Archive for Japanese baseball draft
Japanese Baseball Draft Analysis NPB - Tetsuya Yamamoto - Tokyo Yakult Swallows
Posted by: | CommentsTetsuya Yamamoto - Pitcher - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Kobe
Tetsuya Yamamoto - Yakult Swallows
DOB : 9/4/85 
age : 24
throws / hits : R / R
height cm : 179
weight kg : 74
height inch : 70.5 Yakult Swallows
weight lbs : 163.1 round 2
Tetsuya Yamamoto is a slightly lanky pitcher who has a great dropping forkball and deceptive slider that I see translating to the pro game. He throws 146km and has the aggressive mind set of a closer. He has a nasty streak and likes to go after batters. He is known for his quick, dropping throws and offsets those with a nice breaking drop curve. He has pro-level stuff and a pro-level mind for controlling the game. He needs to work on his command. He can get too aggressive and let his placement get away from him at times. Yamamoto uses his long arms and whip action and has nice form.
Outlook: The Swallows currently have one of the better closers in the game in Lim, but I don’t see Read More→
Masato Nakazawa - Tokyo Yakult Swallows - Japanese Baseball Draft Analysis NPB
Posted by: | CommentsMasato Nakazawa - Pitcher - Toyota Motors
Masato Nakazawa- Yakult Swallows
DOB : 2/16/85
age : 25
throws / hits : L / L
height cm : 179
weight kg : 80
height inch : 70.5 Yakult Swallows
weight lbs : 176.4 round 1
Masato Nakazawa is a game-ready pitcher who is polished and should fill a role as a starter. He is not a flame thrower, but he is a very good technician with his off-speed and breaking pitches. He has a great breaking slider, a very good change-up and likes to use his looping drop curve to get batters out. I would like to see more velocity on his fastballs, but his style is to use his fastball as a decoy rather than a weapon. At 25 years old, there is not a lot of room to develop. His curves are pro level and the rest of his game is fairly average. He will start but he won’t light anything up. He should be a dependable, but slightly inconsistent, NPB pitcher.
Outlook: Yakult has Nakazawa pegged for their rotation as early as 2010 or 2011. He is a seasoned and experienced lefty, but he won’t light the world on fire. He will have good and bad outings. Overall he should develop into a fairly average pitcher who has a healthy arsenal of pitches to throw at batters. Yakult envisions Nakazawa, Yoshinori, Tateyama and Muranaka as their future rotation. That is not exactly top-class, but it is better than what they have now. This was a fair pick for a proven game-ready stater at SP for the Swallows.
Brandon Siefken has covered Japanese pro and amateur baseball since 1991. He is currently an intern for a Major League Baseball team and has been quoted in Bloomberg, The New York Times and other publications regarding Japanese baseball. Brandon is a regular writer for Bob Bavasi’s JapanBall.com site and has authored several articles including “The Kuroda Index” and “Yu Darvish: A 315 Pitch Scouting Report.”
Each year Brandon publishes the “Japan Baseball News Weekly”( http://www.japanbaseballnews.com/?page_id=1543 ) newsletter with updated weekly stats for every player from April to October. Brandon can be contacted at brandon@japanball.com.
Japanese Baseball Draft Analysis NPB - Yakult Swallows
Posted by: | CommentsTeam Analysis - Tokyo Yakult Swallows
pitching out of 12 teams 9th record 71-72-1
hitting out of 12 teams 7th placed 3rd of 6
pitching potential C- draft grade B+
hitting potential D
The Tokyo Yakult Swallows entered the 2009 draft with no huge holes but some wish list positions to fortify. They are particularly weak at 1st base, catcher, relief pitching and, as any other team, could use more pitching.
The Swallows ended the draft with two game-ready pitchers, a game-ready infielder and two very polished high school prospects who all have a chance to play NPB ball if developed properly.
Overall, Yakult did very well for themselves, adding to their Read More→
Japanese Baseball Draft Analysis NPB - Koji Toyofuku - SoftBank Hawks
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Koji Toyofuku - Shortstop - Tosu High School
Koji Toyofuku - SoftBank Hawks
DOB : 5/17/91
age : 18
throws / hits : R / L
height cm : 180
weight kg : 76
height inch : 70.9 SoftBank Hawks
weight lbs : 167.6 round 5
Koji Toyofuku does not have much going for him except his speed, and even that is not upper-class. I am not sure why Toyofuku was picked, there are far too many aspects he needs to work on. He has decent size and at best has a small chance to develop into a sub-average to average shortstop. Perhaps he has a chance to make a name for himself as a pinch-runner, but he is not fast enough in my opinion. I feel this was a wasted pick, Toyofuku is a bad hitter and does not seem to have the basics to develop hitting or fielding to the point he can be a regular at the pro level.
