Thursday, November 28, 2019

Five years later: Grading the 2014 Seibu Lions draft class


The Saitama Seibu Lions came off one of their worst seasons in 5th place for 2014. Norio Tanabe was no longer an interim manager and given a full year. How did this team approach the draft?

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First round: P Kona Takahashi (Maebashi Ikuei HS, Gunma)

Kona Takahashi won the 2013 Koshien tournament as a junior and was taken by the Lions without opposition in the first round. A big difference of opinion ended up favoring the Lions to land his rights.

In his first two years, he threw two shutouts and already reached three complete games. He suffered some setbacks in 2017-2018 with poor condition and injury, but rebounded in 2019 with his biggest workload yet of 123.2 IP before being hurt in September. 

 He was one of only two pitchers with 10 wins last season, but had an ERA above 4.50 where he remained inconsistent. He still has upside as he turns 23 next year, but has hasn't shown he can be the ace the team was hoping for. His ceiling could be as high as a #2 pitcher, while at worst a #4. Grade: B-

Hindsight: The Baystars won the rights to Yasuaki Yamasaki as a second choice, where they had a 50-50 chance of landing him against the Hanshin Tigers. Kohei Arihara was the consensus best player available, which the Fighters won a four-way drawing for his rights. Kazuma Okamoto was taken without opposition by the Giants. Shogo Nakamura was taken unopposed by the Marines. 

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Second round: P Yasuo Sano (Heisei Kokusai Univesrsity, Saitama)

Sano was given a spot start in 2015 and had some time in the bullpen for 2016, where he earned a win. His role expanded in 2017 as he became the sixth starter and the Lions were tight, giving him strictly four to five innings at most. He showed good progress as the starter and earned plenty of run support, but a knee injury in June ended his season. 

 After a short ichi-gun season in 2018, he had his biggest workload yet in 2019 with 67.2 IP. The Lions used him as a spot starter, but mostly in middle relief when the team was trailing or tied. He registered a 4.39 ERA for 2019. A mop up pitcher in the second round isn't what the team envisioned, but he's not completely useless.  Grade: C-

Hindsight: The Hanshin Tigers drafted Tsuyoshi Ishizaki in this round and the Giants found Chiaki Tone as both have been relievers for their teams. Kenta Ishida was drafted by the Baystars. Kazuki Yabuta was taken by the Carp. 

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Third round: IF Shuta Tonosaki (Fuji University, Iwate)

Tonosaki started off as a pinch runner and defensive replacement as he earned ichi-gun playing time by the end of his rookie year 2015. His role diminished under Norio Tanabe in 2016, but he spent the entire 2017 at the ichi-gun level. 

 Hatsuhiko Tsuji initially had him as a defensive replacement, but some poor hitting in the outfield made Tonosaki start in left field and later right field, a position he held for the rest of the year. He was a starting right fielder in 2018 until his injury prevented him from playing a full season. For 2019, he switched back to the infield at 2B and played every game, reaching the 20+ HR milestone for the first time. 

 With an .846 OPS while batting sixth in the lineup, he has been a reliable starter with 22 stolen bases and has shown to be a better athlete than his predecessor Hideto Asamura. He doesn't hit for average as easily, but this has proven to be a great pick as he even spent time with Samurai Japan on international duty. Grade: A

Hindsight:  Fighters took Daiki Asama, Baystars took Toshihiko Kuramoto. Marines selected Daiki Iwashita. 

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Fourth round: P Yusuke Tamamura (Tsuruga Kehi HS, Fukui)

Tamamura graduated high school a year before and likely dropped out of Asia University, but it didn't prevent the Lions from taking him as a 19 year old. He's become a regular starter at the ni-gun level, but he came off a poor 2017 with a 8.39 ERA in 39.2 innings of work. He had a double-digit ERA down in ni-gun for 2018, which told the Lions they had enough of him. Tamamura was cut at the end of the year as part of the seryokugai. He currently works as a shakaijin pitcher.  Grade: F

Hindsight: Naoya Ishikawa was taken by the Fighters. 

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Fifth round: IF Haruka Yamada (Saga Kogyo HS, Saga)

Yamada was called up briefly to the ichi-gun as an emergency infielder in 2017 for a week. However, he didn't play a game and has been a regular ni-gun starter. He earned a call up in 2018 and even hit a solo HR as his only hit. He only appeared in four ichi-gun games in 2019 with others leaping him on the depth chart. 

