| Hayato Sakamoto | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Sakamoto with the Yomiuri Giants | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Yomiuri Giants – No. 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shortstop | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born: (1988-12-14)December 14, 1988 (age 36) Itami,Hyōgo,Japan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bats: Right Throws: Right | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NPB debut | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| July 12, 2007, for the Yomiuri Giants | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NPB statistics (through 2024) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting average | .288 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hits | 2,415 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home runs | 295 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Runs batted in | 1,038 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stolen bases | 163 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medals
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Hayato Sakamoto (坂本 勇人,Sakamoto Hayato, born December 14, 1988) is a Japanese professional baseballshortstop with theYomiuri Giants ofNippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
In2008, Sakamoto became the first player in Giants franchise history to start aseason opener while under the age of 20 sinceHideki Matsui.
Sakamoto was born inItami, Hyōgo, and began playing baseball while in thefirst grade at Koyanosato Elementary School for the Koyanosato Tigers (a Little League team) alongside formerNew York YankeespitcherMasahiro Tanaka. Ironically, Sakamoto was the team'sace pitcher, and Tanaka hisbatterymate on the team. Both Sakamoto and Tanaka went on to attend Itami Municipal Matsuzaki Junior High School, but Sakamoto opted to join Itami Senior, while Tanaka chose to play for theTakarazuka Boys.
Upon graduating fromjunior high, Sakamoto attended Kosei Gakuin High School in northernAomori Prefecture, a baseball powerhouse in theTōhoku region. He became the team's starting shortstop by the fall of his first year (the equivalent oftenth grade in the United States) at Kosei Gakuin High. Sakamoto was hittingcleanup by the summer of his second year (eleventh grade), and led his team torunners-up in the Tohoku Regional Tournament that fall, earning a berth in the 78thNational High School Baseball Invitational Tournament that would be held atKoshien Stadium the following spring. He attracted the attention ofscouts when he hit .813 (13-for-16) with fourhome runs in the Tohoku Regional Tournament later that spring, and hit a total of 39 home runs during his high school career.
The Yomiuri Giants picked Sakamoto in the compensatory first round of the2006 NPB high school playerdraft after losing to theChunichi Dragons in the lottery that was held for fellow shortstopNaomichi Donoue, the most coveted high schoolposition player, and presented Sakamoto theuniform number61.
In 2007, Sakamoto spent most of hisrookie season (2007) with the Giants'nigun team (Japanese for "minor league" or "farm team"). He played 77 games in theWestern League, hitting .268 with five homers and 28RBIs.[4] Sakamoto saw his first call-up to theichigun (majorleague) team in July and made hisprofessional debut as apinch runner on July 12. He recorded his first careerbase hit and RBI on September 6, knocking in the game-winningrun in a game against the Dragons.[5]
In 2008,ManagerTatsunori Hara had high hopes for Sakamoto in the2008 season, playing him in all 15pre-season (spring training) games at either shortstop orsecond base. AlthoughTomohiro Nioka, then the Giants' starting shortstop, returned from injury just before their season opener, Sakamoto's quick adjustment to second base, accompanied byleft-hander Masanori Ishikawa's taking the mound for the opposingTokyo Yakult Swallows, prompted Hara to start him in the season opener as theNo. 8 hitter on March 28. Sakamoto became the first Giant to start a season opener while under the age of 20 since formerNew York Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui did so in 1994.[6]
Although Sakamoto was expected toplatoon at second base with the likes of veteranjourneymanKimura Takuya andspeedsterRyota Wakiya throughout the season, he returned to his natural position when Niokatore his rightcalf muscle in that very game. Sakamoto started at shortstop from the second game onwards and never gave up the starting job.[7] His first career home run came against theHanshin Tigers on April 6, agrand slam offrelieverKenta Abe that made him the youngest player inCentral League history (19 years, 114 days) to hit a grand slam in a regular season game.[8] He was also voted to theAll-Star team that year,[9] getting his first hit in an All-Star game in Game 2 held atYokohama Stadium on August 1.
Sakamoto finished the season with a .257batting average, eight home runs, 43 RBI and 10stolen bases, contributing to the Giants' league title that year.[10] He made his first appearance in theJapan Series against theSaitama Seibu Lions on November 1, hitting a home run off veteran right-handerFumiya Nishiguchi in Game 7[11] and becoming the first NPB player in 22 years to hit a home run in the Japan Series while being under the age of 20 (Kiyohara Kazuhiro last accomplished the feat while he was with the then-Seibu Lions). The Giants lost Game 7 3-2, coming up short in their run for aJapan Series championship.