Outlook: I do not know what to say about this pick. Shortstop is a solid position for SoftBank, as Kawashima is good and still only 29 years old. Even if they needed a shortstop, Read More→
Japanese Baseball Draft Analysis NPB - Keiji Nakahara - SoftBank Hawks
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Keiji Nakahara - SoftBank Hawks
Keiji Nakahara - Outfielder - Asia University
DOB : 7/10/87
age : 22
throws / hits : R / R
height cm : 183
weight kg : 86
height inch : 72.0 SoftBank Hawks
weight lbs : 189.6 round 4
Keiji Nakahara has great size and a fabulous arm. He plays defense well, has good speed and is a fair hitter for average and power. Overall, he is a very rounded player who will eventually be successful at the pro level in NPB. If he develops properly, he has the potential to become all-star material with his defense and arm. I do not think he will ever be a long-ball power hitter, but he should be able to develop into a dependable 280+ hitter in NPB. Nakahara is a lock to play in NPB and is a great pick at this spot. He is very close to being game-ready already.
Outlook: Nakahara is SoftBank’s future left-fielder, look for Nakahara to start there as soon as 2011 or 2012. He is a very Read More→
Japanese Baseball Draft Analysis NPB - Yuki Shimooki - SoftBank Hawks
Posted by: | CommentsYuki Shimooki - Pitcher - Seiko Gakuin High School
Yuki Shimooki - SoftBank Hawks
DOB : 9/8/91
age : 18
throws / hits : R / R
height cm : 180
weight kg : 78
height inch : 70.9 SoftBank Hawks
weight lbs : 172.0 round 3
Yuki Shimooki is one of the most polished pitchers to come out of high school in this draft. He throws 146km and mixes in very nice breaking pitches and off-speed pitches. His movement on his pitches is top class, even at the pro level and his change-up is excellent. Shimooki is a competitor who is aggressive and goes right after the batters. He has a Wild Thing mentality but does not have top velocity on his pitches. He is more of a magician than a heat thrower. He has room to develop into a very good middle-relief guy in the form of Tadashi Settsu in a few years. This is one of SoftBank’s best picks and the investment could really pay off for them if they are willing to wait a few years for Shimooki to develop.
Outlook: Shimooki is a very talented pitcher out of high school, but he does not strike me as a starter or closer. I would peg him for middle-relief or set-up. His off-speed pitches and curves are great, and his velocity is not bad. If he can put on a little weight and add to his velocity to match his aggressive attitude, he could be an above average pitcher in NPB. SoftBank has one of the best middle relief units in baseball, thanks to Settsu. Kawahara and Shimooki could be mixed in in two or three years to make the group even more formidable. Shimooki will take at least two years to come to fruition. He is still raw but has a very good base in all aspect of the game to build on.
Brandon Siefken has covered Japanese pro and amateur baseball since 1991. He is currently an intern for a Major League Baseball team and has been quoted in Bloomberg, The New York Times and other publications regarding Japanese baseball. Brandon is a regular writer for Bob Bavasi’s JapanBall.com site and has authored several articles including “The Kuroda Index” and “Yu Darvish: A 315 Pitch Scouting Report.”
Each year Brandon publishes the “Japan Baseball News Weekly” ( http://www.japanbaseballnews.com/?page_id=1543 ) with updated weekly stats for every player from April to October. Brandon can be contacted at brandon@japanball.com.
Japanese Baseball Draft Analysis NPB - Hiroyuki Kawahara - Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Posted by: | CommentsHiroyuki Kawahara - Pitcher - Fukuoka Univ. High School
Hiroyuki Kawahara - SoftBank Hawks
DOB : 8/23/91
age : 18
throws / hits : L / L
height cm : 185
weight kg : 79
height inch : 72.8 SoftBank Hawks
weight lbs : 174.2 round 2
Hiroyuki Kawahara is a lanky left-hander who has great stuff for his age. He sports a 146km fastball complimented with a great vertical slider and a rare change-up. Velocity and pitch type are not Kawahara’s problem, command is. Kawahara lets his pitches get away from him sometimes, but at only 18 years old, he has a wide open window to develop. Kawahara should develop his velocity to a top-notch level after adding some bulk, and his head for the game and array of pitches should benefit from that. I can see Kawahara sticking around in the pro ranks, but not as a starter or dominator. He should be a very reliable relief option or set-up man. It will take him two or three years to be up to the task of playing in NPB though.
