So you thought the Hanshin Tigers’ baseball season was over? Think again. For some players, the break was short or even non-existent. Many have been practicing at Koshien the past week or so, and starting November 1, the team will have its annual Fall Camp in Aki City (Kochi Prefecture). This will be their first real chance to work in depth with newly appointed manager Tomoaki Kanemoto and the other new coaches. (Note: Most recently-appointed strategy & battery coach Akihiro Yano will not be there because of his Premium 12 Team coaching duties.) Here are the players that have been assigned to attend the camp:
Pitchers (14): Daiki Enokida, Yuya Yokoyama, Yuta Iwasada, Shintaro Fujinami, Hiroaki Saiuchi, Takumi Akiyama, Tsuyoshi Ishizaki, Shoya Yamamoto, Kazuyuki Kaneda, Ryoma Matsuda, Kazuhito Futagami, Suguru Iwazaki, Hiroya Shimamoto, Kojiro Tanabo.
Catchers (4): Ryutaro Umeno, Shinya Azuhata, Taichi Okazaki, Fumihito Haraguchi
Infielders (7): Fumiya Hojoh, Hiroki Uemoto, Ryota Arai, Yuto Morikoshi, Ryota Imanari, Naomasa Yohkawa, Fumiya Araki
Outfielders (5): Yamato, Taiga Egoshi, Hayata Itoh, Masahiro Nakatani, Ryosuke Ogata
I’m a little surprised that guys like Shintaro Yokota (mentioned by Kanemoto in his initial press conference as a future slugger), Koki Moriya (last year’s 4th round pick) and Kai Ueda (last year’s 5th round pick) are not on the list. I’m sure the team will find ways to work with them and get them ready to compete for roster spots in the spring. If not, I guess they have to put in the work on their own.