Ryota Arai

Ryota Arai
Hanshin Tigers – No. 32
Infielder
Born: (1983-08-16) August 16, 1983 Hiroshima, Japan
Bats: Right Throws: Right
NPB debut
2006, for the Chunichi Dragons
NPB statistics (through 2013)
Batting average	.238
Home runs	14
RBI	51
Teams
Chunichi Dragons (2006–2010) Hanshin Tigers (2011–present)

Ryota Arai (新井 良太, Arai Ryota, born August 16, 1983 in Hiroshima) is a Japanese professional baseball infielder for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball.

Ryota is a 6'2 infielder, playing either 1st or 3rd baseman, but also previously played as an outfielder. His elder brother Takahiro is also a professional baseball player currently playing for Hanshin Tigers.

Early Baseball Career

He played softball from his 5th year in grade school, and continued when he attended the Satsukigaoka Junior High School in Hiroshima. In his 2nd year, his school team placed 3rd in the Junior High Softball Tournament in China.

He then attended Koryo High Schoo where he played as first baseman. In the spring of his senior year, he was elected as team captain (No.4)) and participated in the finals of the Japanese High School Baseball Invitational Tournament. In their battle with East Fukuoka High School , 2nd year Yuki Yoshimura pitched 3 scoreless innings, but ended up losing the game (4-8) in favor of Koryo. Kentaro Nishimura and Shirahama Yuta, both one year his junior, played alongside him.

He then entered Komazawa University where his team participated in the Tohto University Baseball League. Out of 79 games played in college, he recorded a .238 batting average, 63 hits, 49 RBIs and 14 home runs, and received the Best Nine Award twice.

Chunichi Dragons

He was drafted by the Chunichi Dragons during the off-season of 2005, and played for them from 2006 to 2010. He was given the jersey no. 25, same as his older brother.

Personal Life

Ryota is of Korean-Japanese descent, but was naturalized along with his brother in June 2004. It is often told that his playing form and physique closely resembles that of his brother. According to an article inChunichi News, when Ryota first appeared as a pinch hitter in a game vs Hanshin in July 25, 2006, at the time he was striked out, then left fielder Tomoaki Kanemoto said "You look too much like your brother!". Up to now, both brothers still hold deep respect for Kanemoto.

He is also a calligraphy specialist.

Career statistics

Nippon Professional Baseball
Year	Age	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	TB	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
2006	23	Chunichi	18	23	2	6	2	0	0	8	0	0	0.261	0.292	0.348	0.639
2007	24		29	25	5	7	3	0	0	10	2	0	0.28	0.357	0.4	0.757
2008	25		24	18	2	3	0	0	0	3	0	0	0.167	0.211	0.167	0.377
2009	26		8	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2010	27		45	59	6	9	0	0	1	12	2	1	0.153	0.167	0.203	0.37
2011	28	Hanshin	43	26	3	5	0	0	0	5	3	0	0.192	0.222	0.192	0.415
2012	29		110	322	38	90	18	0	11	141	32	1	0.28	0.365	0.438	0.803
2013	30		119	357	44	85	14	1	14	143	51	2	0.238	0.315	0.401	0.716
2014	31		53	140	11	41	8	0	6	67	28	0	0.293	0.346	0.479	0.825
Career			449	976	111	246	45	1	32	389	118	4	.252	.323	.399	.721

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference (Minors)
• NPB stats