Seiya completed his third season with the Cubs after he signed a five-year contract with the club in March 2022...Has batted .278 (396-for-1,424) with 80 doubles, 14 triples, 55 home runs and 193 RBI in 381 games with the Cubs...Was named N.L. Rookie of the Month for April 2022 after batting .279 (19-for-68) with five doubles, four homers, 14 RBI, a .405 OBP and a .934 SLG and the N.L. Player of the Week for the week of April 11-17...Reached base safely in each of his first 12 career Major League games, the third-longest career-opening stretch by a Cub since 1901 (Christopher Morel, 22 games in 2022; Willson Contreras,13 games in 2016)…Became the ninth Japanese-born player to play for the Cubs, joining Munenori Kawasaki, Kosuke Fukudome, So Taguchi, Yu Darvish, Kyuji Fujikawa, Koji Uehara, Hisanori Takahashi and Tsuyoshi Wada...Spent nine seasons with the Hiroshima Carp of the Japan Central League, batting a combined .315 (937-for-2,976) with 182 doubles, 16 triples, 182 home runs, 562 RBI, 82 stolen bases and a .984 OPS in 902 games...Is a five-time Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star, a five-time Central League Gold Glove Award winner and a six-time Best-Nine Award recipient...Won two Central League batting titles, leading the league in 2019 (.335) and 2021 (.317)…From 2016-21 in Japan, recorded six straight seasons with at least 25 doubles, 25 home runs and a .300 batting average...Logged an on-base percentage over .400 in five of those seasons, including a league-leading .453 in 2019 and .433 in 2021...Named to Team Japan for the 2023 World Baseball Classic but did not play due to injury...Played in five games during the 2020 Summer Olympics for Team Japan, leading the club to a gold medal...Hit one solo home run during the competition and recorded all three of his hits vs. Team USA...Also participated internationally for Team Japan in the 2019 WSBC Premier 12 and the 2014 U21 Baseball World Cup...Was named the MVP of the 2019 WSBC Premier 12 after he hit .444 (12-for-27) with three home runs and 13 RBI...Was originally drafted by Hiroshima in the second round of the 2012 NPB Draft...Was mainly a pitcher in high school, but was drafted in 2012 as an infielder, before converting to the outfield in 2015...When he was drafted by Hiroshima in 2012, was given No. 51 as his uniform number...although he is not related, Seiya was inspired by Ichiro growing up in Japan.
2024
Seiya in 2024 played in 132 games for the Cubs, batting .283 (145-for-512) with 27 doubles, six triples, a career-high 21 home runs, 73 RBI, 16 stolen bases, a .366 OBP and a .848 OPS...Recorded a career-high 16 stolen bases...His six triples were tied for sixth-most in the N.L...Among qualified N.L. players, ranked eighth in OBP and OPS, ninth in average and 10th in SLG...Posted a .308 average (88-for-286) with 13 home runs, 41 RBI and a .914 OPS on the road...Joined Hideki Matsui (6x) and Shohei Ohtani (4x) as the third Japanese-born player to hit at least 21 home runs in a single season...Hit 17 of his 21 home runs vs. right-handed pitching...Had a five-game hitting streak from March 31-April 5, going 9-for-20 (.450) with two home runs and 11 RBI during the stretch...Homered in back-to-back games April 2-3...Left the game on April 14 in Seattle with a right oblique strain and was on the injured list from April 15-May 11...From May 23-June 2, recorded his first of two career-high-tying 10-game hitting streaks this season (13-for-41/.317)…Hit 10 home runs and drove in 33 runs in 51 games in June and July...Tied a season-high with four RBI on June 1 vs. Cincinnati, including his first career grand slam...Per OptaStats became the first Major Leaguer in the modern era to make a three-run error and hit a grand slam in the same inning of the same game...July 2 vs. Philadelphia, hit his 45th career home run, surpassing Tadahito Iguchi for the fifth-most all-time by a Japanese-born player...From July 9-end of the season, batted .310 (81-for-261) with nine home runs, 37 RBI, a .401 OBP and a .906 OPS in 67 games...His .401 OBP during the stretch led all qualified N.L. players, while his .310 average ranked fourth and his .906 OPS was sixth...Recorded multi-hit efforts in seven of nine games from July 24-Aug. 2, including in four-straight contests from July 30- Aug. 2...Batted .400 (14-for-35) during the stretch...Hit his 49th career homer on Aug. 1 vs. St. Louis, surpassing Kenji Johjima for fourth-most all-time by a Japanese-born player...Recorded his first career walk-off RBI, a 10th-inning single on Aug. 16 vs. Toronto...On Aug. 24 in Miami recorded his third career multi-homer game (last, May 17, 2023 at Houston)…Also hit a triple in the game, becoming the first Cub since Kyle Schwarber (July 27, 2017 at White Sox) to hit two homers and a triple in one game...Tied a career-high with four hits and three runs scored on Aug. 26 in Pittsburgh...Hit safely in 15 of his last 16 games from Sept. 9-29, including a career-high-tying 10-game hitting streak from Sept. 9-19...Batted .377 (23-for-61) with a .486 OBP and a 1.027 OPS during the stretch.
