Lions take Saito after failed first round draft attempt

 

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The Saitama Seibu Lions had thin luck over the 2024 NPB Draft. Only the Hiroshima Carp announced their pick before the gathering with everyone else being secretive.

As the first team called for having the worst record, the Lions made a minor surprise with IF Rui Muneyama (Meiji) as their nomination.

It fits their track record sticking with what they believe is highest talent available as Muneyama was one of two top names.

New manager Fumiya Nishiguchi had a one in five chance of pulling a winning ticket, but came up short as the Rakuten Eagles won the rights to Muneyama. 

Eight teams were forced to go to a Plan B and the Lions tried to go for IF Yusei Ishizuka (Hanasaki Tokuharu), thought to be the best high school player, but they also lost when the Yomiuri Giants contested the pick and Nishiguchi drew the wrong ticket again.

The Lions settled for IF Hiroto Saito from Kanazawa High school. He is viewed as an athletic fielder who is capable of being a two-way player. 

Primarily a shortstop, he has a strong arm and at least field his ground position. His 50 meter time clocks in at 6.0 seconds. At 180 centimeters and 76 kilograms, he's a tall player who can be plugged in long term. 

His maximum velocity is 140 km/h. 

It's unclear if his bat will translate to NPB, but the Lions see a starting SS and heir to Sosuke Genda. 

This is the first high school first round pick by the Lions since Tatsuya Imai in 2016. They've had their share of whiffed attempts (Roki Sasaki), but no result from this age group out of the first round until now. 

Here is the full list of Lions 2024 draft picks:

NPB Draft

1. IF Hiroto Saito, Kanazawa High School (Ishikawa)

2. OF/3B Seiya Watanabe, Osaka Shogyo University (Osaka)

3. RHP Shoma Karyu, Saiki Kakujo High School (Oita)

4. OF Kuan-Chen Lin, Nihon Keizai University (Fukuoka) 

5. RHP Hibiki Shinohara, Fukui Kogyo High School (Fukui)

6. C Haruki Tatsuyama, Enagic Sports High School (Okinawa)

7. IF Teruki Koga, Chikumagawa Koshiki Baseball Club (Nagano)

Ikusei picks

1. LHP Yamato Fuji, Omiya Higashi High School (Saitama)

2. IF Taiyo Sato, Kanagawa University (Kanagawa)

3. OF Ramal Ghibin Ratnayake, Osaka Toin High School (Osaka)

4. LHP So Sato, Seisa Dohto University (Hokkaido)

5. OF Haruto Sawada, Kyoto Kokusai High School (Kyoto)

6. IF Haruma Fukuo, Ishikawa High School (Ishikawa)

7. OF Okemumei Umebinyuo, Asahikawa Shiho High School (Hokkaido)

We will do further research on each pick a more lengthy post on the future.

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