Seiya Suzuki (born August 18, 1994) is a Japanese professional baseball outfielder for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB).
He has previously played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. Suzuki is a five-time NPB All-Star, six-time NPB Best Nine Award winner, and a five-time winner of the NPB Golden Glove Award. Seiya Suzuki is the 3rd Cubs player in the last 100 seasons to start his career with an 8-game hit streak, joining Andy Pafko (9 in 1943) and Joe Munson (8 in 1925). He’s the 2nd Japanese player with an 8-game hit streak to begin his MLB career.
Following the 2021 season, on November 22, 2021, Suzuki was posted by Hiroshima and made available to all 30 Major League Baseball (MLB) teams, opening a 30-day period to negotiate a contract.
However, due to the 2021–22 MLB lockout, Suzuki’s 30-day posting window was paused. On March 18, 2022, Suzuki officially agreed to a five-year contract worth $85 million.[37] He went .235/ .350 / .558 with 2 home runs, 4 hits, and 10 total bases during the 2022 Spring Training.
Suzuki made his Cubs debut on April 7, 2022, working a full-count walk against Corbin Burnes in his first MLB plate appearance. He was the first Cub to make their MLB debut as an Opening Day starter since Kosuke Fukudome in 2008. Suzuki collected his first major league hit in the 5th inning of that game, a line-drive single to shallow left field off of Burnes.
Suzuki has been married to former Olympic rhythmic gymnast Airi Hatakeyama since December 7, 2019. The beautiful couple went to the same middle school with Japanese actress, Seika Furuhata and knew each other through a mutual friend.