Sunday, October 18, 2026

2026 NPB Draft: Where do the Lions go from here?

 


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The 2026 NPB Draft is upon us as several players filed the paperwork necessary to be eligible for it out of both college and high school. 

Here we will examine the options by position and look at the long-term ans short term needs for the Saitama Seibu Lions ahead. 

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The scenario

By finishing 2nd place in the Pacific League, the Lions will be the 9th team to announce their pick ahead of only the Yomiuri Giants, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and Hanshin Tigers.  They will draft 9th in every even-numbered round while going 4th like a snake format in the odd numbered rounds.  

They could be the last team to draw for a player of the Hawks, Tigers and Giants select someone different. 

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The Gambles

Two players were thought to be talented enough for the first round, but they had other intentions.

RHP Genei Sato is playing for Penn State a University in his senior season for 2027 after three years at Sendai University. If he isn't selected highly by MLB teams next summer, he could be part of the 2027 NPB draft.   

RHP Shoki Oda from Yokohama High School becomes the interesting case if a team wants to roll the dice on their recruiting abilities.  He filed paperwork to be eligible last month, but announced this month he wants to go to MLB and sign an amateur contract. 

This creates a similar situation to what Shohei Ohtani did in 2012 right out of Hanamaki Higashi High School. There was a flag to not draft him at all because it was risky, yet the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters convinced Ohtani to sign with a plan, much like college recruiting for where he would be. 

Any team can still take them if they think they could convince a signing, but there is no compensation if he signs with an MLB team, much like when the SoftBank Hawks took Rintaro Sasaki and he chose to go with the Miami Marlins. 

Oda would be the top high school pitching prospect in this class. Still, this would require a whole sales pitch to change his mind when he already had a formal press conference to go abroad. 

Otherwise, two-way player Haruki Komoda out of Yamanashi Gakuin is the consensus best player in this class. He will draw at least four teams going for his rights.  

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Pitcher

There can never be enough pitchers even when it was the strong point for the Lions. Kona Takahashi has international free agent rights while there's discussion of a possible posting for Kaima Taira.  

Aside from Komoda, the high school pitcher of interest is RHP Reito Hirata (Oita Shogyo).  College arms will be plentiful as RHP Ren Miyahara (Kindai), RHP Shin Nakai (Komazawa), LHP Yuto Yonezawa (Kansai) and RHP Futo Kakuta (Fuji) are candidates.  

This is a pitcher heavy class, it wouldn't be surprising to see more pitchers from the first round like RHP Keito Kawajiri (Asia) and Yuto Maeda (Takaoka Daiichi) called.  

There is also two-way player Masanori Honishi (Nihon Koku Ishikawa HS) who has the traits of an ace. 

Other high school candidates for later in the draft include Kensuke Nozaki (Taikyu) and Shoto Okamoto (Korigaoka).  

At least 2 pitchers need to be taken from this class overall. 

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Catcher

Taiga Kojima will likely lock up this position for awhile with Yuto Koga as a tandem.  He is only going to get better with time. 

Kai Watabe (Aoyama Gakuin) is a significant name, but it wouldn't make sense unless they really value a bat and just find a way to play him. 

In the middle rounds, Koki Goto (Numazu Shogyo HS) has been on the Lions radar. 

There can always be a player taken in the later or Ikusei rounds.  

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Infielder

Natsuo Takizawa has emerged as a regular shortstop.  Seiya Watanabe took third, but he regressed in year 2.  The versatility the Lions have in the middle infield means there's no immediate short term needs. 

A high school player for the long run could be handy.  The Lions are waiting for the emergence of Hiroto Saito and maybe Taiyo Sato to make an impact.  Trusting the process and being patient means there won't be any reaching.  

Takara Yamasato (Asia University) could be a candidate in the middle rounds.  Others include Yoshifuji Kuroda (Higashi Nippon) and Shakaijin Shosei Doyama (Yamaha) if they want depth. 

Kaito Ito (Chuo University) could be a mid round pick to bring competition for Watanabe.  

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Outfielder

The Lions were in a strange situation where some players looked promising, but never had a full season. Manaya Nishikawa had a forgettable 2026 while Shinya Hasegawa looked to have a breakout season until his injuries.  Alexander Canario is signed through 2027 as well. 

They have the players for the short term, but is there a long-term option? 

This position has some of the better depth in the class.  Shakaijin Ryosuke Fujisawa (Tokyo Gas) is thought to be an immediate fix for the outfield. 

Nanato Sakakibara (Meiji) and Akito Haruyama (Osaka Shogyo) are top college options.  

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Here is our Japanese poll we conducted. 


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Outlook

At the time of this writing, nobody has made their announcements public. Last year, we only had one team say their draft pick out loud. 

This causes interesting theater to find out everyone showing their cards at once when it's October 22.   

Depending on how they feel, the gut instinct is saying OF Fujisawa or RHP Miyahara are the likely nominations on the first draft nomination reveal. 

If things don't work out, Kakuta is the likely fallback option if available.  Anything can really happen given the team quotes are vague making everything intriguing in the process. 

What is also strange is how the Lions have not announced their player release list (戦力外) Even though the season concluded a week ago.  Only ikusei Joseph Konosuke Sinclair and Koichi Okumura were listed, which must be by default as third year players. 

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