Japanese Baseball NPB Draft Analysis - Tetsuro Nishida - Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
ByTetsuro Nishida - Shortstop - Kansai University High School
DOB : 9/4/91 
age : 18
throws / hits : R / R
height cm : 180
weight kg : 76
height inch : 70.9 Rakuten Golden Eagles
weight lbs : 167.6 round 2
Tetsuro Nishida is a very balanced and solid hitter and position player. He has a great feel for the game and a great attitude. His balance and use of his weight are excellent and he has a fast swing with solid mechanics. Nishida should transition well to the pro game, but he is not ready yet. His fielding might be ready for the pro level, but his hitting needs some work. Nishida needs to use his strength and make more contact with the ball. Instead of trying to hit homeruns, he needs to practice just making contact and the balls will go long naturally. He has the attitude and skills to succeed as a shortstop in NPB who can hit, has nice power and is a trusty fielder.
Outlook: Current Rakuten shortstop Naoto Watanabe is 30 and shortstop is not a bad place to pick and foster a future replacement. Nishida should develop nicely into the role and be a stable shortstop for Rakuten from 2013 or 2014 for several years. If Nishida can trust his natural ability more instead of trying too hard, his batting average will improve and the added plate appearances will naturally translate into better numbers. Nishida could develop into a better than average shortstop for Rakuten.
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.
