Lions win rights to Hiruma in uncontested 2022 draft

 

===

The 2022 NPB Draft took place on  Thursday night with more than 100 players selected. 

A total of nine teams including the Saitama Seibu Lions announced their first round draft nomination before the event even took place. All players were not matching, only a matter of wondering what the Chiba Lotte Marines, Hanshin Tigers and Yokohama DeNA Baystars would do as they stayed secretive.

In the end, the Lions ended up with outfielder Takuya Hiruma of Waseda University. 

Hiruma is capable of helping the Lions sooner than later with decent base running speed and power in his bat. Some articles have even compared him to Masataka Yoshida. 

He was also a high school teammate of current Lions pitcher Yutaro Watanabe when at Urawa Gakuin and was part of a junior Lions team. By the time it was his senior year in college, he was the team's cleanup hitter. 

With the Lions needing help in the outfield, they're hoping Hiruma can be a short term fix. Many outfielders we're rotational and couldn't keep an every day stronghold on their position. He'll likely slot into Centerfield or right field.

Here are all the Lions draft picks from 2022:

1. OF Takuya Hiruma, Waseda University (Tokyo)

2. OF Yuta Furukawa, Saiki Kakujo High School (Oita)

3. C Kaito Noda, Kyushu Kokusai High School (Fukuoka)

4. P Minato Aoyama, Asia University (Tokyo)

5. P Haruto Yamada, Ohmi High School (Shiga) 

6. IF Ryosuke Kodama, Osaka Gas (Osaka)

i1. P Kazuki Nomura, Ishikawa Million Stars (Ishikawa)

i2. OF Montell Higuma, Tokushima Indigo Socks (Tokushima)

i3. P Daiki Miura, Chukyo University (Aichi)

i4. OF Ryosuke Koresawa, Hosei University (Tokyo)

====

Here are some early polls from the Japanese Twitter Community about Hiruma and the draft class as a whole:

ライオンズの今年のドラフト、どう評価しますか？

拡散してください @64Uni_Lions @Cape_Lions @nerimamo #ライオンズドラフト2022 #seibulions #埼玉西武ライオンズ

— Graveyard Baseball (@GraveyardBall) October 20, 2022

蛭間外野手はどう思いますか？

What do you think of Hiruma?#蛭間拓哉 #seibuIions#埼玉西武ライオンズ
拡散してください @64Uni_Lions @Cape_Lions @nerimamo

— Graveyard Baseball (@GraveyardBall) October 20, 2022

We will have further research and details on the entire Lions draft in a future post. 

===

Follow us on Twitter @GraveyardBall

Lions announce coaching staff for 2023

 

===

Kazuo Matsui had his first public press conference announcing the Saitama Seibu Lions staff for the 2023 season on Tuesday. 

While answering many questions about being the new skipper taking over for a retiring Hatushiko Tsuji, a handful of changes were made to the staff with some coaches moving back up to ichi-gun and others were not retained. 

Yosuke Hiraishi, who joined the staff from the Softbank Hawks after 2021, is now the team's second-in-command at head coach.

Shogo Akada is on the ichi-gun staff and Shigenobu Shima returns there for the first time in three years. 

The new staff members include Hiroyuki Oshima, who was preciously a scout; Tetsuya Utsumi and Masato Kumashiro, who both retired as players.

Coaches not returning for 2023 on the main staff include Tomoaki Sato, Norio Tanabe and Tatsuyuki Uemoto. 

Here is the full staff list:

Ichi-gun:

Manager: Kazuo Matsui (previously head coach)

Head Coach: Yosuke Hiraishi (previously with hitting coach)

Pitching coach: Hayato Aoki

Pitching coach: Kiyoshi Toyoda

Battery coach: Kosuke Noda

Hitting coach: Shigenobu Shima (previously ni-gun field coach)

Hitting coach: Hisashi Takayama 

Infield Defense and Base Running (3rd base): Satoshi Kuroda

Outfield Defense and Base Running (1st base): Shogo Akada (previously ni-gun outfield defense and base running coach)

===

Ni-gun:


Manager: Fumiya Nishiguchi 

Lead Pitching coach: Eiji Kiyokawa

Field General/Hitting coach: Tatsuya Ozeki

Hitting Coach: Hiroyuki Oshima* (previously a scout)

Pitching coach: Shuichiro Osada 

Pitching coach: Tetsuya Utsumi*

Pitching coach: Tatsuya Oishi

Battery coach: Shota Nakata 

Infield Defense and Base Running: Masahiro Abe

Outfield Defense and Base Running: Masato Kumashiro*

===

San-gun

Battery coach: Yuta Arakawa (previously bullpen catcher and assistant farm manager)

Defense: Yuji Onizaki (previously academy coach)

*New face on staff

==

Follow us on Twitter @GraveyardBall

Lions pass baton to Matsui as 2022 season ends

 

===

I'd like to first off say apologies for no instant write ups on the Climax Series. It was a vacation week on the west coast involving a wedding and other family matters. 

===

Lions season ends in Fukuoka

The Lions came into Fukuoka as heavy underdogs returning to the Climax Series for the first time since 2019. It ended with a dud as Kona Takahashi and Tatsuya Imai couldn't keep the games close as the former gave up four runs early on. 

