The Saitama Seibu Lions had one more step in closing the book on Hotaka Yamakawa. After the Softbank Hawks signed him to a multi-year deal, the Lions had to choose a compensation selection between cash and a player or more cash.
With the Hawks protected list in, the Lions selected RHP Hiroshi Kaino as their compensatory selection on Thursday.
Kaino, 27, was a mainstay in the Hawks bullpen working as a middle reliever. Originally he was a first round draft pick by the Hawks in 2018 in the same class at Wataru Matsumoto.
When drafted, he was viewed as a raw hard thrower in a class full of pitchers. With the Lions moving Taira to the rotation, they lacked a reliever who had high velocity in 2023 and he can throw as hard as 160 km/H (99 mph).
In 2023, Kaino had a 2.53 ERA, 2 saves, 8 holds, and strikeouts in 42.2 innings of work.
He should be part of a mix in the bullpen and could compete with Tatsushi Masuda, Yoshinobu Mizukami, Taishi Mameda and others for the closer role.
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