Tatsuya Shimozono

Tatsuya Shimozono (下園 辰哉)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 10", Weight 179 lb.

• School Kyushu International University
• High School Miyazaki Nihon University High School

• Born November 22, 1984 in Miyazaki, Miyazaki Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Tatsuya Shimozono played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 11 years.

Shimozono won four Best Nine awards and a MVP in the Kyushu Big6 Baseball League, and the Yokohama BayStars took him in the 4th round of the 2006 NPB draft. He was 6-for-29 in 2007, and he went 11-for-53 in 2008. Shimozono then recorded a .258/.327/.384 batting line in 2009, and he hit .286/.365/.376 with 21 doubles as one of Yokohama's starting outfielders in 2010, starting in center between Terrmel Sledge and Seiichi Uchikawa. He collided with the fence in spring training of the 2011 season, and he missed half of the season. Shimozono returned on June 29 with a .265/.365/.346 batting line, and he recorded a .252/.302/.324 batting line in 90 games, primarily as a pinch-hitter, in 2012.

The Miyazaki native slumped to .146/.222/.146 in 2013, and he hit .277/.371/.347 in 68 games in 2014. Shimozono then played 53 games with a .284/.354/.378 batting line in 2015, and he recorded a .270/.353/.338 batting line in 2016. He went 1-for-10 in 2017, and he announced his retirement. Shimozono was the minor league batting coach for the BayStars from 2021 to 2024, and the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles named him their new batting coach in 2025.

Overall, Shimozono hit .263/.343/.345 with 373 hits and 16 homers in 11 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan