nd, trailing only Nakamura). In the 2011 Japan Series, he helped Softbank win its first title, driving in the first runs in games 1 and 3; he was 4-for-25 with 3 steals in the entire series. He also won his first NPB Gold Glove.

Matsuda was selected into the 2012 NPB All-Star Game, and he collected a hit in each of three games. He missed two months due to right hand injury, and he only played 95 games with a .300/.349/.492 batting line. He then made it onto Japan's roster for the 2013 World Baseball Classic, and he hit .333/.429/.571 with a home run (off the Dutch national team's Rob Cordemans). As a pinch-runner, he scored the winning run in the 10th against Taiwan. Matsuda then hit .279/.314/.443 with 20 homers in 2013, and he won his second Gold Glove award. He was 8th in RBI (90), 6th in hits (163) and 8th in homers. Matsuda fractured his right finger on July 3, 2014, so he missed about a month. He still blasted 18 homers with a .301/.341/.505 batting line that season, and he won his third Gold Glove. He was 10th in homers, tied with Seiichi Uchikawa. In the 2014 Nippon Series, Matsuda hit .211/.286/.211 and the Hawks beat the Hanshin Tigers in 5 games.

The captain of Softbank returned in 2015, and he crushed a career-high 35 homers with a .287/.357/.533 batting line. He was 4th in hits (153, between Ikuhiro Kiyota and Akira Nakamura), 3rd in runs (01, between Shogo Akiyama and Hideto Asamura), 2nd in homers (2 behind Takeya Nakamura) and 6th in RBI (94, between Brandon Laird and Ernesto Mejia). He was voted into the 2015 NPB All-Star Game, and he was 1-for-3 in 3 games. Matsuda had a .200/.273/.400 batting line in the 2015 Nippon Series, with a homer against Masanori Ishikawa in Game 1, and the Hawks beat the Yakult Swallows in 5 games. He then represented Japan in the 2015 Premier 12, and he crushed 2 homers (off Cody Satterwhite and Cesar Carrillo) with a .250/.345/.542 batting line to help Japan win Silver.

Matsuda blasted 27 homers with a .259/.325/.467 batting line in 2016, and he won his 4th straight Gold Glove. He was 3rd in homers (tied with Zelous Wheeler) and 7th in RBI (85, between Wheeler and Asamura). He was also voted into the 2016 NPB All-Star Game, and he was hitless in 3 games. Matsuda tied the team record as he crushed 3 homers in the 2016 PLCS final stage, but the Hawks still lost to the Nippon Ham Fighters.

He then represented Japan in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, and he hit .333/.320/.500 with 7 RBI. He had a 4-hit, 4-RBI day against Cuba that included a homer off José Angel García. He scored the winning run in the bottom of the 8th in their next win over Cuba but struck out against Luke Gregerson to end their 2-1 loss to Team USA in the semifinal. He was 3rd in RBI, two behind Carlos Correa and Wladimir Balentien. Matsuda extended his stable performance as his batting line was .264/.319/.458 with 24 homers in 2017, and he ranked 7th in hits (140, between Wheeler and Yuki Yanagita), 10th in homers and 9th in RBI (71, between Carlos Peguero and Takahiro Okada. He crushed a 2-run shot in the 2017 PLCS Game 5 against Manabu Mima to help the Hawks eliminate the Rakuten Golden Eagles, but he hit .174/.240/.304 in the 2017 Nippon Series; the Hawks beat the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in 6 games.

In 2018, Matsuda blasted 32 homers with a .248/.324/.485 batting line and won his 6th straight Gold Glove. He was 3rd in homers (tied with Asamura) and 7th in RBI (82, tied with Akiyama). He won the only Best Nine award in his career as the league's top third baseman, surprising in that one would have assumed more given his fine combination of offense and defense over the years. Matsuda was also selected into the 2018 NPB All-Star Game, and he went 1-for-5, with a double against Yuta Iwasada in Game 2. He struggled again in the 2018 Nippon Series as he only got one hit in 12 at-bats, and the Hawks still beat the Hiroshima Carp in 6 games. Matsuda was still a reliable slugger for the Hawks in 2019, and he collected 30 homers with a .260/.305/.483 batting line. He became the first player in NPB history to win 8 Gold Gloves as a third baseman, and he tied Nakamura for 6th in homers. He was 5-for-15 in the 2019 Nippon Series with a 3-run shot against Kan Otake in Game 2, and he won the Outstanding Player award, a step below MVP Yurisbel Gracial. The Hawks swept the Giants, and Matsuda got his 6th Nippon Series title.

After his gorgeous '19 season, Matsuda was selected for the roster of Japan for the 2019 Premier 12. He didn't hit well as he only collected 3 hits in 24 at-bats, and Japan still won Gold and Matsuda collected his second international title. He slumped to .228/.285/.382 with 13 homers in 2020, and he was 2-for-15 in the 2020 Nippon Series; the Hawks swept the Giants again for his 7th and final Japan Series crown. He crushed 14 homers with a .234/.289/.407 batting line in 2021, and his batting line fell to .204/.255/.245 in 2022. The Hawks then released him, and Matsuda signed with the Yomiuri Giants. However, he was 1-for-16 in 2023, and he announced his retirement.

Overall, Matsuda hit .265/.318/.463 with 1,832 hits and 301 homers in 18 seasons in NPB. As of 2024, he was 74th in hits (between Hiromichi Ishige and Jinten Haku), 79th in runs scored (891), 60th in doubles (333, tied with Masahiko Morino), 44th in homers (tied with Wladimir Balentien), 51th in RBI (991, between Nakajima and Yoshinobu Takahashi) and 11th in triples (67, tied with Tokuji Iida).

Sources[edit]

Related Sites[edit]

Retrieved from "https://www.baseball-reference.com/bpv/index.php?title=Nobuhiro_Matsuda&oldid=1467772"