Shogo Sakakura

Shogo Sakakura (坂倉 将吾)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 180 lbs.

• High School The Third High School of Nihon University

• Born May 29, 1998 in Inba-gun, Chiba Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Shogo Sakakura has played in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Sakakura was drafted by the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in the fourth round of the 2016 NPB draft, but he spent his first three seasons mainly in the NPB Farm Leagues, only playing 63 games combined for the big club. He secured the backup catcher spot in 2020, and hit .287/.346/.411 in 81 games. Since the Carp already had All-Star catcher Tsubasa Aizawa and talented prospect Shosei Nakamura, Sakakura was moved to first base in 2021. He broke out and hit .315/.390/.467 with 12 homers, and he was .002 shy from robbing the Central League batting title from his teammate Seiya Suzuki. He also broke Shuji Nishiyama's team record for the highest batting average as a catcher. He was also third in the CL in OBP, behind Suzuki and Munetaka Murakami.

The Hyogo native was moved to third base in 2022, and he extended his solid performance. He was selected into the 2022 NPB All-Star Games, but went 0-for-3. Sakakura ended up hitting .288/.352/.421 with 16 homers, and ranked 9th in batting (.030 behind Munetaka Murakami), 4th in runs (41 behind Murakami), 9th in RBI (66 behind Murakami) and 5th in hits (6 behind Keita Sano). Since Aizawa struggled in 2023 and Nakamura was involved in scandals, Sakakura was turned into a catcher again. He slumped to .266/.347/.410, but still blasted 12 homers. In the 2023 CLCS, he was 1-for-5 in the first stage, then went 1-for-3 in Game 1 in the final stage. He didn't appeared in Game 2, then had a 2-for-4 record with a RBI single against Kotaro Otake in Game 3. The Hanshin Tigers still swept the Carp in this stage.

Sakakura then represented Japan in the 2023 Asia Professional Baseball Championship. He was 1-for-4, with a RBI single off Jyun-Yueh Tseng of Taiwan in their opener, then went 0-for-3 against South Korea. In the Gold Medal Game, against Korea again, he went 0-for-2 but drew 2 walks and knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly against Hai-young Jung, and Japan won Gold. He was voted into the 2024 NPB All-Star Game, and he was retired by Takahiro Norimoto. He then crushed a grand slam against Masaru Fujii, and he was the first CL player to hit a grand slam in the All-Star Game. He tied the All-Star record for most RBI in a game, and he won the fighting spirit award as MVP of the losing team. He ended up hitting .279/.328/.412 with 12 homers in 2024.

After the '24 season, Sakakura made it onto Japan's roster for the 2024 Premier 12. He was 2-for-3 with 2 runs scored against Australia, and he went 1-for-3, with a single against Seung-yong Choi, versus South Korea. He then had a 1-for-3 record again versus Taiwan with a single against Po-Ching Chen, and he was 1-for-2 against the Dominican Republic, with a RBI single off Dionys Rodríguez. Sakakura scored twice versus the USA and had a RBI double against Darrell Thompson, and he crushed a solo shot against Liarvis Breto of Venezuela. He was 1-for-2 with a single against Yi Chang in the Gold Medal Game, but Japan lost to Taiwan and won Silver. He hit .444/.615/.667 in the event, and he was named the All-Star catcher. Sakakura fractured his finger in 2025, and he slumped to .238/.327/.362 with 26 doubles. He tired Soma Uchiyama and Trey Cabbage for 4th in doubles.