Tsuyoshi Nishioka
Tsuyoshi Nishioka is a Japanese professional baseball infielder who is a free agent. He has played in both Pacific League and Central League in Nippon Professional Baseball, as well as Major League Baseball.
Nishioka played in the 2006 World Baseball Classic as well as the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a member of the Japanese national team. In 2010, he became the fifth person to record 200 hits in a single NPB season.
Early life and high school career
Nishioka was born in Daitō, Osaka, and grew up in the city of Nara. He played in the national tournament as a member of Kōriyama Senior while attending Nara Prefectural Heijō East Junior High School, starting baseball as a right-handed hitter and switched to the left side during junior high.Nishioka led Osaka Tōin to the 84th National High School Baseball Championship in his senior year of high school as the team captain and leadoff hitter, but the team lost in the first round to Tōhō High School, the Aichi champions. Despite his lack of success on the national stage, Nishioka hit 42 home runs in his high school career, mostly as a second baseman, and was considered one of the top high school prospects in the country by NPB scouts. He was selected in the first round of the 2002 NPB amateur draft held that fall by the Chiba Lotte Marines.
Professional career
Chiba Lotte Marines (2003–2010)
Early years (2003–2004)
In 2003, his rookie season, Nishioka was assigned to the ichigun team during Spring training, but he was sent down to the nigun team for the season opener. He was called up to the ichigun team in mid-June and made his professional debut on June 23 as a pinch runner, hitting a double off then-Orix BlueWave right-hander Hisashi Tokano in his very first plate appearance on June 28 for the first hit of his professional career. However, he was sent back down to the minors after a few games. His.216 batting average was the lowest among all qualifying players in the Eastern League.Nishioka followed the advice of coach Yoshihiko Takahashi and become a switch hitter in his second year in the pros. He hit his first career home run at the ichigun level off then-Seibu Lions right-hander Mitsutaka Goto on June 27 and recorded his first career stolen base in the same game. He finished with six homers and 35 RBI for the season.
Breakout (2005–2006)
Nishioka had a breakout year in 2005, starting as a backup infielder but starting at both second base and shortstop alongside veterans Koichi Hori and Makoto Kosaka in an unorthodox platoon system as the season went on. He hit just.268 but led the Pacific League in triples and stolen bases, playing a key role in the Marines' first Japan Series championship since 1974. His splitting time between the two middle infield positions created an unusual situation in which he won the Pacific League Best Nine Award at shortstop and the Golden Glove Award at second base.Coming off a strong showing in the inaugural World Baseball Classic, his first major international tournament, Nishioka was named one of the cornerstones of the team by manager Bobby Valentine in 2006 and was used exclusively at shortstop for the first time in his career to reduce the risk of injury. Though the Marines finished fourth that year, Nishioka improved on his batting average and on-base percentage from the previous season. Though he led the league in triples and stolen bases for the second straight season, he was also caught stealing a league-high 17 times, resulting in a stolen base percentage of just 66 percent.
2007–2010
On January 7, Nishioka publicly announced that he would have his name listed on the Marines' official roster as "TSUYOSHI" rather than his actual Japanese name in Kanji characters for the 2007 season.Despite being hampered by a wrist injury as well as neck pain, Nishioka reached.300 while accumulating enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title for the first time in his career. However, while he succeeded in improving on both his batting average and his on-base percentage from the previous season, he managed to steal only 27 bases in 40 attempts for a mediocre 67.5 percent success rate.
Nishioka announced that he would have his name listed as "Tsuyoshi Nishioka" again for the 2008 season, exactly one year after his announcement to change it to "TSUYOSHI". He continued to be plagued by injuries but chose to play through them, determined to keep the Marines within reach of the Climax Series. His injuries limited him to just 18 stolen bases in 29 attempts for a success rate of 62.1 percent and hindered his play both on the basepaths and in the field. On the other hand, he hit.300 for the second straight year, hitting double-digit home runs and slugging over.400 over a full season for the first time in his career even though he missed time due to the Beijing Olympics held in August.
