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The story
Chunichi Dragons infielder Shuhei Takahashi (32) has seen his numbers slide over the past five years, with his batting average dropping from .249 to .215 and his home run count falling from 2 all the way to 0. Despite the slump, he keeps getting playing time under a multi-year contract — a point that sparked a “why hasn’t he been cut?” debate on a 5ch live-reaction thread. Some posters noted that other teams have similar “veterans who can’t be let go,” pointing to Hanshin’s Seiya Kinoki and Hiroshima’s Shota Dorin. Others pushed back, arguing that unlike players anchoring key spots like catcher or middle infield, Takahashi is getting special treatment even though Chunichi has plenty of depth at third base.
What people said
.249 AVG, 2 HR, .614 OPS
.215 AVG, 0 HR, .524 OPS
But at his peak he actually contributed a decent amount to the team's wins
This guy, though… seriously
But that kind of roster spot is basically always a catcher or middle infielder
But Kinoki's basically a semi-regular🥺
A veteran who can still play shortstop or catcher is valuable no matter what, so that one I get
Shuhei's basically a third-base-only version of Kinoki, so it's a different league
Kinoshita's still a regular starter
You can't put him in the same bracket as Shuhei
Kinoshita: 27 games, 17 hits
Takahashi: 60 games, 27 hits
Uh… is Kinoshita really a "regular" with those numbers?
They'd be playing him more if Ishii weren't around
He's a catcher, after all
Being the #2 or #3 option at that position basically makes you a regular
Feels like he's been coasting on that first impression ever since
Without it he'd probably have been let go years ago
Hanshin's got plenty of players like that too and they're still winning titles back to back, so that's clearly not the real issue
One roster spot isn't going to change everything
He's doing his part to fight the declining birth rate
He's not exactly a big enough name to let him keep playing until he decides to retire on his own terms
He's the only homegrown player left who's actually been to a Japan Series
Can't cut him until the team makes it back there
Hanshin could cut Toritani loose, but Chunichi can't cut Oshima loose
That right there is the real difference between the two teams
By that logic, Takahashi — an infielder who's played 60 games — should count as a regular too lol
That's 60 games but only 120 plate appearances, though
I guess you could call him a regular, but Shuhei's closer to getting cut than Kinoshita is
Get fawned over for stuff like this and of course you'll get full of yourself
Explains why the team's weak too
So Ishikawa ranks below Sano, huh lol
Wait, Yudai Ohno is the enemy…? The guy who's also on a multi-year deal but has been grinding hard and put up the best numbers on the team this year?
Ohno's doing just fine…
Every time a pitcher gets hit it's somehow all pinned on him
If he'd just waited to see how things shook out with Kai and Oshiro, he might've landed something like a 3-year, 400-million-yen deal with SoftBank
Pretty much the Reii path at this point (i.e., ending up like catcher Ryutaro Reii — a serviceable but unspectacular backup)
Gotta be Shibata, right?
"The ball flies on, forever" (4 home runs in 5 years)
Background and Key Points of the Debate
In Japanese pro baseball, it’s not unusual for a veteran whose performance has declined to keep getting playing time under a multi-year deal. That’s often chalked up to a player’s value as a “face of the team” or a role model for younger players, though the thread itself didn’t dig that deep into motives. Where opinions split was over whether to treat favorable treatment of veterans as “something every team does,” or to view Takahashi’s case as unusual — special treatment despite his position having plenty of ready replacements. Posters noted that at positions like catcher or key infield spots, teams often can’t afford to let go of an experienced player, citing examples from other clubs. But in Chunichi’s case, with multiple backups available at third base, that same reasoning doesn’t neatly apply. There was also a view that lingering impressions from his past — like the home run he hit as a first-year player straight out of high school — may still be shaping how he’s evaluated today in ways the stats alone can’t fully explain.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyō G) thread “[Mystery] The Reason Shuhei Takahashi (32) Absolutely Never Gets Cut.”
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