 His defense is adequate, but he can't hit his weight in the lineup. He had a slashline of .233/.339/.333 in 81 ni-gun games last year. At 23, he survived the cut and is still with the team, but time could be running out if he doesn't make progress. Grade: D

Hindsight: Kai Ueda was drafted by the Tigers

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Ikusei: OF Daisuke Togawa (Hokkai HS, Hokkaido)

Togawa earned a promotion to the 70-man roster one year after being drafted when the 2015 season ended. His first callup to the ichi-gun game in 2019 and he hit an important home run during that span. He even earned a hero interview after that win. The Lions had a brief revolving door in right field and he appeared in only 10 games, hitting .174/.240/.348. Any ikusei working their way up is always a positive and if anything, he's a depth option. Grade: C-

Hindsight: None for now

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Overall: 

The Lions found an everyday starter in Tonosaki while also having a starting pitcher in Kona Takahashi. With Sano also being an ichi-gun regular, this class is a positive one, but it isn't a home run given the roles of both pitchers. If Kona Takahashi can be an ace, or even a front end starter, it looks to be promising. Time will tell. Grade: B

 Hindsight: This class appears to be top heavy as the first round included several jewels. There is still time for high school picks to develop, but it's clear some of the front end guys like Arihara have lived up to the hype. 

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2011

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Friday, November 22, 2019

Six years later: Grading the 2013 Seibu Lions draft class


The 2013 NPB Draft was the beginning of a new regime for the Saitama Seibu Lions. Hisanobu "Nabe-Q" Watanabe stepped away as a manager and Haruki Ihara came in. Nabe-Q moved to the front office as a senior director/adviser to eventually be the successor for Haruhiko Suzuki. 

First round: C Tomoya Mori (Osaka Toin HS, Osaka)

Mori was viewed as an undersized catcher with a powerful bat. The battery mate of Shintaro Fujinami, Mori was a Koshien champion in 2012 during his junior year, but teams still passed on him due to character concerns and size. The Lions didn't care and took him during the first reveal.

Early on, Mori hit several home runs in 2014, his first eligible season and was the DH for most of 2015. His bat has been good and is still growing. Norio Tanabe used him in right field on occasion and has been a part time catcher with the hope he can be a starter in the future. He's capable of hitting extra base hits and can mash despite his short stature. 

 After a shortened 2017 season due to injury, Mori has been the starting catcher and thrived under Hatsuhiko Tsuji's leadership. He became a batting champion in 2019 while having an OPS above .900.  Grade: A-

Hindsight: The Carp won a three-way drawing for P Daichi Osera. Yuki Matsui was taken by the Eagles after a five-way drawing. The Marines took Ayumu Ishikawa when winning a coin flip drawing for his rights. C Seiji Kobayashi was drafted by the Giants as a fallback option. P Yuta Iwasada was taken by the Hanshin Tigers.  

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Second round: IF Hotaka Yamakawa (Fuji University, Iwate)

Yamakawa saw a handful of ichi-gun games in his first two years, but played more in 2016 where he initially made the opening day roster. After being sent down to ni-gun two weeks removed from Opening Day, Yamakawa hit more than 20 HRs on the farm and was called up to spark a second half where he had 14 HRs at the ichi-gun level.

A similar season happened in 2017, where he was farmed in April, but called up for the second half and won two monthly MVP awards for August and September. 

 Yamakawa won the Pacific League MVP award in 2018 and has been the home run king in back-to-back seasons for 2018-2019. He has mostly been the team's cleanup hitter in this time. 

  Grade: A- 

Hindsight: Yuito Mori was taken by the Softbank Hawks. Katsuki Matayoshi was drafted by the Dragons. 

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Third round: P Takuya Toyoda (TDK, Akita) 

The Lions took a shakaijin with the third round pick and Toyoda initially took some medium leverage innings in 2014, where he appeared in 34 games with a 4.54 ERA on a bad team. He only played in three games for 2015 and saw mop up duty in 2016. With Toyoda failing to play at the ichi-gun level in 2017, his time is running out. After almost no activity in 2018, he was cut after the year as a senryokugai. Grade: F

Hindsight: IF Kosuke Tanaka was taken by the Carp. OF Hiromi Oka was drafted by the Fighters. P Kazuto Taguchi was drafted by the Giants. P Ryo Akiyoshi was drafted by the Swallows. 

