Reia Nakachi

1. Overview

Reia Nakachi, born on February 15, 2001, is a professional Japanese baseball player who serves as a right-handed pitcher for the Chunichi Dragons. He is known in Japanese as 仲地礼亜_{Nakachi Reia}^Japanese. His career began with early baseball involvement in Okinawa, progressing through high school and university before he was drafted as a first-round pick in the 2022 Nippon Professional Baseball draft. Nakachi made his professional debut in 2023, securing his first professional win in his rookie season. He is known for his fastball velocity and a diverse repertoire of pitches.

2. Early life and amateur career

Reia Nakachi's journey in baseball began in his childhood and continued through his amateur years, demonstrating a steady progression through various stages of competitive play before he turned professional.

2.1. Childhood and education

Nakachi started playing baseball while attending Yomitan Village Furugen Elementary School. During his time at Yomitan Village Furugen Middle School, he played for the Chatan Boys, a club team for hardball baseball. He followed his older brother, Kuore, who was two years his senior, to Okinawa Prefectural Kadena Senior High School.

2.2. High school career

In the summer of his first year at Kadena Senior High School, the team qualified for the Japanese High School Baseball Championship, with his brother, Kuore, serving as the team's ace. However, Nakachi himself did not make the bench for this tournament. From his second year, Nakachi became the team's ace. Despite his efforts, the team was unable to replicate his brother's Koshien experience after his first year. In the summer of his third year, Kadena Senior High lost to Kōnan High School, which featured Hiroya Miyagi, in the semi-finals of the Okinawa Prefectural tournament.

2.3. University career

Nakachi enrolled at Okinawa University, making the bench during his first year. In the spring of his third year, he made a notable appearance in the All Japan University Baseball Championship Series. Against Meijo University, he delivered a strong performance, pitching 8 innings and allowing only one earned run, which drew significant attention from professional scouts.

3. Professional debut

Reia Nakachi formally declared his intention to enter professional baseball, leading to his selection in the draft and subsequent signing with the Chunichi Dragons.

On September 10, 2022, Nakachi submitted his official expression of interest to become a professional baseball player. The Chunichi Dragons publicly announced on October 19 that they intended to select Nakachi as their first-round pick in the upcoming draft. True to their word, on October 20, he was selected by the Chunichi Dragons in the first round of the 2022 Nippon Professional Baseball draft. This selection marked a historic milestone as Nakachi became the first player from a university in Okinawa Prefecture to be drafted into professional baseball. On November 7, Nakachi signed a provisional contract with the Chunichi Dragons, which included a sign-on bonus of 100.00 M JPY, incentives totaling 50.00 M JPY, and an estimated annual salary of 16.00 M JPY. He was assigned uniform number 31.

4. Professional career

Nakachi's professional career with the Chunichi Dragons began in 2023, where he experienced his debut season, followed by the 2024 season which brought both opportunities and setbacks.

4.1. Chunichi Dragons

4.1.1. 2023 season

Nakachi began spring training for the 2023 season with the second team, but he was later promoted to the first team in the latter half of the training period. He gained experience by pitching in several pre-season games. His highly anticipated first-team debut as a starter came on May 13 against the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. However, he struggled in the first inning, giving up a 2-run home run to Munetaka Murakami. After experiencing discomfort in his left side, he was replaced by a pinch-hitter in the second inning, exiting the game after pitching only 1 inning and allowing 2 earned runs, ultimately being credited with the loss. He was deregistered the following day due to the injury.

On July 26, Nakachi achieved his first professional win, delivering a strong performance with 6 scoreless innings against the Yokohama DeNA Baystars. For the 2023 season, he appeared in a total of 9 games, finishing with a record of 2 wins and 5 losses, an earned run average (ERA) of 4.98, and 37 strikeouts. In the offseason, his contract was renewed at an estimated annual salary of 15.00 M JPY, a decrease of 1.00 M JPY from his initial contract. In late November, Nakachi was dispatched to Taiwan to participate in the Asia Winter Baseball League as a member of the NPB WHITE team, where he focused on improving his fastball.

4.1.2. 2024 season

Nakachi started the 2024 season with the second team. He performed well in the second-team official games, appearing in 8 matches with a record of 3 wins and 2 losses, and an ERA of 3.23. His strong performance led to his promotion to the first team on May 26. He made his first appearance of the season on the same day as a starter against the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. He successfully retired the first three batters, striking out two of them, but was forced to leave the game without returning to the mound in the second inning due to an emergency. The following day, May 27, he was deregistered from the active roster due to an injury to his right adductor muscle. He suffered a recurrence of the same injury in late August, which prevented him from making any further first-team appearances for the remainder of the season. On November 7, his contract was renewed with an estimated annual salary of 11.50 M JPY, a reduction of 3.50 M JPY due to his limited appearances. On December 16, it was announced that his uniform number would be changed from 31 to 26 for the 2025 season.

5. Playing style

Reia Nakachi is recognized as an authentic right-handed pitcher with a top fastball velocity of 94 mph ^{(152 km/h)}. His pitching arsenal includes a variety of breaking balls and off-speed pitches: a change-up, curveball, cutter, slider, two-seamer, and a split-finger fastball.

Year	Team	G	GS	W	L	WPCT	BF	IP	H	HR	BB	HBP	SO	R	ER	ERA	WHIP
2023	Chunichi	9	9	2	5	.286	194	43.1	41	6	25	1	37	24	24	4.98	1.52
2024	Chunichi	1	1	0	0	----	3	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0.00	0.00
Career: 2 Years		10	10	2	5	.286	197	44.1	41	6	25	1	39	24	24	4.87	1.49

Year	Team	Pitcher
Year	Team	G	PO	A	E	DP	FPCT
2023	Chunichi	9	3	7	0	1	1.000
2024	Chunichi	1	0	0	0	0	----
Career		10	3	7	0	1	1.000

7.2. First records

Nakachi has achieved several significant "firsts" in his professional career:

First appearance and first start: May 13, 2023, against the Tokyo Yakult Swallows (Game 7 at Meiji Jingu Stadium). He pitched 1 inning, allowed 2 earned runs, and was the losing pitcher.
First strikeout: May 13, 2023, in the 1st inning against Nori Aoki (swinging strikeout), during his first professional appearance.
First win and first start win: July 26, 2023, against the Yokohama DeNA Baystars (Game 13 at Vantelin Dome Nagoya). He pitched 6 innings, allowing 1 hit and no runs, with 4 strikeouts.
First at-bat: July 26, 2023, against the Yokohama DeNA Baystars (Game 13 at Vantelin Dome Nagoya), in the 3rd inning, striking out against Robert Gsellman.

7.3. Uniform number

Reia Nakachi's uniform numbers throughout his professional career are as follows:

31 (2023-2024)
26 (2025-)