Name Naomasa Yokawa | ||
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Naomasa Yokawa (陽川 尚将, Yōkawa Naomasa, born July 17, 1991 in Osaka) is a Japanese professional baseball infielder for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball.
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Early Baseball Career
Yokawa started playing baseball in 2nd grade as a third baseman for the East Sekime Lions (little league), then he doubled as a pitcher and infielder in junior high. He was converted to a shortstop upon entering Konkōōsaka High School, and experienced playing in the Spring Koshien in his third year. He hit a total of 36 home runs in his high school career.
During the 2009 draft, the Yomiuri Giants chose him as their third pick for the ikusei draft (developmental draft), but he rejected their offer and opted to enroll in Tokyo University of Agriculture instead.
He then played as third baseman for Tokyo Nodai and participated in the Tohto League games. In 4 years, he recorded 109 hits, 51 RBIs, and 23 home runs.
Hanshin Tigers
Before the 2013 draft, he said that he would turn pro only if he was drafted as 3rd pick or higher, but will play for the industrial leagues otherwise. Fortunately, the Tigers chose him as their 3rd pick, and he accepted their offer. He was assigned the jersey number 55.
2014
He spent his first year playing in the minor league. In his 98-game appearances, he batted 0.241, recorded 38 RBIs and 6 home runs. Although he alternated playing as 1st and 3rd baseman, he committed 12 errors when he played the latter.
Playing Style
He employs a powerful swing on the plate, and has excellent stamina that can last him throughout an entire game, as he did so during his university days.