Date: Thursday, October 26 (4:30 pm JST)
In order to determine whether or not a draft was successful, more often than not a few years are needed. Some players need a long time to develop. Others start out strongly and fizzle out quickly. But we can also evaluate a draft by the strategy the team has used, and whether or not they found the right bodies to fill out their roster. Let’s look at the Tigers’ needs. We will focus solely on Japanese players, as import acquisition is a different animal. Ages listed are as of Opening Day 2024.
Right-Handed Pitchers
LOST: K. Kobayashi (released), A. Mochizuki (released), A. Niho (released)
AGING: Yuki Nishi (33), Takumi Akiyama (32)
YOUNG HOPES: Daichi Moriki (20), Junya Nishi (22), Hidetoshi Ibaragi (19), Hidetaka Okadome (25), Atsuki Yuasa (24)
URGENCY LEVEL
MEDIUM. You can never have too many arms, and the list of hopefuls includes a lot of unproven commodities. Definitely can’t bank on all of them panning out.
Left-Handed Pitchers
LOST: Y. Watanabe (released)
AGING: Suguru Iwazaki (32), Yuta Iwasada (32), Hiroya Shimamoto (31)
YOUNG HOPES: Yuto Suzuki (24), Keito Mombetsu (19), Masaki Oyokawa (22), Takuma Kirishiki (24), Ren Tomida (22)
URGENCY LEVEL
MEDIUM. The departed and aging lefties are all bullpen pieces… and the young hopefuls are all aiming for a spot in the rotation next year. Not to say they will get it! Furthermore, not many pitchers are drafted as relievers, though there are a few exceptions. Still, lefty arms are a precious commodity in baseball, so there’s never a bad time to draft one or two more.
Catchers
LOST: None
AGING: Ryutaro Umeno (32)
YOUNG HOPES: Hayato Nakagawa (20), Kento Fujita (22), Yuki Sakaeda (25)
URGENCY LEVEL
MAJOR. Though we boast a good 1-2 punch in Umeno and Sakamoto, neither is on the right side of 30. Umeno’s best days appear to be behind him, and while Sakamoto has done an admirable job with the pitching staff in Umeno’s absence, the next catcher needs to be raised up. There are a couple of catchers who seem to be nothing more than third-stringers or permanent residents on the farm team, so finding the next one or two catchers for the latter half of this decade is crucial.
Infielders
LOST: F. Hojoh (released), Y. Yamamoto (released)
AGING: Kento Itohara (31), Fumihito Haraguchi (32)
YOUNG HOPES: Ryuhei Obata (23), Jo Endo (22), Reiji Toi (19), Nozomu Takatera (21)
URGENCY LEVEL
MEDIUM. Unless the team can find a reliable first baseman in the late 2020s, when Yusuke Ohyama starts his decline due to age, it will need a solid option at first base. Assuming Teruaki Sato remains at third base, the infield looks to be set for a few more years. That said, there is not telling what will happen with Seiya Kinami, who has had some good years and some bad. Obata is a decent replacement, but it would be great to get a power-hitting middle infielder.
Outfielders
LOST: S. Takayama (released), Y. Itayama (released)
AGING: NONE – Koji Chikamoto is the oldest at 29
YOUNG HOPES: Hinase Itsubo (19), Shota Morishita (23), Kota Inoue (22), Ukyo Maegawa (20)
URGENCY LEVEL
MEDIUM. Two of the positions (center = Chikamoto, right = Morishita) look to be filled for the next 5+ years, while there are lots of young guys with promise. That said, they almost never all pan out, and it would be nice to have at least two more strong outfielder options on the team.
WHAT SHOULD WE DRAFT?
Sorry, not “who” but “what” – I am admittedly not knowledgeable enough about high school, university, and industrial league baseball. This is how I’d like to see the team bolster the roster in Thursday’s draft.
- One or two left-handed pitchers (one high schooler, one university or indy-leaguer)
- Two right-handed pitchers (at least one who is ready to compete for a spot in 2024)
- One or two infielders, preferably one righty, one lefty, one young and one game-ready, one speedster and one power guy
- Two outfielders (at least one high schooler)
- One catcher (They tell me catchers often take 6 years out of high school and/or 2-4 years out of college to be ready for full-time work on the top squad. I am leaning towards wanting a college graduate here if there any good ones available.)
The draft is this Thursday at 4:30 pm, and we will try to do a post-draft report that night after the dust has settled! Stay tuned and be prepared to welcome at least six young new Hanshin Tigers to the fold for 2024!