Lions land Sumida as first round pick in 2021 draft

 The Saitama Seibu Lions ended up with the top consensus player in the 2021 NPB draft with winning the draft rights to LHP Chihiro Sumida on Monday night. 

In a four team draw, the Lions, Carp, Giants and Swallows all contested the rights to Sumida. Lions Managing Director Mitsuo Iida drew the winning ticket when putting his hand in the box first. His name was trending all over Twitter afterwards. Coming into the draft, the Lions didn't decide their representative until the the day itself. 

With this win, it's the first time the Lions have won a draft lottery on their initial pick since 2010. They previously lost on drawings in 2017, 2018 and 2020. 

Sumida comes from Nishi-Nippon Kogyo (Institute of Technology) out of Fukuoka. On paper, he can play into the rotation immediately with the Lions lacking left-handed arms. 

"I've been happy since Seibu nominated me," Sumida said in a press conference "From now on, I'm glad that I can jump into the world of professional baseball, become the left arm representing Japan, and carry the Hinomaru on my back. I'll do my best."

With Fukuoka inspirations, Sumida hopes to resemble a career like Tsuyoshi Wada or Shota Imanaga as a left handed pitcher. 

Iida representing the Lions during the drawing drew just as much attention as Sumida himself. Relatively unknown in the baseball operations department, Iida worked his way up Seibu Holdings through Seibu Railway where he was once a station master in Ikebukuro. He's been working with the Lions since 2015 and held his current title since 2019. 

Normally, he accompanies the team and does work behind the scenes. One time, he gained attention during the pennant Hawaii trip in 2019 and was part of a staged magic show. 

Here are all the draft picks for the Lions in 2021: 

Main Draft: 

1. LHP Chihiro Sumida (Nippon Nishi Kogyo University, Fukuoka)

2. LHP Shunsuke Sato (Tsukuba University, Ibaraki)

3. C Yuto Koga (Chuo University, Tokyo)

4. LHP Shinnosuke Hada (Hachioji Gakuen High School, Tokyo)

5. RHP Masaya Kuroda (Hachinohe Kogyo High School, Aomori)

6. IF Seigo Nakayama (Hakuoh University, Tochigi)

Ikusei Draft:

1. C Takeru Furuichi (Tokushima Indigo Socks, Tokushima)

2. IF Natsuo Takizawa (Sekine Gakuen High School, Niigata)

3. LHP Shinya Sugai (Yamamoto Gakuen High School, Yamagata)

4. OF Kenshin Kawamura (Kokugakuin University, Tokyo)

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We will have a more detailed report after further research.

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