Attended Yokohama Sogakukan High School and Hachinohe Gakuin University in Japan...while in college won batting championships, RBI titles and three Best Nine honors.
2021
Missed 43 games during two stints on the 10-day Injured List...missed the first 29 games of the season with a left hamstring strain (4/1-5/6)...beginning 9/18 missed the last 14 games of the season with a right hamstring strain...Made 33 starts, including 29 starts in CF (last, 9/16 at Pit) and 4 starts in LF (last, 5/31 vs Phi)...made his last 27 starts in CF...His longest starts streak of the season was three games (6/28- 6/30, 7/17-7/19, 7/29-7/31)...Began the season on the 10-day injured list with a strained left hamstring suffered on 3/13, his last spring training appearance...following two rehab games at Louisville (1-9, 3k) was reinstated from the 10-day injured list on 5/7, when Joey Votto went on the 10-day injured list with a broken left thumb...Made 4 apps in spring training (0-7, 1r, 3bb, 3k, 1sb)...early in spring training, from 2/25-3/3, missed 7 days of camp after his wife was injured in an accident in a Cincinnati park...Made his season debut in Wade Miley's no-hitter on 5/7 at Cle...started in LF...In the 7-6 win on 5/16 at Col produced 3 hits and 2 RBI, both career highs...also had two RBI on 7/28 at Cubs and 8/15 at Phi...In the seventh inning of the 5-4 loss on 9/15 at Pit, singled off Chad Kuhl to snap a career-high 0-for-18 skid...In the seventh inning of the 1-0 win on 9/16 at Pit produced a sac bunt that led to Asdrúbal Cabrera's sac fly...was Akiyama's first sac bunt since 2015 while playing for the Seibu Lions of Japan's Pacific League...Finished the season with a streak of 317 at-bats without a home run, the second-longest active streak in the Major Leagues (Magneuris Sierra, 500)...did homer in his first-ever appearance at Great American Ball Park, in an exhibition vs the Tigers on 7/21/20 (3-run HR off David McKay).
2020
In his Major League debut and first professional season as a regular player in left field, was a finalist for the Rawlings Gold Glove Award for defensive excellence at that position...StL's Tyler O'Neill won the award for left fielders...Led the Reds with 36 apps and 30 starts in LF...was one of only nine National League outfielders with more than one assist from that position (2)...Led National League rookies in walks while ranking second in stolen bases, third in on-base percentage, fourth in hits, T6th in doubles, T7th in triples and total bases, eighth in batting average, T8th in runs scored and ninth in OPS...Led the Reds with seven stolen bases and tied Nick Senzel for the team lead among outfielders with two assists...In helping the Reds to their first Postseason appearance since 2013, in September led the team in hits (20-63), batting average (.317) and on-base percentage (.456)...In his last 17 apps beginning 9/8 hit .340 (18-53, 2 2b, 5rbi, 3sb, .462obp)...reached base safely at least twice in 12 of those 17 games...Went 2-for-4 in two apps vs starting pitcher and fellow countryman Yu Darvish of the Cubs, 3-0 Reds wins on 8/29/g1 at Great American Ball Park (1-2, catcher's interference) and on 9/9 at Wrigley Field (1-2)...Led the team in starts batting leadoff...made 28 starts batting first, including each of the last 14 games of the season beginning 9/11...also made starts batting sixth (10gs), seventh (6gs) and eighth (3gs)...In addition to his 30 starts in LF, also made 17 starts in CF...With Nick Senzel on the injured list from 8/19-9/13, made 14 of his 23 starts in CF...after Brian Goodwin joined the team on 9/1, made 17 of his 19 of his starts in LF...Was one of five Reds players to make Major League debuts (RHP Tejay Antone, C Tyler Stephenson, OF Mark Payton, SS Jose Garcia)...In his Major League debut in the 7-1 Opening Day win vs the Tigers, became the first player born in Japan to appear in a game for the Reds...pinch hit for Phillip Ervin in the sixth inning and produced an RBI-single off José Cisnero...As a pinch hitter in the seventh inning of the 4-1 win on 8/8 at Mil produced an RBI-triple that extended the Reds' lead to 4-0...was the first RBI-triple by a Reds pinch hitter since Phillip Ervin did it on 7/23/19 at Mil...Ervin did it twice during the 2019 campaign...In the seventh inning of the 12-7 win on 7/29 vs Cubs lined into a 5-5-3 triple play off Duane Underwood Jr....became the first Reds batter to hit into a triple play since Joey Votto lined into a 3-6-3 triple play on 9/23/16 at Mil...the Cubs turned a triple play for the first time since May 1997...In an exhibition game on 7/22 vs Det at Great American Ball Park, hit his only home run while wearing a Reds uniform (3-run off David McKay)...Played in both games of the Wild Card Series sweep loss at Atl...pinch hit and played CF in Game 1...as the leadoff hitter started in LF in Game 2.
2019
For the Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League in Japan hit .303 with a .392 on-base percentage, 31 doubles, 4 triples, 20 HR and 62 RBI ... Was a Pacific League All-Star for the fifth time in his 9-year career ... Received his sixth Golden Glove Award as 1 of the Pacific League's 3 best defensive outfielders ... Received his fourth Best Nine Award as 1 of the Pacific League's 3 best offensive outfielders ... In October, filed for free agency and became eligible to sign with a Major League Baseball team ... On 1/6/20 was signed by the Reds to a 3-year contract through the 2022 season.
