Japanese Baseball NPB Draft Analysis - Chunichi Dragons

Team Analysis - Chunichi Dragons      

pitching out of 12 teams  3rd          record 81-62-1 
hitting out of 12 teams   3rd            placed 2nd of 6 
pitching potential   B+                      draft grade B 
hitting potential   C
  
The Chunichi Dragons entered the draft with a solid, but not dazzling, team. Holes to fill included the infield corners, catcher and perhaps depth at middle relief and another starting pitcher. In 2009, Chunichi boasted a powerful 1-2 starting combination in Chen and Yoshimi, plus league-leading closer Iwase and dependable middle relief from the likes of Asao and company. On the hitting side, Chunichi struck gold last year drafting Nomoto, who was a solid regular starting rookie. With the first pick, Chunichi took Toshiya Okada from Chiben Wakayama high School. A small pitcher but one who absolutely dominated in high school and was an iron man. Chunichi also snagged the portly Ryoji Nakata, who finished his Asia University playing career with a 100 RBI season. They also took two catchers, two more development pitchers and a handful of potentially average outfielders. Chunichi filled holes and built depth at needed areas. I feel at least three of these picks will be solid starters for the Dragons soon.

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.