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 four seasons for the 2017 draft class:
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. He was a huge disappoint 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.
He failed to make any impact at the ichi-gun level despite his success in Australia. He's currently under an ikusei contract. Grade: F
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. He made progression to keep earning ichi-gun playing time from 2020-2023, but has yet to breakout or have a starting position for an entire season. Coming into his age 25 season, he'll need to breakout soon, or else he'll be seen as a rotation outfielder. Grade: C-
Hindsight: Softbank Hawks took Rei Takahashi, Chiba took Yudai Fujioka
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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. His role has been limited at the ichi-gun and couldn't build off his 2018 season. After taking low to medium leverage innings, he underwent Tommy John surgery and has been under an ikusei contract since 2022. Grade: D-
Hindsight: Orix took Shuhei Fukuda, Yomiuri took Takumi Oshiro
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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 for 2019 and earned high leverage innings. In 2020, he was the setup man and in 2021, he became the closer due to an ineffective and injured Tatsushi Masuda. Taira set a Pacific League record for most consecutive innings without allowing an earned run to start the year and kept his closer role.
Taira entered the Lions rotation in 2023 and passed his test with flying colors. It's very likely the Lions will post him to MLB someday. Grade: A
Hindsight: Swallows took Yasutaka Shiomi
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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. Yoza has been a flexible pitcher for both spot starting and in relief. At worst, he's been an innings eater which is still decent value for the 5th round. Grade: B
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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. He made his ichi-gun debut in 2021 and appeared in seven games, but he was considered expendable as the team cut after the season. Grade: F
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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. He saw some ichi-gun time expand in 2020 for a brief stretch, but couldn't repeat or find the same success. Grade: C
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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. He made his ichi-gun debut in 2021 as a replacement player. He saw a handful of games with his last being in July 2023. Masato was part of the senryokugai at the conclusion of the season and has retired as a player to become a bullpen catcher. Grade: Incomplete
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Overall:
This class hasn't aged well except through Taira and Yoza. Drafting Saito is a cautionary tale to not draft for need. As a team, it is best to take the best talent available no matter what. Don't put yourself in a position of need. It could be worse, but it hinges on Nishikawa. Grade: C+
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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) January 12, 2024
How do you grade the 2017 #seibulions draft class?
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