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The Saitama Seibu Lions drafted a total of seven players and three in the ikusei round, making a total overall of 10. They were the only team to take a player in the first round unopposed while all 11 over teams wanted a high school player. Hatsuhiko Tsuji would have taken the draw since Hisanobu "Nabe-Q" Watanabe chose to retire from doing this.
Here is a profile on each draft pick:
P Wataru Matsumoto (松本 航)
College: Nihon Taiiku [Nittai] (Tokyo)
High School: Akashi Shiritsu (Hyogo)
Date of Birth: November 28, 1996
Height: 176 cm (5' 9")
Weight: 84 kg (185 lbs)
Throws/Bats: Right/Right
Matsumoto is a 3/4 arm slot pitcher who can reach 155 kph on the gun. His fastball is his biggest strength, but can pitch a slider, curve ball, cutter and splitter. He was able to begin his college career as a freshman by playing immediately, where he was able to rack up the seventh most amount of strikeouts in University baseball history at 343 total.
The Lions were impressed with his precision on his pitches and think he can play right away.
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P Yutaro Watanabe (渡邉 勇太朗)
High School: Urawa Gakuin (Saitama)
Date of Birth: September 21, 2000
Height: 190 cm (6' 2")
Weight: 90 kg (198 lbs)
Throws/Bats: Right/Right
Watanabe, a Saitama native, tops out at 149 kph with the ability to throw a two-seam fast ball, slider, curve and splitter. He gained attention for a decent outing in the second game of the 2018 Summer Koshien Tournament, where he struck out 10 batters in a complete game win. His team was eventually eliminated in the third round against the champions, Osaka Toin.
Due to his tall stature out of high school, he has drawn comparisons to Shohei Ohtani. The Lions liked his physical abilities and felt this upside could translate towards the long term. It's possible that he was a top 10 player on the Lions draft board as Nabe-Q said he was surprised to see Watanabe still available.
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IF Kakeru Yamanobe (山野辺 翔)
Industrial League Team: Mitsubishi Motors Okazaki (Aichi)
College: J.F. Oberlin University (Tokyo)
High School: Toin Gakuen (Kanagawa)
Date of Birth: May 24, 1994
Height: 170 cm (5' 7")
Weight: 74 kg (163 lbs)
Throws/Bats: Right/Right
Yamanobe was mostly a defensive wizard in college, but improved his bat while as a shakaijin. He has decent speed while also being able to hit some occasional pop. Yamanobe was the starting second baseman in his first year out of the corporate leagues. One scouting site compared him to a right-handed version of Eigoro Mogi.
His range appears to be his biggest strength and at worst could be a defensive replacement. This is also insurance for the Lions assuming Hideto Asamura leaves in free agency.
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P Kaito Awatsu (粟津 凱士)
College: Higashi Nihon Kokusai (Fukushima)
High School: Yamamoto Gakuen (Yamagata)
Date of Birth: March 1, 1997
Height: 180 cm (5' 11")
Weight: 80 kg (176 lbs)
Throws/Bats: Right/Right
Awatsu can throw a sinker, curve, two-seam fast ball, slider and cutter while topping out at 145 kph. In his senior year of college, he went undefeated with a 9-0 record and an ERA below 0.50 in 62 innings of work. During his third year in college, he switched from being a side arm pitcher to 3/4 arm slot. He tries to resemble for Lions player Tetsuya Shiozaki when it comes to his sinker.
The Lions liked his sinker as a whole and felt his control was Awatsu's best strength.
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C Shoya Makino (牧野 翔矢)
High School: Yugakkankoto (Ishikawa)
Date of Birth: March 4, 2001
Height: 178 cm (5' 10")
Weight: 77 kg (169 lbs)
Throws/Bats: Right/Left
Makino had no Koshien experience, but hit well in his short time during the Ishikawa prefecture qualifiers for the tournament in the past. A lefty hitter, he's capable of having pop when registering 15 home runs. He converted from being a shortstop in his first year of high school.
