This week, Suzuki returned to his hometown of Tokyo, representing the Cubs in his fourth MLB season. “My goal is to stay in this league and play for as long as I can, until my body stops working,” Suzuki said. “Here [in MLB] it’s so hard with age, but also, whenever your performance drops, there’s always that next guy up.”

Seiya Suzuki remembers being in the Tokyo Dome when Hideki Matsui returned with the Yankees as part of MLB’s season-opening series in 2004. Matsui launched a mammoth home run deep into the right-field stands and a 9-year-old Suzuki was within the wild,

Chicago Cubs stars Shota Imanage and Seiya Suzuki addressed the media before getting to play again in their home country of Japan at the MLB Tokyo Series. Watch

Using a katana in place of a bat, Suzuki showed off the sheer sharpness and power of the sword traditionally used by samurai, effortlessly slicing balls in half as they were pitched to him. Unfortunately, one of the sliced balls ended up hitting his cameraman, prompting Suzuki to stop for a moment and ask if he was alright ("Daijobu?")

Chicago Cubs star Seiya Suzuki has taken training to a new level after swapping his baseball bat for a samurai sword.

Mesa, Arizona, USA; Chicago Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki (27) hits against the Kansas City Royals in the first inning at Sloan Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Im