Seven years later: Grading the Seibu Lions 2010 draft class

The 2010 NPB Draft class had a 1A and 1B pitching duo from Waseda University. Tatsuya Oishi was hyped up as the best player, but Yuki Saito had history on his side which came from his high school days. How did the Lions end up in this class filled with two main pitchers?

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First round: P Tatsuya Oishi (Waseda University, Tokyo) 

The Lions entered a six-way drawing for the second year in a row and Hisanobu "Nabe-Q" Watanabe pulled the winning ticket again. This time he was the last to draw from the box and earned the nickname "hand of god" for wining Kikuchi and Oishi in back to back years.

Oishi's career has mostly been a failure, where he battled injuries and didn't even make his ichi-gun debut until 2012. As a reliever, he struggled from 2012-2013 and didn't even see time in 2014. After dealing with injury in 2015, Oishi started to earn meaningful innings in 2016 and had his best year to date as a middle reliever. In 31.2 innings, he had 36 strikeouts with a 1.71 ERA. However, plenty of his outings came in with inherited runners.

His 2017 season was on pace to continue a redemption path, but a neck injury slowed him down and he only saw 20 games and 19.1 innings of work with a 0.93 ERA. His slider has been strong since 2016 and when the late Shinji Mori was promoted to the ichi-gun as a coach, Oishi made significant improvements.

Injury has held him back, but he will never be the ace he was thought to be out of college. Grade: D+

Hindsight: The Dragons took Yudai Ono and Giants selected Hirokazu Sawamura unopposed after four teams went for Yuki Saito. Yuya Fukui, the third Waseda pitcher selected in the first round, was taken by the Carp and has been a back end starter. Tetsuto Yamada was the third choice selection by the Yakult Swallows after losing their second choice drawing for Takahiro Shiomi. Shunta Goto was the third choice by the Orix Buffaloes after losing the second choice drawing for Shota Ishimine.  

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Second round: P Kazuhisa Makita (Nihon Express, Saitama)

The Lions took a shakaijin submarine pitcher who was about to be 26 after the draft and this worked to perfection. Makita was Pacific League rookie of the year in 2011 as a closer and he became a starter from 2012-2015. The MetLife Dome mound was built for Makita with a soft dirt at one point.

Makita became a fireman middle reliever capable of eating multiple innings in 2016 and remained effective as a setup man in 2017. He was posted by the Lions after the 2017 season after being productive for seven years. Grade: A- 

Hindsight: Yuki Yanagita was taken by the Hawks in this round, two spots after Makita. Ryosuke Miyaguni was drafted by the Giants, Minabu Mima was drafted by the Eagles. 

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Third round: OF Shogo Akiyama (Hachinohe University, Aomori) 

Akiyama was a cleanup hitter in college and, like Makita, played immediately in his rookie year. After hitting .297/.343/.404 in 2012, it appeared Akiyama would be a dominant outfielder for many years to come. He had a down time from 2013-2014, but his 2015 year was a breakout season where he broke Matt Murton's single-season hits record with 216. In 2017, an argument can be made his best season yet came, where he hit .322/.398/.536 with a career high 25 home runs.

The Lions found a leadoff hitter who has decent range and an above average arm while also setting a record in the process. Grade: A+ 

Hindsight: Masahiro Nakatani was taken by the Tigers. Still. don't think the Lions regret taking Akiyama here.  

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Fourth round: P Kyohei Maegawa (Hannadai HS, Osaka)

A tall lanky Maegawa was rehabbing from an elbow injury and registered four ichi-gun games in 2011, where he had a 5.40 ERA in 3.1 innings pitched. He failed to play in any game for 2012 and was cut after the season. The Lions kept Maegawa as an ikusei from 2013-2015, but he could only record a handful of ni-gun games from 2014-2015 out of the bullpen. He was cut for good after the 2015 season.
Grade: F

Hindsight: None. 

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Fifth round: IF Ryo Hayashizaki (Toyo University, Tokyo) 

Hayashizaki played a combined 55 games at the ichi-gun level and had a slashline of .203/263/.230. He only saw 17 games in 2014, where he hit .263 in a small sample size. The Lions cut Hayashizaki after the 2015 season. Grade: F

Hindsight: OF Yuya Taniguchi was drafted by the Fighters in this round. 

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Sixth round: OF Masato Kumashiro (Oji Seimei, Aichi) 

Kumashiro has the distinction of playing for two industrial league teams as a shakaijin. Kumashiro received notable playing time initially as a quick fix, where his best season was in 2012 hitting .270/.298/.287. However, his playing time continued to diminish and has been a 5th outfielder at best since. He failed to play in a single ichi-gun game in 2017.  Grade: C-

Hindsight: Shota Nakazaki was taken by the Carp in this round and has been a closer/reliever. P Kodai Senga and C Takuya Kai were ikusei draft picks by the Hawks.  

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Overall: 

The Lions found relief pitching as well as a leadoff hitter in this class. With only two players amounting to nothing, this group ended up being a win for the team. Akiyama is one of the best leadoff hitters currently in NPB while Makita is a unique middle reliever as the league lacks submariners. The Softbank Hawks won this class as a whole, but the Lions found good value despite Oishi being a bust. Grade: A- 

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