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Fourth round: IF Kazuki Kaneko (Nichidai Fujisawa HS, Kanagawa)

Kaneko saw a brief stint at the ichi-gun in 2018 where he hit well for six games in place of an injured Takeya "Okawari-kun" Nakamura. After taking several years to make the ichi-gun, he fell out of favor in 2019 with rookie Ryusei Sato passing him on the depth chart.  His 2019 ni-gun slashline of .152/.244/.176 made him expendable and he was cut after the season as a senryokugai. Grade: D-

Hindsight: P Hirotoshi Takanashi was taken by the Fighters. OF Seiji Uebayashi was drafted by the Hawks. C Ryutaro Umeno was taken by the Tigers.  

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Fifth round: P Takayuki Yamaguchi (Toyota East, Iwate)

Shakaijin Yamaguchi played for two industrial league teams prior to being drafted. He failed to play a single ichi-gun game for his career and was cut after the 2016 season, finishing his third year with the team. His final ni-gun season had him play nine games, pitching a combined seven innings with a 15.43 ERA.  Grade: F

Hindsight: P Yuta Nakamura was taken by the Carp. 

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Sixth round: C Masatoshi Okada (Osaka Gas, Osaka) 

Okada is remembered for being the battery teammate of Sho Nakata while at Osaka Toin, as Nakata himself was a pitcher besides a slugger. Drafted as a shakaijin, the Lions were able to play Okada immediately as a backup catcher.

Okada has been the backup catcher since being taken and has been adequate behind Mori and Ginjiro Sumitani in the past. He can also come in as a pinch bunter if necessary. Grade: B

Hindsight: Akihiro Hakumura was drafted by the Fighters. Kota Futaki was drafted by the Marines and is a rotation starter. P Suguru Iwazaki was taken by the Tigers and has been a mainstay at the ichi-gun level where he recently became a middle reliever. 

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Seventh round: P Kentaro Fukukura (Daichi Kogyo University, Kagoshima) 

Fukukura had a productive 2015 season in ni-gun, but only saw one ichi-gun game that year as his reward. In 2017, he saw a handful of ichi-gun games as the Lions mop up pitcher where he recorded a 6.00 ERA in 18 innings. Fukukura fell out of favor in 2018 and stayed in ni-gun, resulting in him being part of the senryokugai when the year was over. Grade: D-

Hindsight: P Shuta Ishikawa was taken by the Hawks as an ikusei pick. 

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 Twitter poll results can be seen here: 

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Overall: 

With Mori, Yamakawa and Okada at the ichi-gun, this class is a success. Both Mori and Yamakawa are key pieces and now part of the Core-4 of the Lions.  Grade: A-

Hindsight: Talent all over the board in this class, but it appears the Carp and Giants look to be decent winners too. The Softbank Hawks quietly found good value in the later rounds. However, Mori and Yamakawa are a quality duo.  

 ===

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Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Seven years later: Grading the Seibu Lions 2012 draft class


The 2012 NPB Draft had several pitchers with hype and in hindsight, even more gems were found. Here's how the Saitama Seibu Lions did when taking this draft:

First round: P Tatsushi Masuda (NTT West, Osaka) 

The Lions were one of three teams who attempted to go for P Nao Higashihama and lost to the Softbank Hawks. Masuda became the plan B which required another drawing head to head against the Hiroshima Carp, which Hisanobu "Nabe-Q" Watanabe would win.

Despite being 24, Masuda was projected as an early pick among the shakaijin available and has been a back end reliever for the Lions. He was a setup man from 2013-2015 and he proved to be reliable. Masuda became the closer in 2016 and it has worked out well. He rarely walks batters and limits home runs, though he allowed a career high of seven in 2017. After having a down yaer in 2018, he was one of the best closers in the league for 2019. He is scheduled to enter domestic free agency in 2021.  Grade: A

Hindsight: Higashihama has been a front end starter for the Hawks after battling injuries. He's become a later bloomer. Shintaro Fujinami was taken by the Hanshin Tigers in a four-team draw. He has shown plenty of promise initially, but taken steps backwards.

Shohei Ohtani was taken unopposed by the Fighters, but all other teams were scared he would not sign with a team that drafted him as he had MLB intentions at the time. P Takahiro Matsunaga was taken by the Marines as a fallback option. After not signing with the Fighters a year before, Tomoyuki Sugano was drafted by the Giants where he spent a year as a grad student without playing. 

