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Toshiki Abe

Toshiki Abe
阿部 寿樹
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles – No. 4
Infielder
Born: (1989-12-03) December 3, 1989 (age 34)
Ichinoseki, Iwate, Japan
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
NPB debut
August 11, 2016, for the Chunichi Dragons
Career statistics
(through 2023 season)
Batting average.260
Hits494
Home runs39
Runs batted in227
Stolen base8
Teams

Toshiki Abe (阿部 寿樹, Abe Toshiki, born December 3, 1989) is a Japanese professional baseball infielder for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He has previously played in NPB for the Chunichi Dragons

Early career

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Abe started playing rubber-ball baseball in elementary school and continued at junior high school.

He experienced victory in the Iwate Prefectural and Tohoku regional tournaments with his high school Ichinoseki Daiichi Senior High School but did not make an appearance at Koshien.

In his freshman year at Meiji University, Abe started on the bench while in his junior year he became a regular at third base. In Fall of his senior year he contributed to the school's first league victory in 15 years.[1]

He was employed by Honda and did wiring work while playing baseball for the company team.[2] In his second year with the company he made an appearance in the industrial league Japan championships.

On 22 October 2015, Abe was selected as the 5th draft pick for the Chunichi Dragons at the 2015 NPB Draft and on 26 November signed a provisional contract with a \50,000,000 sign-on bonus and a \10,000,000 yearly salary.[3]

Professional career

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2016-2018

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On 11 August, Abe made his first team debut as a pinch-runner against the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in a 2-8 loss.[4] He then hit his first home run and RBI on 14 September against the Yomiuri Giants at Nagoya Dome.[5] From his debut, Abe stayed with the first team until the end of the season making 24 appearances with a .170 batting average filing in at short-stop, third and second base.

In 2017, Abe was able to play in 21 games with the top team while hitting a slash line of .244/.309/.333 on the farm over 85 games.[6]

In 2018, Abe once again had a limited role playing mostly as a pinch-hitter and defensive replacement in 18 games with the top team while in the fall he started training to play in the outfield.[7] His results on the farm were less impactful than the previous season hitting a clip of .212/.296/.318 with 5 homeruns over 82 games.[8]

2019

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From spring training, Abe was marked for a starting role alongside fellow utility Naomichi Donoue and appeared in the opening day line-up at of the 2019 season at second base.[9] On the April 5, Abe hit his first homerun since his rookie season against the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.[10] Abe was a UZR leader at second base for the Dragons leading the, batting .291 and a .742 OPS.[11]

2023

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On November 19, 2022, Abe was traded to the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in exchange for Hideaki Wakui.

Career statistics

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Nippon Professional Baseball
Year Age Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR TB RBI SB AVG OBP SLG OPS
2016 26 Chunichi 25 49 2 9 1 0 1 13 4 1 .184 .212 .265 .477
Career 24 47 2 8 1 0 1 12 1 1 .170 .200 .255 .455

Bold indicates league leader; statistics current as of 29 September 2016

References

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  1. ^ "硬式野球部 １５年ぶり５度目の日本一！(Baseball team wins 5th Japanese title after 15 years wait!)". Meiji University (in Japanese). 1 December 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  2. ^ "中日ドラ５阿部が仮契約 コツコツ精神で正遊撃手だ(Chunichi's 5th draft pick Abe's pre-contract: working steadily to become a short-stop)". Nikkan Sports. 27 November 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  3. ^ "中日、５位指名のホンダ・阿部と仮契約(Chunichi, 5th Honda 5th pick provisional contract with Abe)". Sponichi (in Japanese). 26 November 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  4. ^ "中日ルーキー阿部がプロ初出場「２軍と雰囲気違う」" (in Japanese). Nikkan Sports. 11 August 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  5. ^ "阿部、プロ１号 打点も初！(Abe, first pro homer, first RBI)" (in Japanese). Chunichi Sports. 15 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  6. ^ "2017年度 中日ドラゴンズ 個人打撃成績（ウエスタン・リーグ）". 一般社団法人日本野球機構 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2019-08-28.
  7. ^ "中日阿部50万円減も納得、ドラ１根尾加入に悲愴感 - プロ野球 : 日刊スポーツ" [Chunichi's Abe agrees 500,000 decrease; sense of despair with addition of Neo]. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 2018-11-25. Retrieved 2019-08-28.
  8. ^ "2018年度 中日ドラゴンズ 個人打撃成績（ウエスタン・リーグ）". 一般社団法人日本野球機構 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2019-08-28.
  9. ^ Mori, Takatoshi (2019-04-26). "【中日好き】阿部寿樹、4年目の開花" [[Chunichi Suki] Toshiki Abe, blossoming in his 4th year]. JSports (in Japanese). Retrieved 2019-08-28.
  10. ^ "中日・阿部 933日ぶり一発！1年目以来のプロ通算2本目" [Chunchi's Abe hit first bomb in 933 days! 1st homer since 1st year turning pro]. Sponichi (in Japanese). 2019-04-05. Retrieved 2019-08-28.
  11. ^ "1.02 Essence of Baseball". DELTAGRAPHS (in Japanese). 2020-03-02. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
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