2023
Seiya during the 2023 season batted .285 (147-for-515) with 31 doubles, six triples, 20 home runs and 74 RBI in 138 games with the Cubs...Among the Cubs, ranked first in triples (6), second in doubles (31) and extra base hits (57), third in hits (147), walks (59), batting average (.285) and OBP (357) and fourth in RBI (74)…His 57 extra base hits are the most by a Japanese-born Cub...Kosuke Fukudome held the previous record of 54 (2009)...He joined Hideki Matsui (four times) and Shohei Ohtani (three times) as the only Japanese-born player to record at least 55 extra-base hits in a season...Was placed on the 10-day injured list March 30 (retroactive to March 27)-April 14, with a left oblique strain...Included a rehab assignment with Triple-A Iowa, where he hit .308 (4-for-13) with one home run in four games...Started his return to the majors with a solo home run on April 14 at Los Angeles (N.L.)...Had a seven-game hitting streak April 29-May 5, during which he hit .296 (8-for-27) with one double, one triple and three RBI...Hit a solo home run on May 16 and two home runs on May 17 on three-straight plate appearances against Houston...per Elias Sports Bureau, Suzuki is the first Cub to have a home run in three consecutive plate appearances since Kris Bryant May 17, 2019...He is the first Japanese-born player to achieve the feat in the majors...From Aug. 18-end of season, was second in the league in extra base hits (26) and hits (56), and third in doubles (14)…In that time, he batted .361 (56-for-155) with 14 doubles, three triples, nine home runs and 33 RBI...Had a career-high 10-game hitting streak Aug. 18-27...he hit .432 (16-for-37) with five doubles, one triple, two home runs and seven RBI during the streak...In the month of August, batted .321 (25-for-78) with six doubles, two triples, five home runs and 13 RBI...Sept. 5 recorded his third career four-hit game (also July 22, 2022 at Philadelphia and July 18, 2023 vs. Washington)…He hit .370 (40-for-108) with nine doubles, two triples, seven home runs and 26 RBI in 28 games in September.
2022
Seiya in 2022 made his Major League debut, playing in 111 games, going 104-for-397 (.262) with 22 doubles, two triples,14 home runs and 46 RBI... Was on the injured list May 30-July 4 with a sprained left ring finger ... was on paternity leave Sept. 17-20 and the restricted list Sept. 20-27....Was one of four rookies in the Major Leagues to record 20-plus doubles, 14-plus home runs, 46-plus RBI and at least a .260 average (also Michael Harris II, Julio Rodríguez and José Miranda)....His 38 extra-base hits were third-most among N.L. rookies, trailing Michael Harris II (49) and teammate Christoper Morel(39)....His .433 slugging was second-highest among N.L. rookies with at least 400 plate appearances, trailing only Atlanta's Michael Harris II...his .262 average, .336 OBP and .770 OPS all ranked third among N.L. rookies (min. 400 PA)....Recorded two hitting streaks of at least eight games, April 7-18 (9 games) and Sept. 11-Oct. 2 (8 games)....Started his Major League career with a nine-game hitting streak from April 7-18 (12-for-28, .429 avg., 1.493 OPS)...The nine-game run tied Andy Pafko (1943) for the longest career-opening hitting streak by a Cub and also tied Tampa Bay's Akinori Iwamura (2007) for the longest such streak by a Japanese-born player....Collected 10 RBI in his first 22 career plate appearances, the fewest plate appearances needed for any Cub to collect his first 10 career RBI....Reached base safely in each of his first 12 career major league games, the third-longest career-opening stretch by a Cub since 1901 (Christopher Morel, 22 games in 2022;Willson Contreras,13 games in 2016)....Notched his first career hit in his first career game on April 7... hit his first career home run April 10 vs. Milwaukee... Recorded his first career multi-home run game April 12 at Pittsburgh....Notched his first career RBI and first multi-RBI game April 9vs. Milwaukee ... recorded multiple RBI in three consecutive games April 9-12, including three RBI on April 9 and 10....Was named N.L. Player of the Week for the week of April 11-17 after posting a slash line of .412/.545/1.059 with five runs, seven hits, two doubles, three triples, five RBI and five walks across six games....Was named N.L. Rookie of the Month for April after batting.279 (19-for-68) with five doubles, four homers, 14 RBI, a.405 OBP and a .934 SLG during the month....In his 12 games with an at-bat following his reactivation from the injured list, July 4-22, hit .400 (20-for-50) with a.444 OBP and 1.044 OPS....Hit his first career inside-the-park home run on July 4 off Josh Hader...it was the Cubs first inside-the-park homer since Javier Báez, Aug. 7, 2017 at San Francisco....Finished the season hitting .315 (35-for-111) after Aug. 21, reaching base safely in 26 of the 32 games, including 11 multi-hit efforts...the .315 average during that span was first among N.L. rookies and seventh among all N.L. hitters.
