Kenta Imamiya


Kenta Imamiya is a Japanese professional baseball shortstop for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball.
Imamiya attended Meiho High School, pitcher-shortstop, hitting 62 home runs and throwing as hard as 154 km/h. The Softbank Hawks drafted him in the first round in 2009. He made his debut with the big club on April 12, 2011, as a defensive sub at 1B. For the year, he played 18 games but only had one at-bat. He had two steals and three runs, indicating he pinch-ran at times.
After the 2011 NPB season, Imamiya played in the Australian Baseball League for the Brisbane Bandits, and was named to the 2011 Australian Baseball League All-Star Game.