Tokyo Drift: Tomo returns to York

(February 25, 2025, York, Pa.) — Two more player signings have been made official for the upcoming 2025 York Revolution season as fan-favorite centerfielder Tomo Otosaka is set to return to York along with former Toronto Blue Jays prospect Miguel Hiraldo. The signings were announced by Revs manager Rick Forney live on Monday evening’s edition of Revs Hot Stove Weekly presented by Shipley Energy on SportsRadio 98.9 FM & 1350 WOYK.

Otosaka returns after a brilliant 2023 season with York, his first in the United States. The dynamic lefty hitter batted .330 in 111 games, posting an average that ranked fourth highest in the Atlantic League that season, top ten in a season in franchise history, and the current sixth-highest career average in Revs history entering 2025. His .441 on-base percentage was second highest in a season in Revs history and makes him the Revs career OBP leader to date. He also set a franchise single season record with 17 bunt hits and stole 42 bases, the league’s second-highest total that season and now the sixth-highest single season total in Revs history. Also a standout with the glove in centerfield, he was selected to the Atlantic League’s All-Defensive Team. He continued his strong play, going on to bat .327 in the Venezuelan Winter League that off-season before spending last summer in the Mexican League with Yucatan.

“I love Tomo,” said Forney. “His signing brightened my week. He’s a good person, a great teammate, and plays hard as we all know. He’s a dynamic player and causes a lot of trouble for the opposition.”

The 31-year-old came to North America in 2023 having spent 10 seasons playing in his native Japan including eight seasons at the big-league level with his hometown Yokohama BayStars. A veteran of 468 games in Nippon Professional Baseball, Otosaka made his big-league debut at age 20 in 2014 following two years with Yokohama’s minor league club and homered in his debut game for his first career hit. Otosaka batted .229 in the majors and starred in multiple playoff runs for the BayStars. The 29-year-old slugged a game-winning three-run homer in a postseason game at Hanshin in 2017 and cracked a walk-off homer in 2019 vs. Hanshin to help the BayStars avoid elimination. In addition, Otosaka batted .272 with 128 stolen bases at the minor league level in Japan prior to first crossing the globe in 2022 to play in the Mexican League where he was one of that circuit’s top on-base and stolen base threats.

Hiraldo comes to York after spending his entire career in the Toronto Blue Jays organization. The 24-year-old has played second base, third base, and shortstop across six seasons. Standing just 5’9 with a strong build, he has batted .260 for his career with 40 home runs, 258 RBI, and 115 stolen bases.

Hiraldo has spent much of the past two seasons with Double-A New Hampshire and put together perhaps his best offensive season in 2023 for the Fisher Cats, hitting .275 with a career-high 12 long balls. His best stolen base seasons came in each of the previous two years with 29 and 28 steals, respectively, for Dunedin and Vancouver. Hiraldo was promoted to Triple-A Buffalo for 22 games last season and spent the winter playing in Nicaragua. He originally signed with Toronto as a highly touted international prospect out of his native Dominican Republic in 2017 and received All-Star accolades in each of his first two minor league seasons.

“He’s super athletic,” said Forney. “He fits the mold of what we like around here. He can run, steal bags, play multiple positions, and he’s very hungry. He’s very anxious to get to York and play and he’s very appreciative of the opportunity to join our club and continue his career. I think he has a chance to get back to a major league organization.”

The Revs have announced six player signings to this point and are expected to unveil additional signings on the next episode of Revs Hot Stove Weekly presented by Shipley Energy, airing Monday, March 3 at 6 p.m. on SportsRadio 98.9 FM & 1350 WOYK, 989woyk.com, and The New WOYK app.