Nishioka was named to the national team's preliminary roster for the upcoming World Baseball Classic in early 2009 along with teammate Shunsuke Watanabe, but was ultimately cut from the final 28-man team. He continued to be bothered by injuries once the regular season began, hitting.263 for the month of April but missing several games in the opening weeks of the season with a right hamstring injury as well as a bruise to the right tarsus suffered when sliding into second base to break up a double play and colliding with second baseman Yosuke Takasu in the fifth inning of a game against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles on April 16.
Following the 2010 season, in which Nishioka led the league with 206 hits, a.346 batting average and 121 runs scored, the Chiba Lotte Marines accepted a $5 million bid through the posting system, giving the Minnesota Twins thirty days to work out a contract with Nishioka. On December 17, Nishioka officially signed with the Twins for $9 million over three years, with a club option for 2014 or a $250,000 club buyout.
Minnesota Twins (2011–2012)
Nishioka joined the Minnesota Twins for spring training at their facility in Fort Myers, Florida to start the 2011 MLB season. During spring training, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire announced that Nishioka would play second base for the Twins, allowing Alexi Casilla to become the starting everyday shortstop. Nishioka made his MLB debut with the Twins on April 1. In his first major league game he went 1–3 with one strikeout and one fielding error. On April 7, just one week into his Major League career, Nishioka suffered a broken left fibula as New York Yankee outfielder Nick Swisher slid into second base attempting to break up a double play. After missing 59 games, Nishioka returned on June 16 to start against the Chicago White Sox, going 1 for 4 while batting third and playing shortstop. Nishioka's 2011 season stats for the Twins included a.226 batting average in 221 at-bats, 14 runs scored, 19 RBIs, 0 homers, 15 walks, 43 strikeouts, an OBP of.278 and a.249 slugging percentage.On March 19, 2012, the Twins optioned Nishioka to their Class AAA affiliate, the Rochester Red Wings. In early August, Nishioka was recalled by the Twins due to an injury to third baseman Trevor Plouffe and a trade that sent another third baseman, Danny Valencia, to the Boston Red Sox. However, in three games after rejoining the big league club, Nishioka went 0–12 with three errors and 1 RBI. On August 20, the Twins outrighted Nishioka back to Rochester.
On September 28, Nishioka asked for a release from his contract, which was granted by the organization. Soon after, Nishioka signed a contract with the Hanshin Tigers and finished the season with the team. On December 18, Nishioka signed a contract with Hanshin for the 2013 season.
Hanshin Tigers (2013–2018)
In his first season with Hanshin, Nishioka played 122 games with a.290 batting average and was mainly used as the team's leadoff batter and second baseman. However, during the interleague matches he complained of knee pain and was used as a designated hitter. On August 30 in a match against Hiroshima he made his first career start at third base. At the end of his season he received a Best Nine Award which was his fourth overall but his first as a second baseman.On March 30, 2014, Nishioka, fielding at second base, collided with right fielder Kosuke Fukudome while attempting to catch a fly ball. He struck the back of his head on the hard Tokyo Dome ground and was taken from the field in an ambulance. He returned to the team at the end of June, but a series of injuries saw him play just 24 games in the season. He participated in the Tigers' post-season campaign and was involved in a controversial call in the final play of the Japan Series against the Fukuoka Hawks. With one out and bases loaded at the top of the ninth inning, Nishioka was struck by the ball thrown by the catcher to first base after a play at home plate. Nishioka was called out for interference due to running inside the baseline, thereby ending the match and the series.
He was designated for assignment by the Tigers on October 1, 2018, and became a free agent on December 2.
International career
2006 World Baseball Classic
Nishioka's first stint with the Japanese national team came in the inaugural World Baseball Classic held in 2006. He played in all eight games and hit.255 with two home runs and five stolen bases as the team's No. 2 hitter and starting second baseman, driving in eight runs and scoring five and playing an integral role in Japan's championship run.Nishioka was involved in a play that attracted much attention in the second round game against the United States on March 12 when his attempt to score on a routine sacrifice fly by Akinori Iwamura with the score tied in the eighth inning was nullified by a controversial call by home plate umpire Bob Davidson, who ruled that Nishioka had left third base too early. The play was rather sensationalistically dubbed the "Bad Call of the Century" by the Japanese media.