[1] When his school represented Eastern Tokyo in the 2009 Summer Koshien Tournament, he batted clean-up and averaged 0.385 in 3 games, helping his team reach the semi-finals.

Despite not winning the championship, his performance at the plate and experience as a catcher earned him a spot in the national team for the US-Japan High School Baseball Tournament.

[2][3] According to an interview, he was so passionate about baseball that even after his classes, various club activities, and a 4-hour commute to his school in Tokyo and back to Saitama, he would spend hours into the night practicing with his father's home-made batting cage in their backyard.

[8][9] He only managed to play in 17 farm games for the entire season, but luckily, the Tigers decided to renew his Ikusei contract for another year.

On April 27, the team decided to promote him to the main roster, assigned him the jersey number 94, and straight away called him to his first match.

[12] He debuted as a pinch-hitter on the bottom of the 5th in the Giants match at Koshien, remained as catcher, and scored his first hit as a pro on the 8th inning against Kazuto Taguchi.

[13] He alternated as a catcher and first baseman in the following week, while his continued success at the plate eventually led him to bat clean-up in some games.

[14] At the end of May, he was awarded the Central League MVP of the month for recording a batting average of 0.380, and hitting 17 RBIs including 5 home runs.

[15] Due to his consistent delivery on the plate, he became the first NPB player from an Ikusei contract to get nominated in the mid-season All Star Game.

[21] With his deteriorating performance and Nakatani's continuous improvement, his starts gradually became fewer mid-season (mostly as a pinch-hitter or substitute catcher), and he finally got sent back to the farm on August 26.

[22] As he battled with pain in his left torso, he never made it back to the main squad, and finished the season with 25 RBIs and an average of 0.226 in 73 games.

[26] He made a full recovery in time for the October 5 match against the Dragons, and tied the pinch hit record in the 8th inning to the delight of the home crowd in Koshien.

[31][32] Due to his great performance as designated hitter during inter-league, he once more earned the popular vote for the July All-Star Games despite having been back in the field for only a month.

[33] He then alternated as a pinch-hitter and catcher in most of his next outings, but it wasn't until August 8 that he finally notched his first and only official home run of the season.