Japanese Baseball NPB Draft Analysis - Hirotoshi Masui - Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters
ByHirotoshi Masui - Pitcher - Toshiba
DOB : 6/26/84 
age : 25
throws / hits : R / R
height cm : 181
weight kg : 67
height inch : 71.3 Nippon Ham Fighters
weight lbs : 147.7 round 5
Masui is a finesse pitcher who lacks velocity. He can not throw over 143km but dazzles batters with his array of curves, sliders and a nasty forkball. At age 25, he has little room for further improvement. Masui is a thinking pitcher who out foxes batters because he can not overpower them. He is a magician who uses his large hands to get a full grip on the ball and puts very good motion on his slow pitches. I do not think his game will translate to NPB pro baseball because the batters are too smart. For Masui to succeed at the pro level he needs to develop a reliable fastball, which he is not capable of doing. His mental grasp pf the game and mastery of off-speed pitches are pro-level, but that is all he has and I do not see him playing at the NPB level.
Outlook: The Fighters since pick 4 were stockpiling potential talent instead of drafting game-ready players like they did in rounds 1-3. I understand the logic, but I do not agree with this pick. Masui is too one-sided to pitch in NPB and too old to develop the skills he lacks. If he does play in NPB someday, it could be in short (very short) relief duty as a change-of-pace pitcher to bridge the starter and middle relief pitchers. Masui is not capable of eating innings in long periods or closing games.
Brandon Siefken can be contacted at brandon@japanball.com. Brandon 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 The Seattle Times 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.”