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Second round: P Makoto Aiuchi (Chiba Kokusai HS, Chiba)

Aiuchi is an orphan and it's unclear what his true ethnicity is. His pro career started ugly when he was caught speeding and driving without a proper license in the December after he was taken, but the Lions still chose to give him a chance. His early troubles are why he wasn't even pictured in the above photo.

He has experience of going to the Melbourne Aces in the winter and has mostly seen time in ni-gun. However, he has failed at the ichi-gun level when being a spot starter and has usually been lit up.

Unfortunately, Aiuchi has also served a suspension in 2014 for being caught smoking and drinking underage at 19 while wearing the team uniform. His training was separate from other ni-gun players as a result. With other pitchers on the roster, he has a major uphill battle. At 25, Aiuchi has mostly been a spot starter who can't stay at the ichi-gun on a regular basis. Time is running out and his career could be just taking mop up innings in the future. Grade: D-

Hindsight: OF Seiya Suzuki was drafted by the Carp. P Takahiro Norimoto was taken by the Eagles. IF Fumiya Hojo was drafted by the Tigers and despite having an injured 2017, he could be a promising starter for them in the future. P Yasuhiro "Ryan" Ogawa was drafted by the Swallows. 

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Third round: IF Yuji Kaneko (Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto)

Kaneko was taken as an infielder and was mostly platooned from 2013-2015. A switch hitter, Kaneko's speed and slick fielding looked promising for him to be the team's shortstop. However, his defense regressed in 2016 with several throwing errors and Norio Tanabe planted him in right field instead, where his defense didn't need to be worried about. He was tied for the Pacific League stolen base king in 2016 with 53 and has shown to be a decent slap hitter.

Kaneko began the 2017 injured with shin splits, but Hatsuhiko Tsuji put him in right field once he was healthy and his slap hitting was useful again. In a shortened season, he still had 25 stolen bases and ended the year starting in left field. As a regular left fielder, Kaneko has been the stolen base king for three years, which includes at least 32 stolen bags in each of those years. His range and speed have him valuable while his bat is inconsistent. Like Masuda, he is penciled in for domestic free agency in 2021.  Grade: B+

Hindsight: C Tatsuhiro Tamura was drafted by the Marines in this round. P Shoichi Ino was taken by the Baystars. 

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Fourth round: P Tomomi Takahashi (Seino Unyu, Gifu)

Takahashi looked to be a steal of the draft when he had a dominant 2014 season as the closer while Masuda was the setup man. After having a strong first half to 2015, he regressed and the Lions were stuck with trying to figure out their closer situation since he struggled.

Takahashi underwent Tommy John surgery in 2016 and missed most of the year as well as majority of the 2017 season. He saw one ichi-gun game and failed to record an out, registering an infinite ERA for the year. After another injury setback and demotion, he was given an ikusei contract for 2019 which he will hold entering 2020. His career is just a flash in the pan.  Grade: D+ 

Hindsight: OF Shohei Kato was taken by the Marines. 

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Fifth round: P Isamu Sato (Konan HS, Fukushima) 

Sato had a promising 2016 in ni-gun which earned a promotion to the ichi-gun in that year. With multiple starts and other soft appearances out of the bullpen, he went 1-3 with a 5.76 ERA in 25 innings of work.

Unfortunately, Sato was involved in a auto accident in the middle of 2016 and served a team suspension. Things got worse as Sato had a poor 2017 in ni-gun and fell out of favor in comparison to others in the farm system. He was cut by the Lions after 2017 and retired from baseball altogether. Grade: D-

Hindsight: P Kazuyuki Kaneda was taken by the Hanshin Tigers in this round. The Orix Buffaloes selected him as the compensation choice for losing Yoshio Itoi in free agency and Kaneda has been a soft medium leverage reliever.  IF Toshiro Miyazaki was taken by the Baystars in the 6th round and won a Central League batting title in 2017.  

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Ikusei: IF Daichi Mizuguchi (Kagawa Olive Guyners, Kagawa)

The Lions took their second ever ikusei pick in franchise history in Mizuguchi out of the Shikoku Island Independent League. An undersized infielder, Mizuguchi worked his way to a promotion up to the 70-man roster in the middle of the 2015 season for his hitting production in ni-gun.

