Quick Facts
Biography
Takuma Katō (加藤 匠馬, Katō Takuma, born April 29, 1992 in Matsusaka, Mie, Japan) is a professional Japanese baseball player. He plays catcher for the Chunichi Dragons.
Early career
Katō started playing baseball in elementary school and was a pitcher when he reached junior high.
At Mie High School, in his freshman year he converted to catching and by fall of his junior year he had become a regular behind the dish. He took part in the Spring Invitational in his senior year where he caught the attention of scouts after throwing out a runner.
He was regular catcher at Aoyama Gakuin University from fall of his first year where he learned to adapt his release from behind the plate to catch faster, more skilled runners.
On 22 October 2014, Katō was selected 5th by the Chunichi Dragons at the 2014 NPB Draft and on 16 November signed a provisional contract with a ¥35,000,000 sign-on bonus and a ¥8,000,000 yearly salary
Professional career
Chunichi Dragons
On 31 May 2015, Katō made his first professional appearance as a defensive replacement against the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters.
On 22 May 2016 against the Yomiuri Giants Katō made his first plate appearance in the 8th inning where he fell to a first base foul fly.
On 25 November 2016, Katō was selected alongside Ryosuke Nomura, Shota Suzuki, Ryota Ishioka, Hayato Mizowaki and Hiroki Kondo to take part in the 2016 Asia Winter Baseball League.
In 2017, Katō made only one appearance in the Dragons first team while in 2018 he failed to make any appearances