Shintaro Inoue was nothing but impressive during his two-year stretch at the JUCO level for Western Nebraska Community College. The infielder from Yamaguchi, Japan, finished with a career batting average of .376 and a career on-base percentage of .487. He also had a career slugging percentage of .700+.
With these big-hitting numbers came big scoring production as well. He had 28 career home runs, having 10+ in each of his two seasons with Western Nebraska. He also hit 29 doubles and scored 105 RBI. He got 50+ RBI in both of his JUCO seasons.
The fielding will be something to watch for Inoue as well. Last season with WNCC, he had 15 errors, and his fielding percentage dropped from his freshman season to .922.
He also was a steal threat his freshman season, with 17 stolen bases, despite those numbers falling off the next season. This contributed to his freshman of the year honor he received after that season.
He played some summer ball this offseason for the Purcellville Cannons in the Valley League. He finished with a .418 batting average, tallying 11 doubles, seven home runs, and 37 RBI.
This big-time play in junior college earned Inoue the attention of the Kansas State Wildcats, getting an opportunity to play division one college baseball at its highest level. It was a Wildcat team that was very successful a season ago, reaching the Charlottesville Super Regional in the NCAA tournament.
However, for most of the 2024 season, they were a pedestrian-hitting team in most categories as far as the Big 12 goes. Inoue can help fix this at Kansas State.
Kansas State also brought in a top 25 transfer portal class this year. With his high-volume batting numbers in JUCO, along with the other transfers, he may help the Wildcats win the Big 12 and go on another NCAA tournament run in 2025.
_______
WBN NCAA: https://worldbaseball.com/league/ncaa/
Photo Credit: Shintaro Inoue on X