Sakamoto also started all 144 games, becoming just the third player (and first in the Central League) to start every game of the season in one's second year out of high school (along withFutoshi Nakanishi and Kiyohara). Perhaps even more impressive was that if one were to include pre-season, All-Star,Climax Series (playoffs) and Japan Series games, Sakamoto played a grand total of 172 total games that year. Although the Central League Most Valuable Rookie award was presented to teammate and left-handed relieverTetsuya Yamaguchi, whowent 11-2 with a 2.32ERA in 67appearances, Sakamoto received a special award for his efforts. The Giants also rewarded him by giving him the uniform number6.[12]
In 2009, Sakamoto got off to a good start to the2009 season (his third in the pros and second at the major league level), hitting .376 with a league-leading 11doubles andslugging .541 for the month of April. He continued his torrid streak into May, hitting multiple home runs (the second a game-winning solo shot offcloserKyuji Fujikawa) in a single game for the first time on May 2 against the Tigers[13] and passing TigerssluggerTomoaki Kanemoto to take the league lead in batting average that week. He hit the firstwalk-off home run of his career on May 6 off reliever Hiroki Sanada (who was a teammate of Sakamoto until he was traded midway through the 2008 season) in a game against theYokohama BayStars.[14]
In 2015, Sakamoto was named captain of the Giants. He finished the regular season with a .269 batting average and 12 home runs, and for the first time since 2007 was not selected as an all-star. Sakamoto would bounce back in 2016, hitting .344 with 23 home runs and a .988 OPS, and was once again named an all-star. However, the Giants would miss the postseason for the first time since 2006.
In 2018, he was selected to his 10thAll-Star Series[15] and finished the regular season with a career-high .345 batting average.
In 2019, Sakamoto won his firstMVP award. He finished the regular season with a .312 batting average, 40 home runs and 94 RBI,[16] and helped the Giants reach the2019 Japan Series. However, the Giants were swept by theFukuoka SoftBank Hawks in four games. Sakamoto collected just one hit in 13 at-bats during the series.[17]
On June 3, 2020, it was announced that Sakamoto and Giants teammateTakumi Ohshiro both tested positive forCOVID-19.[18] However, he was cleared to return to the starting lineup for the Giants'2020 season opener against the Hanshin Tigers on June 19. On November 8, 2020, Sakamoto collected his 2,000th career hit.[19]
On September 7, 2023, Sakamoto started at third base for the first time in his 17-year career. Previously, he had only started at second base or shortstop.[20]
As a member of theJapan national baseball team Sakamoto has participated in the 2012 exhibition games againstCuba,2013 World Baseball Classic,2014 MLB Japan All-Star Series, 2015 exhibition games against Europe,2015 WBSC Premier12, 2016 exhibition games againstMexico andNetherlands,2017 World Baseball Classic and2019 WBSC Premier12.
In the 2013 World Baseball Classic, he was the starting shortstop. Like most of his teammates, he had problems at the batting plate, as he was unable to hit for consistency during the pool rounds, though he had a crucial RBI single equalizer againstChinese Taipei in the bottom of the 8th of that game. Sakamoto seemed to regain his batting sense alongside his teammates in the 16-4 mulling of theNetherlands that qualified Team Japan to the semi-finals, hitting 2-5 in the game including a grand slam in the top of the 7th that gave Japan a more than 10 run lead needed to end the game early via mercy rule, securing an early ticket to the semis. However, Team Japan lost their semi-final match againstPuerto Rico 3-1, thus finishing third and losing their two-time defending championship streak.
On October 1, 2019, he was selected to participate at the 2019 WBSC Premier12.[21]
On November 16, 2018, Sakamoto was selected for the Yomiuri Giants roster at the2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series exhibition game against MLB All-Stars.[22]
Listed at 6 ft 1 in and 176 lb,[23] Sakamoto has a relatively largeframe for a Japanesemiddle infielder. He is aspray hitter whose swing is characterized by a pronounced leg kick. Though the majority of hisextra-base hits tend to beline drives into thealleys (37 doubles in 653 careerat-bats as of May 13, 2009), many predict that Sakamoto will develop home run power as his body fills out.[citation needed]
Sakamoto puts his superb athleticism (he was clocked at 6.0 seconds in the 50-meter dash and 110 meters in the long toss in high school) to good use in the field. Though he committed 15 errors in the field in his first season in the majors in 2008, he has very good range and has improved on his throwing tremendously since coming into the pros.[citation needed]
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