is a professional Japanese baseball outfielder and first baseman of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He previously played in NPB for the Hanshin Tigers and the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. Early baseball career A native of Fukuoka, he began playing as a catcher for the Mikuni Honeys in grade school, then went on to join the Futsukaichi Lions in junior high where he got to participate in national tournaments. Upon entering high school, he secured the outfielder post for the Fukuoka Koudai Joto High School. He was elected as team captain in his second year, but his team never made it past the elimination rounds to summer Koshien. He attended the same high school as fellow Tiger's teammate Ryutaro Umeno who was a year ahead, and like Umeno, he started as an outfielder and graduated as a catcher. Professional career Hanshin Tigers Nakatani was selected as the Hanshin Tigers' 3rd round pick in the 2010 Nippon Professional Baseball draft. He signed as a catcher on a contract of 50 million yen and an annual salary of 6 million. He was given the jersey number 60. 2011 In 2011, Nakatani played in 23 Western League games (minors) and batted .261 with 4 RBIs. Because he played mostly as an outfielder and not as a catcher, they changed his training regimen from a catcher to an outfielder at the end of the season. 2012 Nakatani spent most of the 2012 season playing in the minors. He was selected to play in the mid-season Fresh All Star Game on July 18, and was selected as the game's MVP when he scored 2 hits and 3 RBIs. On August 23, he debuted in his 1st official game as the starting right fielder in the match against the Chunichi Dragons at the Kurashiki Muscat Stadium. He appeared in 5 more games, but he failed to record a hit in any of them. He finished the season in the minors, with a .225 batting average, 3 home runs and 27 RBIs. 2013 In 2013, the Tigers officially changed Nakatani's position from catcher to outfielder. He spent the entire season in the farm, and batted .201 in 100 games, with 31 RBIs and 2 home runs. 2014 Nakatani also didn't appear in any main squad matches in this year, and batted his worst at .190 in 93 minor league games. His home run count improved to 7. 2015 Nakatani's