Yutaro Sugimoto

Yutaro Sugimoto (杉本 裕太郎)
(Raoh)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 220 lb.
• School Aoyama Gakuin University
• High School Tokushima Commercial High School

• Born April 5, 1991 in Anan, Tokushima Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yutaro Sugimoto has been a home run leader and Japan Series MVP. His nickname was from his favorite character - Raoh of the Fist of the North Star.

Sugimoto played for JR West in the industrial leagues after college. He was a 10th-round pick of the Orix Buffaloes in the 2015 NPB draft, the 87th of 88 players drafted that year. He spent most of 2016 in ni-gun, hitting .262/.262/.379. He made it to the big club for one Pacific League game, striking out his first at-bat against Atsushi Nohmi in going 0-for-3.

In 2017, he got his first NPB hit, a homer off Wataru Karashima. The big man was only 2-for-17 with the big club though, but improved in the minors (.269/.348/.416). In 2018, he fell to .229/.312/.395 in the minors and was 3 for 12 with a walk, double, two homers and eight RBI in the PL. His first five PL hits had now been for extra bases. He hit well in ni-gun in 2019 (.277/.353/.498, 14 HR in 78 G) and was 8 for 51 in the PL but again with pop (2B, 4 HR among his 8 hits). He now had 13 hits in four PL seasons - 3 singles, 3 doubles and 7 homers. He had finished second in the Western League in dingers, 7 behind Alejandro Mejia, but would be 29 years old in early 2020 and only had 13 hits to his name in the PL, so the future did not look bright.

Sugimoto spent more time in the PL (than in the WL for the first time in 2020. He hit .268/.340/.354 for the big club and .370/.495/.617 on the farm. He was now hitting singles to go with his homers. He made huge progress in 2021, becoming a top star as he hit .301/.378/.552 with 32 homers and 83 RBI. Making his first PL All-Star team (he hadn't even been a regular starter before!), he replaced Leonys Martín in 2021 NPB All-Star Game 1, grounding out against Katsuki Matayoshi and striking out versus Thyago Vieira. Starting Game 2 in right and batting 7th, he homered off Yuya Yanagi in the second to tie it. He was retired by Masato Morishita in the 4th then got a hit off Yasuaki Yamasaki in the 7th. He finished among the PL leaders in average (3rd, after Masataka Yoshida and Tomoya Mori), OBP (8th, between Shogo Nakamura and Takashi Ogino), slugging (2nd, .011 behind Yoshida), runs (73, 4th), hits (144, 5th, between Ryoya Kurihara and Watanabe), homers (1st, 3 more than Brandon Laird), RBI (3rd, after Hiroaki Shimauchi and Laird), hit-by-pitch (10, tied for 3rd), total bases (264, 2nd, 15 behind Yuki Yanagita) and OPS (2nd, 63 behind Yoshida). He was the third 10th-round pick to win a NPB homer title, following Masayuki Kakefu and Takahiro Arai. He was also the first home run champ in the two-league era to have hit two or fewer homers the year prior to his title, with the exception of newcomers. He finished second in voting for the 2021 PL MVP, well back of Orix pitching ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto. He joined Yoshida and Yanagita as being picked to the Best Nine as the PL's top three outfielders. He hit .292 in the 2021 Japan Series and homered off Yasuhiro Ogawa of the Yakult Swallows in Game 3. His team fell to Yakult but he was named one of the Series' top players.

Yutaro was the last batter and strikeout victim in Roki Sasaki's historic 19-K no-hitter in 2022. He struggled early in the season and battled a COVID-19 infection but bounced back to take a monthly MVP award. He finished at .235/.324/.398 with 15 homers for the regular season, down significantly from a year before. With offense down in the PL, he still tied for 7th in homers (with Laird and Brian O'Grady) and tied Akira Nakamura for 10th in RBI (51). In the 2022 Japan Series, he helped Orix avenge their prior year's loss to Yakult, taking their first title in the process. His Game 4 double off Masanori Ishikawa drove in the game's only run and give Orix their first win after two losses and a tie. In Game 6, he drove in the winning run, again breaking up a scoreless game. This time, the hit off Yasuhiro Ogawa scored Ryo Ota. In Game 7, the clincher, he hit into a three-run error that was the big play in a 5-4 win. He finished the Series at .261 but his clutch hits won him the Series MVP.

Sugimoto extended his solid performance in 2023, and he crushed 16 homers with a .242/.298/.425 batting line in 96 games. He was selected into the 2023 NPB All-Star Game, and he pinch-hit for Yuki Yanagita in the 7th inning of Game 1. Sugimoto hit a single against Noboru Shimizu, then he added a double against Raidel Martínez in the 9th inning. He was the PL's starting right fielder for Game 2, and he went 1-for-3, with an infield single against Cy Sneed in the 5th inning. Sugimoto ranked 8th in homers in the PL, tied with his teammate Yuma Tongu. He again shined in the postseason, and he hit .429 to win the MVP of the 2023 PLCS. However, he was 1-for-8 in the 2023 Nippon Series, and the Buffaloes lost to the Hanshin Tigers in 7 games.

The Anan native struggled in 2024, and he stayed in the minors for a while. He still crushed 11 homers with a .233/.293/.416 batting line. Sugimoto bounced back in 2025, and he recorded a .259/.332/.426 batting line with 16 homers. He was 5th in homers, behind Franmil Reyes, Hotaka Yamakawa, Tyler Nevin and Chusei Mannami.