Yuma Tongu (頓宮 裕真, Tongu Yuma, born November 17, 1996 in Bizen, Okayama Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese professional baseball player for the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball. He plays catcher and infielder, specifically on every infield position outside of shortstop.[1][2]
| Yuma Tongu | |
|---|---|
 Tongu with the Orix Buffaloes | |
| Orix Buffaloes – No. 44 | |
| Catcher / Infielder | |
| Born: November 17, 1996 Bizen, Okayama, Japan | |
Bats: Right Throws: Right | |
| NPB debut | |
| March 29, 2019, for the Orix Buffaloes | |
| NPB statistics (through 2023 season) | |
| Batting average | .264 |
| Home runs | 37 |
| RBIs | 112 |
| Teams | |
| |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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In elementary school, Tongu was friends and teammates with future Buffaloes teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and at the time, Yamamoto also played catcher, so both played catch with each other.[3]
He is often nicknamed "Yumer", as he chose the number 44 used by former Hankyu Braves foreign slugger Greg "Boomer" Wells. When he picked it, he stated that he wanted to be called that once he lived up to the number 44. Eventually, he also got one of Wells's gloves, which he said he would treat like a family heirloom.
References
edit- ^ Organization, Nippon Professional Baseball. "Tongu,Yuma（ORIX Buffaloes） | Players". Nippon Professional Baseball Organization (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-07-30.
- ^ "44 頓宮 裕真 選手名鑑2023". オリックス・バファローズ (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-07-30.
- ^ "頓宮裕真 | オリックス・バファローズ | 選手". 週刊ベースボールONLINE (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-07-30.