Masahiro Nakatani

A native of Fukuoka, he began playing as a catcher for the Mikuni Honeys in grade school, then went on to join the Futsukaichi Lions in junior high where he got to participate in national tournaments.

Upon entering high school, he secured the outfielder post for the Fukuoka Koudai Joto High School. He was elected as team captain in his second year, but his team never made it past the elimination rounds to summer Koshien. He attended the same high school as fellow Tiger's teammate Ryutaro Umeno who was a year ahead, and like Umeno, he started as an outfielder and graduated as a catcher.[1]

He was selected as the Tiger's 3rd round pick in the 2010 professional baseball draft. He signed as a catcher for a contract of 50 million yen and an annual salary of 6 million. He was given the jersey number 60.[2]

2011

He played in 23 Western League games (minors) and batted an average of 0.261 with 4 RBIs. Because he played mostly as an outfielder and not as a catcher, they changed his training regimen from a catcher to an outfielder at the end of the season.[3]

2012

He spent most of the year playing in the minors. He was selected to play in the mid-season Fresh All Star Game on July 18, and was selected as the game's MVP when he scored 2 hits and 3 RBIs.[4] On August 23, he debuted in his 1st official game as the starting right fielder in the match against the Dragons at the Kurashiki Muscat Stadium.[5] He appeared in 5 more games, but he failed to record a hit in any of them. He finished the season in the minors, with a 0.225 batting average, 3 home runs and 27 RBIs.[6]

2013

The Tigers officially changed his registration from catcher to outfielder. He spent the entire season in the farm, batted 0.201 in 100 games, with 31 RBIs and 2 homeruns.

2014

He also didn't appear in any main squad matches in this year, and batted his worst at 0.190 in 93 minor league games. His home run count improved to 7.

2015

His improved performance in the minors early in the season finally earned him a spot in the official match against the Carps on May 8.[7] He recorded his first official hit as a pro on May 9, but when he went hit-less in the next matches, he got sent back to the farm on May 15.[8] He continued to perform well in Western League games, and even got selected as the League MVP of the Month in July.[9] In all his 94 game appearances, he recorded an average of 0.290 with 9 home runs and 40 RBIs, and got awarded as the Western League's MVP of the season.[10]

2016

He spent the earlier half of the season in the farm, where new batting coach and Tigers legend Masayuki Kakefu made him undergo training to improve his batting form.[11] His efforts paid off when he got called to play with the main squad in June. He recorded his first career RBI on June 19, and his first career home run a few days after. His appearances gradually increased until October, mostly as a center fielder or as a pinch hitter, and he finished the season with 14 RBIs, 4 home runs and a batting average of 0.266 out of 64 games.[12]

2017

He had a shaky start early in the season as he competed with young guns Shun Takayama and Fumihito Haraguchi for a regular post in the outfield or first base. His breakout performance started in May when he went on a hitting spree and was down to his 5th home run by the 3rd week.[13] He was rewarded by being assigned the clean up post for the first time in the May 28 match against the Baystars, and continued to be a regular starting player in the next couple of months. He went 5-for-5 against the Lions on June 15, and recorded two hits and two RBIs including a two-run home run against Yomiuri on July 9. This earned him the Sanspo Excellent Player Award for his performance during the Sanspo’s Hanshin Tigers Gekirei Series (June 13 to July 12). By July 23, he was leading the team in home runs batted in (10 HRs).[14] He continued to hit well, and even hit home runs in 3 consecutive matches against the Swallows on August 22.[15] On the September 18 match against the Carps at Koshien Stadium, he recorded his 20th home run of the season in the fourth inning off Yusuke Nomura. He is the first Hanshin right-handed hitting lifer (a player who has played with only one team) to reach 20 home runs since Osamu Hamanaka hit 20 in 2006 (Hamanaka was a lifer at the time he recorded twenty home runs).[16] Out of 133 main squad game appearances, he topped the team in RBIs and home runs (61 RBIs, 20 home runs), with 99 hits and an OPS of 0.697. This earned him a 12 million pay raise, making an estimated annual salary of 36 million yen for 2018.

2018

Falling into a slump during spring camp and batting only 0.143 during the exhibition games, he failed to make it into the main squad when the season started.[17] His slump continued in the farm, (39 games, 0.197 average, 3 home runs), but when the main squad needed batting reinforcement, he got called to play on May 22.[18] On the 9th inning of the May 26 Giants game, with 2 outs and runner in 2nd, he notched his 1st career walk off hit at Koshien.[19] From June onwards however, his performance began to deteriorate, and with the improving performance of other outfielders, his starts gradually decreased. He only appeared in a total of 77 games, hit 26 RBIs with only 5 home runs.

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• NPB.com