In 2016, Mizuguchi became the first ikusei to play an ichi-gun game in franchise history and appeared in 20 games. He saw most of the 2017 season at the ichi-gun as a pinch runner and defensive replacement, where he hit .280/.294/.340. His playing time has continued to shrink with 30 ichi-gun games combined from 2018-2019 where he mostly serves as a pinch runner. Grade: C

Hindisght: P Yuya Iida was taken by the Softbank Hawks. He's currently on the Hanshin Tigers. 

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Overall: 

This class was going to look like a home run even with five players and one ikusei had Takahashi continued to be a back end reliever. Instead, it's just a good class with Masuda and Kaneko both being ichi-gun players and Mizuguchi finding his way up. Having two regulars at the ichi-gun can't make this an awful one. Grade: B

Hindsight: The rest of the league found talent with Norimoto, Ogawa, Otani, Higashihama, Fujinami and more. There were better quality players drafted by others, but not many had the quantity the Lions in 2012.  

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Monday, November 18, 2019

Eight years later: Grading the Seibu Lions 2011 draft class


Takahiro Fujioka was the most hyped up pitcher in this class. However, the Saitama Seibu Lions went a different path in 2011. Here's a review of the 2011 draft class:

First round: P Ken Togame (JR East, Tokyo) 

The Lions went outside the box and took what was viewed as a fall-back first round pick in Togame. He was thought to be a sleeper among the field and he could help the Lions rotation immediately as a shakaijin.

Since being with the ichi-gun, Togame has been inconsistent where he has a good season in an odd numbered year, while regressing in an even numbered year. In 2017. he showed he belonged in the rotation going 8-7 with a 3.40 ERA and recording 116.1 innings pitched. Togame started 2017 in ni-gun and was initially called up as a sixth starter.

 He had two seasons of at least 100 innings from 2018-2019, but an ERA above 4.40. Togame reached domestic free agency, but took an offer to stay with the Lions rather than test the market. 

 Togame bucked his trend by having two mediocre seasons, but he's shown that when he's on, he's shown to be a front end starter as he can be a decent No. 3 and borderline No. 2.  Grade: C+

Hindsight: The Marines ended up with Fujioka and he hasn't been an ace. Shota Takeda was taken by the Softbank Hawks unopposed as was Yusuke Nomura by the Hiroshima Carp.  Tomoyuki Sugano was about to be taken by the Giants, but the Fighters ended up winning his rights in a tossup. Like Chono before him, Sugano refused to sign with the Fighters. 

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Second round: P Hirotaka Koishi (NTT East, Tokyo) 

The Lions went with another shakaijin who had a unique release among left handed pitchers. Koishi has failed to make an impact at the ichi-gun level and is mostly a situational reliever to get a ground ball. He would also eat up low leverage innings in 2016 when the team was trailing. In his best season of 2016, he had a 3.74 ERA in 74.2 innings of work, which was a reflection of how bad that year was for the team. 

 His playing time at the ichi-gun diminished in 2018 and 2019, with a combined 41.2 innings, though he recorded a rare win in relief. After only eight games in 2019, he was cut at the end of the year as part of the senryokugai list. 

  Grade: D

Hindsight: Go Matsumoto was taken by the Fighters. Ryosuke Kikuchi was drafted by the Carp in this round (but likely before the Lions were there). 

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Third round: OF Hitoto Komazuki (Tonan HS, Kyoto)

Komazuki was converted to being a catcher after the 2016 season. He became part of the Melbourne Aces in that winter to get work at his new position in practice. 

 In 2019, he became the emergency third catcher and with the injury to Masatoshi Okada, he was the second in line. He only appeared in seven ichi-gun games with one start at the end of the year while the others were in mop up duty. Komazuki recorded one hit which was an infield single. Grade: D- 

Hindsight: IF Daichi Suzuki was taken by the Marines in this round. P Takaya Toda was drafted by the Carp. P Shinji Tajima was drafted by the Dragons. 

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Fourth round: IF Kyohei Nagae (Kaisei HS, Nagasaki)

Nagae has been a solid defensive replacement for the late innings. An argument can be made that he's the best defensive infielder the Lions have and they can plant him at 3B or SS without trouble. 

 Unfortunately he lacks a bat as he usually hits below .200, but he has his role on the team for his defense. Since Hatsuhiko Tsuji took over the team for 2017, he hasn't seen more than 27 ichi-gun games in a single season while on the bench. Grade: C-

Hindsight: OF Takero Okajima was drafted by the Eagles in this round. P Naoya Masuda was drafted by the Marines. OF Masayuki Kuwahara was taken by the Baystars. C/OF Kensuke Kondo was drafted by the Fighters. 

