Takehiro Fukuda - Pitcher - Kagawa Olive Guyners
DOB : 4/9/83 
age : 26
throws / hits : R / R
height cm : 181
weight kg : 83
height inch : 71.3 Yokohama BayStars
weight lbs : 183.0 round 5
Takehiro Fukuda comes from the Kyushu Island independent league and is a polished pitcher with good size. Fukuda is balanced at most areas of pitching and especially has nice movement on his pitches. At 26 years old, there is not much room to develop and it is questionable if Fukuda has the stuff to make it in NPB. Fukuda throws a 148 km fastball and was both a starter and a closer in his Kyushu Island league career. Fukuda is a polished veteran who is tough and was a stand-out at the Island League level. The question is if Fukuda is good enough to play at a level that is frankly three or four notches above that. I do not think he has what it takes, especially given his age and lack of room for improvement or development. Fukuda is average at most things and superior at none.
Outlook: The BayStars take another chance on an unproven pitcher to help their tattered pitching staff. The Island League is not even close in comparison with NPB, so I do not see Fukuda transitioning well. Yokohama might want to test Fukuda at the NPB level right away. Look for Depending on how camp goes, look for Fukuda to make spot appearances in 2010 or 2011 in relief. If Fukuda does get his chance, look for some ugly outings while he has a hard time adjusting to the steep jump in talent he faces. I do not have a very optimistic view for Fukuda’s future in NPB pro ball. I would like to see him dominate more at the independent league level before giving him a chance at the NPB level.
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.
Takayuki Makka - Pitcher - Tokai Boyo High School
DOB : 4/19/91
age : 18
throws / hits : L / L
height cm : 188
weight kg : 76
height inch : 74.0 Yokohama BayStars
weight lbs : 167.6 round 4
Takayuki Makka is another pitcher in the same mold of Yokohama’s 3rd round pick, Taketora Anzai. Makka is a tall, lanky pitcher who uses his frame well in his delivery. Makka is a left-handed and is less polished than Anzai. Makka uses his off-speed pitches more often because of his lack of a deceptive fastball to get strikes with. Although Makka can throw in the 147 km range, his fastballs have no life and often get hit hard. Makka’s best weapon is his drop curve. Using a nice drop curve with a well-placed fastball is how Makka gets most of his outs. Makka is rumored to have an attitude problem and some say he does not have his heart in the game. Despite this, his raw tools are good enough to play sparingly at the pro level if he adds weight, polishes his throws and gets his head in the game.
Outlook: Yokohama again goes after a long-term project at pitcher. Makka has nice raw tools but he is only has two reliable pitches and needs work shifting his weight in his delivery. I do not see Makka developing well enough to be a star or even a starter at the pro level. At best he can hope for fill-in duty or middle-relief work in 2013 or 2014 is he makes it to NPB. Yokohama is taking a chance on another young pitcher with good natural tools, but I do not see Yokohama being the best environment for a young pitcher who needs so much work at so many aspects of his game. I think Yokohama will lose this gamble.
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.
Taketora Anzai - Pitcher - Kojo High School
DOB : 10/28/91
age : 18
throws / hits : R / R
height cm : 190
weight kg : 75
height inch : 74.8 Yokohama BayStars
weight lbs : 165.3 round 3
Taketora Anzai is a tall, lanky pitcher who was a bit of a surprise pick. Anzai only became talked about in Spring 2009 and was not on any radar before that. Anzai throws a fastball in the 145 km range, which is respectable. Anzai is not known for his flame balls, but more for his command and quality of pitches. Anzai has nice life on his fastballs and throws a nice curve as well. He lacks the mentality to own a game, but at 18 that can develop. If fostered properly, I can see Anzai developing into a semi-dependable middle relief pitcher if he can put on some weight and add strength. His throwing motion uses his lanky arms to whip the ball nicely, and added weight and strength will allow Anzai to add velocity to his fastball and be more effective with his deceptive off-speed pitches.