Outlook: It is unclear where SoftBank want Kawahara to contribute in the future, but their rotation does not seem to have room for him. Kawahara would be a good Read More→
Japanese Baseball Draft Analysis NPB - Kenta Imamiya - Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Posted by: | CommentsKenta Imamiya - Second Base - Meito High School
Kenta Imamiya - SoftBank Hawks
DOB : 7/15/91
age : 18
throws / hits : R / R
height cm : 171
weight kg : 70
height inch : 67.3 SoftBank Hawks
weight lbs : 154.3 round 1
Kenta Imamiya was a double-duty threat in high school, playing infield and pitcher. I always felt he was over-hyped by Japanese scouts. He could throw 154km but seemed to always give up a lot of runs to poor competition. He hit 62 home runs in high school, but the level of baseball in Oita Prefecture is very poor, so I never gave credence to those numbers. At Koshien, he was average at best and he is also slightly undersized. Imamiya has good foot speed and good mechanics with his swing. I see him developing into a dependable hitter for average, but I do not see any possibility of his power translating to NPB. He should develop into an above average fielder as well, if he decides he wants to play in the field. Imamiya has a lot of potential to be a lead-off hitter type 2B.
Outlook: Imamiya has expressed his desire to pitch, but SoftBank has him pegged as their future 2B. He has Read More→
Japanese Baseball Draft Analysis NPB - Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Posted by: | CommentsTeam Analysis - Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
pitching out of 12 teams 4th record 74-65-5
hitting out of 12 teams 5th placed 3rd of 6
pitching potential C draft grade C+
hitting potential C
The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks entered the draft with holes at starting pitcher and left field. They also could have benefited with upgrades at catcher and closer. The rotation has one of the best pitchers in Japan with Toshiya Sugiuchi. After Sugiuchi the drop is severe. Fujioka and Ootonariare serviceable but could use upgrades. Middle relief is a strength with the youthful Tadashi Settsu as dependable as they come. Closer Mahara is good but is a better fit as a set-up man.
The line-up is aging or departing. Jose Ortiz is gone and their best Japanese hitters Hiroki Okubo and Nobuhiko Matsunaka are 39 and 37 respectively. The Hawks took the highly touted Kenta Imamiya with pick 1. Imamiya is as well know for his pitching as his hitting. He is a nice filler pick but not a flashy #1. I like Yuki Shimooki at pitcher with pick #3. Shimooki has the potential to be a very good pitcher in NPB. OF Nakahara at pick #4 is the best of the bunch. SoftBank would have had a great draft if they had used their #1 pick on a better player.
Overall the Hawks helped themselves at spots they needed, but could have done better by drafting a game-ready position player #1.
Brandon Siefken has covered Japanese pro and amateur baseball since 1991. He is currently an intern for a Major League Baseball team and has been quoted in Bloomberg, The New York Times and other publications regarding Japanese baseball. Brandon is a regular writer for Bob Bavasi’s JapanBall.com site and has authored several articles including “The Kuroda Index” and “Yu Darvish: A 315 Pitch Scouting Report.”
Each year Brandon publishes the “Japan Baseball News Weekly” ( http://www.japanbaseballnews.com/?page_id=1543 ) with updated weekly stats for every player from April to October. Brandon can be contacted at brandon@japanball.com.
Japanese Baseball Draft Analysis NPB - Toshikazu Yoshida - Chunichi Dragons
Posted by: | CommentsToshikazu Yoshida - Catcher - Nara Agriculture University
Toshikazu Yoshida, Chunichi Dragons
DOB : 4/27/87 
age : 22
throws / hits : R / L
height cm : 178
weight kg : 72
height inch : 70.1 Chunichi Dragons
weight lbs : 158.7 round 8
Toshikazu Yoshida is a small catcher who is fair at most things and good at none. He is a college catcher who is not particularly good at any aspect of the position. If I had to pick something I would say his defence is close to good. He minds the plate well and has a nice throwing arm. He also covers bunts well. He is not exactly a liability at the plate, but he certainly is not turning heads with his sub-par batting average and lack of power. Yoshida needs to bulk up and develop his skills before he can play pro ball. At best, I see him as a sub-par option as a pro catcher in Japan. I do not like his chances of making a NPB roster as a regular catcher.
Outlook: Chunichi gambles again on a college catcher who is small. Yoshida severely needs to Read More→