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Fifth round: OF Shotaro Tashiro (Hachinohe University, Aomori) 

Tashiro only saw snippets of time as filler at the ichi-gun when a pitcher would be deactivated due to an extended break ahead. He served as an extra pinch runner and defensive replacement with solid range. Tsuji liked his defense and made Tashiro an opening day starter in 2017, but his lack of bat benched him quickly after a few weeks and he was prone to base running blunders. 

 The Lions cut him after the 2017 NPB Draft, well after the initial senryokugai list came. Hee is currently on the Yakult Swallows as a bench player, where he saw 73 games in 2018 and 51 in 2019. He has been productive in the Central League, but if only he had that with the Lions. Grade: F+ 

Hindsight: OF Tomo Otosaka was drafted by the Baystars. P Shinya Kayama was drafted by the Hawks and serves as a lefty specialist out of their bullpen. 

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Ikusei: C Komei Fujisawa (Matsumoto University, Nagano)

Fujisawa was the first ikusei draft pick in franchise history in a program that only started in 2005. The Lions promoted Fujisawa to the 70-man roster in the middle of the 2013 season and has been a farm catcher ever since. He has not played a single ichi-gun game, but he splits time for ni-gun and could serve as a guy to develop the young pitchers in the farm. 

 Fujisawa also spent two offseasons in Melbourne with the Aces. With no upside and younger catchers taken, he was cut after the 2018 NPB Draft as part of the senryokugai. Grade: D

Hindsight: None

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Overall: 

This class is mostly forgettable as a whole. While Togame hasn't been bad, he also isn't good. The Lions overall found a starting pitcher, defensive replacement, pinch runner, backup catcher and a reliever who can do mop up duties. There are contributions, but not enough impact for the long run. Komazuki is likely to not do anything besides be a depth catcher.  Grade: D+

Hindsight: This draft was a win for the Carp, Baystars, Fighters and Hawks in particular where the Lions are right in the middle. The Carp found a starting pitcher and second baseman while the Hawks have a front end starter and relief help. 

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 Here are the poll results on Twitter: 

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2015

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Saturday, November 16, 2019

Nine years later: Grading the Seibu Lions 2010 draft class


The time has come to start reviewing draft classes and looking back on what could have been. Starting from 2010 and going all the way to 2018, we will take a look at how each draft class in this decade (minus 2019) has done.

There will also be some hindsight players on who was also taken in this draft. Here is a look at 2010:

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 (he was first in 2009) and earned the nickname "hand of god" for winning Yusei Kikuchi and Oishi in back to back years.

Oishi's career was a failure, where he battled injuries and didn't make his ichi-gun debut until 2012. As a reliever, he struggled from 2012-2013. 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 was strong since 2016 and when the late Shinji Mori was promoted to the ichi-gun as a coach, Oishi made significant improvements.

Oishi's playing time diminished in 2018 and 2019 where he only made two ichi-gun appearances in the latter year. He was named as part of the senryokugai in October and will now work in the Lions front office, retiring as a player.

Once the prized jewel of this class, Oishi is arguably one of the biggest busts in franchise history.

  Grade: F

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. 

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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. Things also backfired making him a closer in the middle of 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 and spent the last two seasons in the San Diego Padres organization, but only appearing in MLB for 2018. He is seeking a return to NPB. 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.

 He has had three consistent years of at least 20 home runs while having an OBP of at least .390 while hitting .300. Akiyama reached international free agency in 2019 and is seeking an MLB opportunity. 

 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: None. 
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Fourth round: P Kyohei Maegawa (Hannadai HS, Osaka)

A tall and 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.  

 From 2018-2019, he has been a utility bench player capable of playing anywhere on the infield and outfield. In 2019, he had a slashline of .267/.313/.333 while mostly coming in as a replacement. He is on pace to reach domestic free agency after the 2020 season. 

 Grade: C-

Hindsight: Shota Nakazaki was taken by the Carp in this round and has been a closer/reliever. P Kodai Senga, IF Taisei Makihara 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 and another mostly having minimal contributions, this group ended up being a win for the team. 

 Akiyama became one of the best leadoff hitters in NPB while Makita was 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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 Here are the poll results from Twitter. 

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 Other draft classes:

 2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

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