Outlook: The BayStars took a flier on Anzai and I think they will be pleasantly surprised with what they get. Anzai needs to add muscle and strength to his frame, but when he does he can develop into a very balanced, but not flashy, pitcher for Yokohama. Look for the BayStars to develop Anzai for a few years mentally and physically. Look for Anzai to make spot starts or middle relief appearances in 2012 or 2013. If he develops properly, he has a good base of talent to become a dependable pitcher at the NPB pro level. He certainly will have his chance with all of the pitching holes Yokohama needs to fill.
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.
The 2010 Japanese high school baseball Spring Senbatsu tournament will start on 3/21/10. The teams have been decided and the brackets will be announced shortly. Japanball.com and Japan Baseball News Weekly author Brandon Siefken will be posting his Japanese high school baseball prospects to watch right here on this site shortly.
Japan Baseball News Weekly
If you have not subscribed to Japan Baseball News Weekly (Japan baseball analysis plus weekly Japanese baseball stats data base) you can do so here. You can also write brandon@japanball.com for a sample data base and newsletter issue.
Shigeru Kaga - Pitcher - Sumikin Kajima
DOB : 4/13/85 
age : 24
throws / hits : R / R
height cm : 181
weight kg : 84
height inch : 71.3 Yokohama BayStars
weight lbs : 185.2 round 2
Shigeru Kaga is a sidearm thrower who uses his motion well on his fastball and slider. Kaga is good at many things and not superior at any. His mental grasp of the game right now is average pro level, as well as his life on the ball, curve and off-speed pitches and location. He has very good command. The only thing he lacks is a flaming fastball. I see Kaga developing into a steady, but not stand-out, pro pitcher at the NPB level. He is a very rounded pitcher who has room to grow into a slightly above average player. Kaga has a nice build and he uses it perfectly in his form. He still has room to grow but can not be counted on in long stretches due to lack of experience as a starter. I seem him as a good fit in middle relief, not dazzling but good enough to get to the closer.
Outlook: Yokohama has Sanada and Takazaki as middle relievers but neither is great. I can see Kaga developing into a middle relief role with Yokohama in 2011 or 2012. I doubt they will use him much before that. Tokohama has a recent tendency not to start the youngsters too soon. Frankly I do not understand this strategy, since Yokohama is dead last in almost every pitching stat recordable. This being the case, do not anticipate seeing Kaga until 2011 at the earliest. He still has room to grow and should be a playable plug-in pitcher to help patch the shambled Yokohama pitching staff int he future.
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.
Yoshitomo Tsutsugo - 3rd Base - Yokohama High School
DOB : 11/26/91
age : 17
throws / hits : RL / RL
height cm : 184
weight kg : 88
height inch : 72.4 Yokohama BayStars
weight lbs : 194.0 round 1
Yoshitomo Tsutsugo clubbed 69 home runs in his high school career. He is a burly physical specimen who hits for a high average and puts them out of the yard often. He feasted on high school pitching from day 1. He certainly should develop into a top-level pro power hitter. He already is good enough to play today at 17 years old. Tsutsugo needs to work on his mental game and his defense. His fielding has improved over the last year and he is still only 17. He will develop these aspects of his game and become a mainstay in the Yokohama infield. As a hitter, he should be an all-star in a few years.
Outlook: The BayStars need help everywhere but made a nice choice picking the local talent who many have pegged to start right away. Yokohama does not seem to have many infield holes right now, but Murata is 30 and not getting younger. He has also been injury prone lately. Look for Yokohama to develop Tsutsugo this year and start plugging him in the line-up in 2011. He is already good enough to spot start in NPB, and if Yokohama get the injury bug again Tsutsugo could see his debut in 2010 to plug a hole. Whenever the inevitable day comes, Tsutsugo will start for a very long time, develop into an all-star level hitter and be a mainstay in NPB for a long time to come.
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” newsletter with updated weekly stats for every player from April to October. Brandon can be contacted at brandon@japanball.com.
