Masami Ishigaki
石垣雅海
Chunichi Dragons – No. 32
Infielder
Born: (1998-09-21) 21 September 1998 (age 25)
Sakata, Yamagata
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
NPB debut
4 October, 2017, for the Chunichi Dragons
NPB statistics
(through 2020 season)
Batting average.118
Home runs1
Runs batted in2
Teams

Masami Ishigaki (石垣 雅海, Ishigaki Masami, born September 21, 1998) is a Japanese professional baseball infielder for the Chunichi Dragons in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball.

Early career

Ishigaki started playing baseball in his third year with Kamejiro Elementary School.[1][2] In his senior year in middle school, Ishigaki was selected for the Tohoku regional representative team.[1] In spring of his first year at South Sakata High School he became the regular third baseman for the team and in fall of the same year, he switched to fielding at short-stop.[1] In spring of his second year he was put in the outfield but returned to short stop in spring of his senior year.[1]

Through his high school career he was not able to play at the summer koshien tournament with the best result being a semi-final appearance in the Tohoku prefectural tournament.[2]

On 20 October 2016, Ishigaki was selected as the 3rd draft pick for the Chunichi Dragons at the 2016 NPB Draft and on 22 November signed a provisional contract with a ¥50,000,000 sign-on bonus and a ¥5,400,000 yearly salary.[3]

Professional career

Chunichi Dragons

2017

Ishigaki started his career in the Western League farm team playing mostly at third-base where he hit .197 with 3 homeruns in 60 games.[4]

On 4 October, Ishigaki made his professional debut, starting at third base, batting 7th where he struck out 3 times in 3 at bats.[5]

2018

On 12 July, Ishigaki was selected as a Dragon's representative in the 2018 Fresh All-Stars game where he hit a backscreen homerun as well as capturing MVP honours.[6]

On 19 October, it was announced that Ishigaki would be playing the 2018 Asia Winter Baseball League for the Western League selection[7] however he was injured in the lead up and replaced by Wataru Takamatsu.[8]

He finished the 2018 Western League season slashing .183/.256/.234 with one homerun having played 100 games.[9]

2019

Ishigaki started the 2019 season on the farm where he captured monthly MVP honours for the month of June after hitting .345 with 3 homeruns and 7 RBIs.[10]

On 21 August, Ishigaki was promoted to the first team and on the same day struck his first professional hit as a pinch-hitter against Yomiuri Giants ace, Tomoyuki Sugano.[11] At the season's end, Ishigaki received a pay rise of ¥1,200,000 after playing in 15 top team games.[12]

Playing Style

Ishigaki hits for power with quick bat speed,[2] can throw over 100 meters and can run 50 meters in 5.9 seconds.[1] He has likened himself to and idolises Tokyo Yakult Swallows' triple crown man, Tetsuto Yamada.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "酒田南・石垣 ３拍子そろった大砲 ドラフトを待つ" [South Sakata's Ishigaki: The kid with 3 tools waits for the draft]. Nikkan Sports. 18 October 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "石垣 雅海プロフィール" [Profile of Masami Ishigaki]. SportsNavi (in Japanese). Yahoo News. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  3. ^ "中日３位石垣が仮契約「ガッキーって呼ばれてます」(Chunichi, 3rd pick Ishigaki signs pre-contract "They call me Gaki".)". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 22 November 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  4. ^ 一般社団法人日本野球機構. "2017年度 中日ドラゴンズ 個人打撃成績（ウエスタン・リーグ）" [2017 Western League Chunichi Dragons Batting Statistics]. npb.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  5. ^ "中日石垣「対応力が」３打席連続三振ほろ苦デビュー - プロ野球 : 日刊スポーツ" [Chunichi's Ishigaki "(I couldn't) adapt" A bitter 3PA 3SO debut]. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 4 October 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  6. ^ "中日石垣、プロ入り初のバックスクリーン弾でＭＶＰ - プロ野球 : 日刊スポーツ" [Chunichi's Ishigaki, first career backscreen homerun; MVP honours]. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 12 July 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  7. ^ "「アジアウインターベースボールリーグ」に挑むNPB選抜チームのメンバーが決定 ｜ BASEBALL KING" [2018 Asia Winter League Selection Announced]. Baseball King (in Japanese). 19 October 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  8. ^ "台湾ウインターＬの選手変更 中日、石垣が高松へ" [Taiwan Winter League selection: Takamatsu in for Ishigaki]. Sanspo (in Japanese). 21 November 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  9. ^ 一般社団法人日本野球機構. "2018年度 中日ドラゴンズ 個人打撃成績（ウエスタン・リーグ）" [2018 Western League Chunichi Dragons Batting Statistics]. Nippon Professional Baseball (in Japanese). Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  10. ^ "ＤｅＮＡ細川、中日石垣が２軍６月月間ＭＶＰ賞 - プロ野球 : 日刊スポーツ" [DeNA's Hosokawa, Chunichi's Ishigaki capture June, 2-Gun MVP honours]. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 10 July 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  11. ^ "中日・石垣「最後まで１軍に残りたい」 「食らいつく」オフも懸命にバットを振る" [Chunichi/ Ishigaki "I want to stay with the top team until the end" Will swing the bat in the off season with earnest.]. Chunichi Sports (in Japanese). 26 August 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  12. ^ Tokai Television Dra-HOT-Plus [@drahotplus] (9 November 2019). "今日から #契約更改 がスタート！3年目で、今季プロ初ヒットを記録した #石垣雅海 選手は120万円UPの660万円でサイン。同じ内野手でドラフト1位の #石川昴弥 選手に対し「負けていられない」と、開幕一軍でのスタートを誓いました。 #ドラゴンズ #ドラHOT" [Contract negotiations start today! 3rd year Ishigaki who got his first pro hit received a 1.2M boost up to a 6.6M annual salary. Fellow infielder draft #1 pick, Takaya Ishikawa says "he won't lose out" to other players and promised to be on the opening day roster. #Dragons #DraHOT] (Tweet) (in Japanese) – via Twitter.
  13. ^ "「東北ＮＯ１スラッガー」酒田南・石垣、ドラフトは「人生がかかっている日」" [Tohoku's number one Slugger, Masami Ishigaki "Life banks on draft day"]. Sports Hochi (in Japanese). 19 October 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
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