Since he was drafted first by the Yokohama DeNA BayStars seven years ago, Katsuki Azuma, has anchored the team’s rotation. Last year, the left-hander led the team to its first Japan Series title in 26 years.
Standing a slight 170 centimeters tall, his fastball clocks in at a surprising 150 kilometers per hour.
However, weekly tabloid Shukan Bunshun last week decided to bring a little heat of its own, exposing his affair with popular adult video (AV) actress Jun Suehiro.
On January 17, a reporter for Bunshun followed Suehiro to Azuma’s hotel, where she stayed the night. When confronted by the reporter, Azuma admitted to the allegations.
Azuma joined the BayStars as the first draft pick in 2018. He won 11 games in his rookie year and was named Rookie of the Year. In 2023, he led the Central League in wins with 16. Last year, he pitched 183 innings — the most in Nippon Professional Baseball — with an ERA of 2.16 and 13 wins.
“Manager Daisuke Miura has absolute trust in him,” a reporter for a sports newspaper tells Bunshun. “This offseason he renewed his contract for 210 million yen, double the amount from last year. He is the ace of the team in both name and reality. He is also speculated as a candidate to enter the majors in the future and be selected for Samurai Japan.”
“Baystars girl”
In his private life, Azuma got married in 2020. He has one daughter. Every offseason, he trains on his own in Nagoya. This offseason, he declared that he would train on his own “without taking a day off.” He arrived in Nagoya in December.
“I leave my family in Yokohama and do my own training in Nagoya, so there are many days when I can’t see them,” he told a sports newspaper. “I want to video call as much as possible so that my children don’t feel lonely.”
Suehiro debuted as an exclusive actress for AV label Madonna in 2022. She the proceeded to star in numerous titles.
“She was given the stage name Suehiro because she resembles Ryoko Hirosue,” a person connected to internet media says. “When she appeared on an ABEMA program last year, she was also talked about online as being similar to Hirosue. Her works are always popular and rank high on sales charts, and in recent years she has been doing more work outside of adult content, such as appearing on online programs.”
Suehiro is also known as a “Baystars girl.” During the season, she frequently visits Yokohama Stadium and frequently posts pictures of herself watching games in a Baystars uniform on social media.
The magazine then pieces together some circumstantial evidence to insinuate something has been up regarding the pair for some time.
Last summer, Suehiro started uploading photos of himself wearing Azuma’s uniform, wristbands and other goods. On December 1, two days after Azuma’s 29th birthday, a selfie of Azuma’s face and holding a fan with the words “Happy Birthday” was uploaded to X. Whe caption read, “I went to celebrate my favorite!” The past has since been deleted.
On October 14, she introduced a video she appeared in on X with the comment, “Adultery is so hot, isn’t it? I love cheating!”
Bunshun interviewed Azuma on January 18. During the session, the ace admitted to the affair and apologized to his fans. “I have no choice but to face baseball sincerely and produce results in order to regain the trust I lost through my reckless actions,” he said.