Team Analysis - Yokohama BayStars
pitching out of 12 teams 12th record 51-93
hitting out of 12 teams 8th placed 6th of 6
pitching potential D draft grade B
hitting potential C
The Yokohama BayStars are horrible. Their pitching ranks last in all of baseball and the line-up has a few over-the-hill hitters and little potential.
Hitting: with a minimum of 150 at bats, Yokohama has only one player (Seiichi Ichikawa) who ranks in the top 50 for batting average and the highest RBI hitter for Yokohama (Shuichi Murata) ranks 28th in Japanese baseball with only 69.
The pitching is worse, Yokohama has only two pitchers (Randolph, Sanada) with over 40 innings pitched in the top 50 for ERA and only one pitcher on the staff (Randolph) with less than 6 hits per nine innings.
The BayStars could go anywhere in this draft because there are so many holes to fill. They took local Yokohama High School infielder Yoshitomo Tsutsugo with their first pick. A great player on defense and offense who is young and good enough to play today. With their other picks Yokohama took needed talent at pitcher with some of the picks ready to play and some works in progress. Overall, Yokohama helped themselves by getting arguably the best non-pitching player in the draft and loading up on pitching potential. Tsutsugo is a special talent.
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” newsletter with updated weekly stats for every player from April to October. Brandon can be contacted at brandon@japanball.com.
Yuji Arahari - Catcher - Tokushima Indigo Socks
DOB : 4/24/89 
age : 20
throws / hits : R / R
height cm : 177
weight kg : 80
height inch : 69.7 Nippon Ham Fighters
weight lbs : 176.4 round 6
Arahari comes from the Kyushu Island League independent league and has a lack of experience playing good competition. He has a great throwing arm but is a huge liability at the plate. Many aspects of Arahari’s game are still unknown but his potential is in his defensive play, not his offensive play. While he can go long once in a while, he will never be a hitter who can hit for average on a constant basis. Arahari’s chances to emerge as an even average catcher at the pro level are slim. He is too rough and lacks too many skills to develop into a regular catcher at the pro level.
Outlook: Tsuruoka and Oono currently hold down the Fighters catching duties but neither is overly impressive nor a huge liability. This was a nice spot to try and improve the catching position but Arahari is not going to replace Tsuruoka or Oono anytime soon if at all. While neither of the current starting catchers for the Fighters hit over .221 for average or had more than 29 RBIs, Arahari is not the answer for the future. Look for Arahari to develop in the farm leagues while the Fighters hope Oono can bring up his batting skills, as he seems the likely heir apparent for the position.
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” newsletter with updated weekly stats for every player from April to October. Brandon can be contacted at brandon@japanball.com.
Hirotoshi 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.”
John Clayton Unten - Pitcher - Urashoko High School
DOB : 3/27/92
age : 17
throws / hits : R / R
height cm : 180
weight kg : 70
height inch : 70.9 Nippon Ham Fighters
weight lbs : 154.3 round 4
John Clayton Unten can throw a 150km fastball at 17 years old and is a physically gifted young pitcher. He is a project, but has a ton of potential. He backs up his fastball with a slider that breaks well and baffles batters. Unfortunately at this point he does not have much else and will take time to develop if he is ever to contribute at the NPB level. His fastball lacks life, he does not have good off-speed pitches and he is very raw with no mental grasp of the game. He has room to develop these things and if he does he would be best suited to step in at relief or be a closer. At this point it is too early to project Clayton Unten because he is so raw and such a project that he will take some years to develop slowly.
Outlook: Nippon Ham has several holes projected at pitcher and picking Clayton Unten shows they are willing to take time and develop potential with some of their picks. Look for Clayton Unten to develop in the farm leagues for at least a few years. He needs to develop more pitches, develop the mental aspect of his game and develop into a pitcher instead of a thrower. If he can do all of this, Clayton Unten could be a middle reliever who can come in and eat innings in short spurts using his flame ball. If he can develop auxilliary pitches to go with his fastball and slider, he could become a dependable reliever in NPB.
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.”
