Takuya Kai
In the 2017 season, Kai mainly teamed up with young starter pitchers such as Kodai Senga, Nao Higashihama, Shuta Ishikawa, and Yuki Matsumoto.[9] Kai finished the regular season having made 103 appearances and batting .232 with five home runs and 18 RBI.[15] In the 2019 season, Kai made 137 appearances for Fukuoka, batting .260 with 11 home runs and 43 RBI, as a regular catcher of the Hawks.[19] He supported the pitchers as the startng catcher and finished the regular season with a batting average of .211, 11 home runs, 33 RBI, 44 stolen bases, and 22 sacrifice bunts in 104 games.Kai recorded more than 10 home runs for the second consecutive year, becoming the first catcher to achieve the feat since Kenji Jojima, and his 22 sacrifice hits were the most in the Pacific League in 2020.[22][23][24] In 2021, Kai played in all 143 games and finished the year with a .227 batting average, 12 home runs and 44 RBI.[25] On December 16, 2021, Kai was honored with a Pacific League Golden Glove Award for the fifth consecutive season.[25] The next day, he re–signed with the Hawks for an estimated annual salary of 210 million yen, making him the highest paid active catcher.
CatcherBatting averageHome runsRuns batted inFukuoka SoftBank HawksJapan SeriesJapan Series MVPNPB All-StarPacific League Golden Glove AwardPacific League Best Nine AwardbaseballSummer Olympics2020 TokyoWorld Baseball Classic2023 MiamiWBSC Premier122019 TokyoAsia Professional Baseball Championship2017 Tokyoprofessional baseballYomiuri GiantsNippon Professional Baseballdevelopmental player2010 Nippon Professional Baseball draftKodai SengaTaisei MakiharaShikoku Island League PlusWestern Leagueregistered player under controlInterleague play (NPB)Hiroshima Toyo Carp2014 Japan Series2015 Japan Seriespinch hitterNao HigashihamaShuta IshikawaYuki Matsumotohome rungrand slam2017 Japan SeriesbatteryMitsui Golden Glove AwardBest Nine Award2018 Japan Seriescaught stealingsJapan Series Most Valuable Player AwardNPB All-Star gameno–hitter2019 Japan Seriesuniform numberKatsuya NomuraKenji Jojima2020 Japan Seriessacrifice buntsfielding percentageassistsCOVID-19rosterSaitama Seibu LionsJapan national baseball team2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series2019 WBSC Premier122017 Asia Professional Baseball ChampionshipYadier MolinaBaseball at the 2020 Summer OlympicsCannonMobile Suit GundamNikkan SportsNPB.jpNishinippon ShimbunSports NipponSankei SportsMLB.comJapan Series MVP AwardMinamimuraBesshoKawakamiSugishitaToyodaOhshitaSugiuraMiyamotoDobashiTanemoS. NagashimaStankaShibataTakadaSuetsuguHoriuchiHirotaFukumotoYamadaY. TakahashiLyttleNishimotoHigashioIshigeKomadaDestradeAkiyamaTake. IshiiKawasakiMakiharaO'MalleyFurutaTaka. SuzukiMatsuiSugiuchiTaka. IshiiN. NakamuraKokuboUtsumiUchikawaLee Dae-hoSarfateGracialKuriharaY. NakamuraSugimotoChikamotoKuwaharaTaiseiYūhi NishidateTomoyuki SuganoIori Yamasaki