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Coming off their first A-class season in four years, the Saitama Seibu Lions entered the draft with different expectations this time around. There was a hyped up Kotaro Kiyomiya that would draw a big crowd, but the Lions took a different path. Here's how things have looked after two seasons for the 2017 draft class:
Reminder that none of these grades are in stone as it's only been two years.
First round: P Hiromasa Saito (Meiji University, Tokyo)
The Lions tried going for shakaijin pitcher Daiki Tajima, but lost the drawing to the Orix Buffaloes. Saito ended up being their fallback option. There was an emphasis for a left handed pitcher as Saito likely wasn't the best talent available after the first round opening. So far, he has disappointed through two years. After getting his feet wet in 2018 as a long relief swingman, his ichi-gun time diminished with a scheduled split start to take three innings and a few bullpen appearances.
In ni-gun, his numbers out of the bullpen are also mediocre and he's most remembered for having a strong outing with the Melbourne Aces in the winter of 2018. There is still time, but it's not looking good for now. Grade: D
Hindsight: The Baystars took Katsuki Azuma, Swallows got Munetaka Murakami unopposed.
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Second round: IF/OF Manaya Nishikawa (Hanasaki Tokuharu HS, Saitama)
Nishikawa was part of a Koshien championship team in 2017 and was even teammates with his senpai Aito Takeda at one point. So far, he has stayed in ni-gun as a regular infielder, though he can play OF too. His most recent slashline in the farm was .242/.294/.313 with 25 RBI and 10 SB in 103 games. It's still too early to say anything one way or another. Grade: None
Hindsight: Softbank Hawks took Rei Takahashi
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Third round: P Sho Ito (Tokushima Indigo Socks, Tokushima)
Ito was taken as a 19-year old having only spent one year in Indy ball. After a promising first year, which included a spot start victory, he only saw mop up duties in 2019 while not faring as well for six games. He started several games in ni-gun with a 3.78 ERA in 66.2 innings of work. He could develop into a starter, but it will take time. Good thing for Ito is there's still plenty of it. Grade: None
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Fourth round: P Kaima Taira (Yaeyama Shoko HS, Okinawa)
Taira spent the entire 2018 season in ni-gun, but earned his first call up in thee second half of 2019. He's the hardest throwing the pitcher the Lions have and while he was inconsistent, there was plenty of promise for him to take high leverage innings. He pitched in 26 ichi-gun games, which is impressive for a 19-year old. Unfortunately some wild pitches hurt him in the postseason, but his future could be bright if the Lions find a setup man or even closer with his abilities. Grade: B
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Fifth Round: P Kaito Yoza (Gifu Keizai University, Gifu)
Yoza is a submarine pitcher thought to be the heir to Kazuhisa Makita, who was outgoing that offseason. His career has started out slow, recovering from an injury and surgery in 2018 where he spent 2019 under an ikusei contract. Yoza's long road to coming back finally came late in 2019 with two ni-gun appearances. The Lions liked what they saw and promoted him back to the 70-man roster after the season. Time will tell, but these setbacks weren't helpful in the short term. Grade: None
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Sixth Round: IF Ryusei Tsunashima (Itoigakawa Hakurei HS, Niigata)
Tsunashima was taken as a long term project for 3B and anywhere else on the infield. So far, his bat hasn't been able to adjust in ni-gun with a slashline of .217/.272/.283 in 68 games. As a high schooler, he still has time to grow and develop and with the current infield, there is no rush to bring him up. Grade: None
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Ikusei 1: OF Wataru Takagi (Shinsokan HS, Fukuoka)
Takagi was a two-way player coming off a shoulder injury, but the Lions saw him as a position player. He earned a quick promotion to the 70-man roster after a decent ni-gun season in 2018. In 83 ni-gun games, he had a slashline of .256/.302/.453 with 12 HRs. He made his ichi-gun debut in June of 2019 with one late at-bat for his only appearance. The Lions could have found some depth in the OF since Takagi has recovered from his injury pretty well. Grade: B
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Ikusei 2: C Masato Saito (Hokkaido Kyoiku University, Hokkaido)
M. Saito has been a farm catcher for most of his time with the Lions. He earned a surprise promotion to the 70-man roster in the middle of the 2019 season when the depth became thin. M. Saito had a brief callup as an emergency third catcher, but never appeared in a game. His bat likely won't amount to anything as he is hitting well-below the Mendoza line, but an ikusei promotion is impressive. Grade: C
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Overall:
This 2020 season is a make or break for H. Saito, but there is plenty of promise for the long term picks. Not a lot to grade yet as there is still a lot of wait and see. For now, it's all about potential, but there needs to be results. Grade: C
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Twitter poll results here:
これまでに #埼玉西武ライオンズ 2017ドラフトクラスをどのように評価していますか？— Graveyard Baseball (@GraveyardBall) December 7, 2019
How do you grade the 2017 #seibulions draft class?
ご共有をお願いします @Cape_Lions @64Uni_Lions @nerimamo #NPBeng #齊藤大将#西川愛也#伊藤翔#平良海馬#與座海人#綱島龍生#高木渉#齊藤誠人
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Other years:
2010
2011
2012
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