Seishiro Sakamoto

Seishiro Sakamoto (坂本 誠志郎)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 172 lbs.

• School Meiji University
• High School Riseisha High School

• Born November 10, 1993 in Yabu, Hyogo Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Seishiro Sakamoto has caught in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Sakamoto was on the Japanese collegiate All-Star team in 2013, and he also represented Japan in the 2014 Haarlemse Honkbalweek and 2015 Universiade. He was drafted by the Hanshin Tigers in the second round of the 2015 NPB draft, and he spent almost his entire rookie year in the NPB Farm Leagues, as he only played 28 games with the big club. He was the backup catcher of the Tigers in 2017, and he hit .248/.341/.345 in 132 at-bats. However, his poor batting limited his chances, and he only played 103 games combined in the next three seasons; he hit .154/.250/.231 in 2018.

The Hyogo native shared the catcher spot with Ryutaro Umeno in 2022, and hit .189/.285/.213 in 127 at-bats. When Umeno missed most of the 2023 season due to a fracture, Sakamoto secured the starting spot and hit .226/.288/.255 in a career-high 243 at-bats. In the 2023 Nippon Series, Sakamoto started in all 7 games and had a 5-for-22 record with 3 RBI. He hit a double against Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 1, and collected a two-run triple against Shota Abe in Game 5 to help Hanshin win the Nippon Series title. He also won his first NPB Gold Glove Award as the top defensive catcher in the Central League.

Sakamoto split the starting spot with Umeno in 2024, and he only played 64 games with a .223/.274/.238 batting line. He beat out Umeno and secured the starting catcher spot in 2025, and he crushed 2 homers with a .247/.357/.326 batting line. He led the CL's backstops in putouts (785), assists (84), double plays (10) and fielding percentage (.997). Sakamoto was selected into the 2025 NPB All-Star Game, and he was retired by Koki Kitayama in his only at-bat. He hit .133/.188/.133 in the 2025 Nippon Series, and the Tigers lost to the Softbank Hawks. He won the Best Nine award as the CL's top overall catcher and his second Gold Glove, and he won 41 points in the MVP voting, good for 6th place. He then made it onto Japan's roster for the 2026 World Baseball Classic.