Scouts liked his pop speed at 1.8 seconds throwing to second base and the Lions liked his physical traits. His shoulder is reported to be really strong.
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P Ryosuke Moriwaki (森脇 亮介)
Industrial League team: Sega Sammy (Tokyo)
College: Nihon University (Tokyo)
High School: Tonan (Kyoto)
Date of Birth: July 13, 1992
Height: 175 cm (5' 8")
Weight: 70 kg (154 lbs)
Throws/Bats: Right/Right
Moriwaki can throw up to 152 kph and has a fastball, curve, slider, fork and changeup in his arsenal. His fastball has decent control and the Lions liked his versatility to mix it up. They think he can be a reliever right away and at age 26, he's capable of doing so like Katsunori Hirai did among former shakaijin.
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IF Ryusei Sato (佐藤 龍世)
College: Fuji (Iwate)
High School: Hokkai (Hokkaido)
Date of Birth: January 15, 1997
Height: 174 cm (5' 8")
Weight: 80 kg (176 lbs)
Throws/Bats: Right/Right
Sato was the cleanup hitter at Fuji University and is capable of playing third base. He has power and can hit for average, but it's possible only his pop can translate into NPB. Defensively, he is adequate and play third base. If anything, the Lions could see him as a successor to Takeya "Okawari-kun" Nakamura.
Fuji University is a pipeline that Lions fans are very familiar with having Hotaka Yamakawa, Shuta Tonosaki and Shinsaburo Tawata already taken from this school. Sato was a freshman when Tawata was a senior among the group. On another trivial note, he is cousins with 2018 Speed Skating Olympic gold medalist Ayano Sato.
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Ikusei
P Aoi Tono (東野 葵)
College: Nikkei (Fukuoka)
High School: Fukuoka Daichi (Fukuoka)
Date of Birth: November 30, 1996
Height: 183 cm (6' 0")
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Weight: 75 kg (165 lbs)
Throws/Bats: Left/Left
Tono can hit 146 kph while throwing a fastball. He can also throw a slider, cutter and curve ball. Control has been his biggest issue with a strikeout rate of 8.64, walk rate at 4.68 and hit rate at 5.76. It's clear the Lions wanted a a left handed pitcher for depth, but weren't willing to take him in the regular draft given his control issues. They felt his fastball was sharp.
P Jiyu Okubo (大窪 士夢)
High School: Hokkai (Hokkaido)
Date of Birth: August 2, 2000
Height: 198 cm (6' 8")
Weight: 88 kg (194 lbs)
Throws/Bats: Right/Right
Okubo has extreme size for a high school pitcher. There is very little information about him besides that he can max at 140 kph. The Lions view him as an unfinished project, indicating why he became an ikusei pick.
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C Daichi Nakaguma (中熊 大智)
College: Tokuyama (Yamaguchi)
High School: Kyushu Gakuin (Kumamoto)
Date of Birth: August 27, 1996
Height: 176 cm (5' 9")
Weight: 84 kg (185 lbs)
Throws/Bats: Right/Left
Very little information was given for Nakaguma other than the fact he is a catcher. He had some Best 8 honors while in high school and college. Nakaguma will likely compete with Masato Saito as both are ikusei catchers working with coach Takanori Hoshi.
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Reaction:
In the end, the Lions did the right call in my book by not going for the high school hyped Akira Neo. It's easy to go for the talent, but there was no guarantee that they'd land Matsumoto as a fall back option. The Lions lack hard throwers, but if the Climax Series didn't show already, the pitching needs help in all departments.
The team is also expecting Hideto Asamura to leave in free agency and I wonder if he gets a lowball offer. With Yamanobe being taken, the Lions expect to reload at the 2B position as they also took Sato, a college infielder. Time will tell what this class could be, but it's good to know three pitchers and an infielder could potentially contribute in 2019, where we won't need to wait seven years to determine this class.
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