2021
Seiya won his second career Central League batting title in 2021 with a .317 average (138-for-435)...Was named an NPB All-Star for the fifth-straight season, Gold Glove Award winner for the fifth time and Best Nine Award winner for the sixth consecutive season...Hit a career high 38 home runs and drew 87 walks in 132 games played, contributing to a league-leading .433 OBP 1.073 OPS ... the 1.073 OPS was also a career high...Led Team Japan to a gold medal in the 2020-21 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, recording three hits and a home run during the competition.
2020
In 2020, recorded his fifth consecutive season with at least 25 doubles, 25 home runs and a .300 average...Led Hiroshima in doubles (26), home runs (25), RBI (75), on-base percentage (.409) and slugging (.544), while his .300 average was the second-highest on the team.
2019
Notched a career-high 25 stolen bases and 103 walks in 2019, leading Hiroshima to a fourth place finish in the Japan Central League...Won his first career batting title, finishing with a career-high .335 average (167-for-499) with 31 doubles, 28 home runs, 87 RBI, 103 walks, a .453 OBP and a 1.018 OPS...Was named to his fourth career NPB All-Star team, receiving the most votes among all Central League players...On July 13, won the NPB Home Run Derby ... he was awarded the Nissan Note Power Award, given to the player with the fastest average hitting speed...Played for Team Japan in the WSBC Premier 12 following the season and was named tournament MVP...Hit .444 (12-for-27) with three home runs and 13 RBI in eight games.
2018
In 2018, was the only player in the Japan Central League with 30-plus doubles, 30-plus home runs and 90-plus RBI...Notched his first career 30-homer season ... his 30 home runs were the second-most on the team...Was named to his third consecutive NPB All-Star team and hit his first career All-Star Game home run off current Toronto Blue Jays pitcher, Yusei Kikuchi...He finished the season batting .320 (135-for-422) with 32 doubles, two triples, 30 home runs, 94 RBI and 88 walks, leading Hiroshima to their third consecutive Central League pennant...While Hiroshima lost to the Fukuoka Sotbank Hawks in the Japan Series, he hit .455 (10-for-22) with three home runs and six RBI during the series.
2017
Was limited to 115 games in 2017 after he left the game on Aug. 23 due to an ankle injury and subsequent surgery...Led the Central League with a .936 OPS and finished second on the team in home runs (26) and RBI (90)...Made his second career All-Star appearance after he received 448,715 votes, the most among Central League outfielders...Received his second consecutive Gold Glove and Best Nine Award.
2016
In 2016, led Hiroshima in average (.335), home runs (29) and OPS (1.016), guiding the club to their first Central League pennant since 1991...Missed the beginning of the season due to a hamstring injury suffered during a practice game...Made his first career NPB All-Star appearance...Received his first career Gold Glove and Best Nine Award following the season.
2015
Was converted from an infielder to an outfielder prior to the 2015 season, playing in 97 games with Hiroshima...Batted .275 (58-for-211) with six doubles, three triples, five home runs and 25 RBI.
2014
Split the 2014 season between Hiroshima and their farm club ... batted .344 (22-for-64) in 36 games for the Carp...Played in 50 games in Hiroshima's farm system and hit .284 (52-for-183) with 10 doubles, one triple, four home runs and 19 RBI.
2013
Made his professional debut in 2013, appearing in 90 games with Hiroshima's farm system, batting .281 (94-for-335) with 15 doubles, four triples, two home runs and 38 RBI...Made his NPB debut on Sept. 14, appearing in 11 games with Hiroshima to finish the season.
