Tomo Otosaka

Rousselot Tomo Nicholas Otosaka (乙坂 智)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 182 lb.

• High School Yokohama High School

• Born January 6, 1994 in Yokohama, Kanagawa Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Tomo Otosaka played in Japan, Venezuela, the USA and Mexico.

Otosaka was drafted by the Yokohama BayStars in the 5th round of the 2011 NPB draft, and he spent his first three seasons primarily in the NPB Farm Leagues; he only played 2 game with the big club. Otosoka crushed his first career homer against Naoya Masuda on May 31, 2014 on his first career at-bat, and he was the 57th player to do so in NPB history. He had a .226/.276/.339 batting line in 2015, then he improved to .270/.317/.374 in 2016. Otosaka also represented Japan in the 2016 U-23 Baseball World Cup. He hit .313/.359/.373 with 7 runs in 9 games for the champs, playing regularly in right field. He led the event with three sac flies.

The Yokohama native slumped to .190/.215/.333 in 2017, and he crushed a pinch-hit, 3-run home run against Kentaro Kuwahara in the 2017 CLCS first stage Game 2. He added a 2-run single against Yusuke Nomura in the final stage Game 2, and he set the NPB record for most pinch-hit RBI in the Climax Series in a season. However, Otosaka was 0-for-8 in the 2017 Nippon Series, and the BayStars lost to the Softbank Hawks in 6 games. He played for the Yaquis de Obregon in the winter, and he hit .410/.487/.480 there. With 115 plate appearances, he didn't qualify for the Mexican Pacific League title, but he was .030 ahead of leader Sebastián Elizalde. Otosaka recorded a .204/.290/.226 batting line in 73 games back in Japan in 2018, and he batted .222/.325/.319 for the Yaquis this time. He played 97 games with a .245/.313/.358 batting line in 2019, serving as the 4th outfielder behind Kazuki Kamizato, Yoshi Tsutsugo and Neftali Soto, the most action he would see in a NPB season. He again became the hero in the Climax series. In the Game 2 of the first stage in the 2019 CLCS, he crushed a walk-off home run against Suguru Iwazaki, and that was the first walk-off home run in the Climax series. The Tigers eliminated the BayStars in 3 games.

Otosaka hit .208/.289/.267 in 2020, but he was 4-for-19 in 2021 and the BayStars released him. He then signed with the Bravos de Leon of the Mexican League and hit .361/.427/.500 for them, and he had a .374/.469/.456 batting line for the Saraperos de Saltillo. In a high-octane league, he did not make the top 10 in the leaderboards. He played well in the winter as he hit .333/.432/.406 with 16 steals for the Bravos de Margarita, and he led the Venezuelan Winter League in steals. Otosaka signed with the York Revolution in 2023, and he collected 42 steals with a .330/.441/.408 batting line. He was second in the Atlantic League in swipes, four behind Trey Martin. He was 4th in average (between Dwight Smith Jr. and Melvin Mercedes), second in OBP (.003 behind Mercedes) and 10th in runs (86). He stole 17 bases (only caught once) with a .327/.393/.418 batting line in the winter for the Bravos, and he again led the league in steals. He was 9th in runs (34) and tied Jermaine Palacios for second with four triples, two behind Ali Castillo. He played 65 games with a .295/.409/.350 batting line and 12 steals for the Leones de Yucatan in 2024.

Sources

• Wiki Japan
• 2016 U-23 Baseball World Cup