Tatsuhiro Shibata

Tatsuhiro Shibata (柴田 竜拓)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 6", Weight 150 lbs.

• School Kokugakuin University
• High School Okayama University of Science High School

• Born December 16, 1993 in Okayama, Okayama Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Tatsuhiro Shibata has played in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Shibata represented Japan in the 2014 Haarlem Baseball Week, 2014 U-21 Baseball World Cup (going 0 for 4 with a run while backing up Fumiya Hojoh at 2B) and 2015 Universiade. The Yokohama BayStars selected him in the third round of the 2015 NPB draft; the scout was Kunio Takesue. He went 8-for-39 in 2016, and he played 88 games with a .233/.295/.284 batting line in 2017, fielding .975 as their most-used second baseman. Shibata struggled in the 2017 Nippon Series as his batting line was .111/.111/.238, and the Softbank Hawks beat the BayStars in 6 games. He was their main infield utility man in 2018, and he recorded a .219/.324/.286 batting line with 3 homers. Shibata improved to .256/.333/.372 with 3 homers in a similar role in 2019, and he hit .266/.356/.352 in 110 games in 2020; he split second base with Neftali Soto that year.

The Okayama native only played 85 games with a .234/.313/.329 batting line due to injuries in 2021, and he slumped to .195/.284/.237 in 96 games as a backup infielder in 2022. Shibata then lost his spot in 2023, and he only got 49 at-bats with 7 hits, mostly being used as a defensive replacement, in 86 games. He was 6-for-23 in 82 appearances in 2024, and he appeared in three games in the 2024 Nippon Series; he didn't get a single at-bat. The BayStars beat the Hawks this time in 6 games.

Sources

• Wiki Japan
• 2014 U-21 Baseball World Cup