As close as the Lions got within one run in the first game, it wasn't enough to overcome a sluggish start. It became the ninth consecutive playoff loss and all of them have been against the Softbank Hawks. They have the longest active Climax Series win drought being stuck on 2011.

===

Hatushiko Tsuji steps down, torch passed to Kazuo Matsui

Before the Climax Series even started, manager Tsuji announced he would retire when the postseason is over. There was an early announcement of possible retirement after the disastrous 2021 season, but it became for real in 2022. Tsuji returned to the organization for the first time since being a player in 2017 after working for the Chunichi Dragons in multiple years.

Kazuo Matsui was named the manager to succeed Tsuji, a foregone conclusion many have expected since he was part of the ichi-gun staff in 2022. He rejoined the team in 2018 initially as a player coach.

Matsui, who will be 47 later this month, served as the farm manager from 2019-2021 after retiring as a player in 2018. The Lions named him the ichi-gun head coach (bench coach in American terms) for 2022. It was easy to assume he would be the heir manager sooner than later.

We wish him the best as he puts together a new staff.

===

Lions name their draft nomination

The NPB Draft is taking place this Thursday and the Lions openly announced their nomination as OF Takyuya Hiruma out of Waseda University.  Hiruma is thought to be the best college position player available and should be contested among a few teams. 

Most see the top draft prize as OF Shogo Asano out of Takamatsu Shogyo High School, who will likely have the largest drawing.

Other alternatives the Lions could go for include P Ruito Nishimura (Kyoto Gaidai Nishi High School), OF Shion Matsuo (Osaka Toin) and IF Mikaya Tanaka (Asia University).  

While it's unclear what the Lions plan could be if they lose out on Hiruma, they want someone who can help the offense sooner than later.

===

Free agency becomes the new scare

The life of being a Lions isn't always fun and especially during free agency it becomes a wreck. This year, Tomoya Mori and Shuta Tonosaki reached domestic free agency with the ability to exercise the option and test the market if they want. 

It's been a common theme to use the Lions as leverage for someone else to have a sweeter offer later. We'll see what happens.

===

Follow us on Twitter @GraveyardBall

Lions enter postseason for first time in three years

 

===

First of all I'd like to apologize for the lack of activity in writing due to September and October being very heavy months in trips that were scheduled awhile back. It's been easy to track them, but to sit down and write? A little to difficult.  I'll mention everything in notes and by timeline.

===

Lions overcome awful losing streak to make postseason

It wasn't a pretty month of September and some could argue the Lions were backed in. They lost their pennant aspiration very quickly after being swept in Fukuoka by the SoftBank Hawks. They even lost three games at home to the Rakuten Eagles but salvaged a fourth game, snapping a season-high seven-gamd losing streak. 

Despite the Eagles having games in hand, they weren't able to win them and it setup a very important makeup game in Sendai with the Lions nursing a 0.5 game lead. A win all but assured an A-class finish. 

Tatsuya Imai played the best game of his career with eight shutout innings and even with a high pitch count holding the Eagles to four hits. The only Lions score of the game was a solo HR from Shota Hiranuma, who last hit one in 2019. 

The Lions clinched when the SoftBank Hawks defeated the Eagles one more time. To put icing on the cake, Hotaka Yamakawa hit a sayonara HR against the Hawks to prevent any clinching pennant part for the opposition. 

Later in the week, the Orix Buffaloes ended up snatching the Pacific League pennant with a win vs Rakuten combined with a Hawks loss in China, setting up a Lions Climax Series in Fukuoka.

===

Veterans retire

While it was already documented Tetsuya Utsumi would retire and had his ceremony in the middle of the month, two more NPB veterans announced they would retire. 

Ken Togame finished his three year contract and saw minimal action since signing it after 2019. He was a former first round pick in 2011 and mostly spent time as a mid rotation starter unable to have consistent seasons Togame ended his career with a strikeout against the Fighters. 

Shota Takekuma also announced retirement. A long time reliever, Takekuma spent most of his career as a lefty specialist and even saw time as a setup man. Later in his career, he was a spot starter. After seeing plenty of action in 2021, he didn't play a game in 2022. 

===

Lions announce player departures 

With the regular season concluded, it is time for all teams to announce players who won't be returning or offered a contract for the next year. The Lions first wave of cuts had five ikusei players and C Shoya Makino.

Makino, 21, made his ichi-gun debut this season an appeared in 11 games, recording four hits and a triple. He had surgery in June. 

The five ikusei players who will be let go include P Hiromasa Saito, P Kaito Awatsu, P Toshihiro Idei, P Sho Ito and P Towa Uema. With the exception of Idei, everyone else was once a draft pick of the Lions and played at the ichi-gun for a brief time.

===

Looking ahead to the Climax Series

The Lions have to go to Fukuoka, everyone's least favorite venue where they have a bad history.  In 2022, their head to head record is 10-14-1.

In Climax Series history, they've lost a postseason series to the Hawks in 2011, 2012, 2018 and 2019. 

Before the Climax Series existed, they won a postseason series in Fukuoka back in 2004. 

The Hawks pitching has more flexibility in starting after Kodai Senga while it's likely the Lions will use Kona Takahashi, Tatsuya Imai and Wataru Matsumoto.  

Odds favor the Hawks based on history and both teams, however, the Lions have shown they can pitch with the rest of the league. 

Question is, can they score? The offense has mostly been a one man show with Hotaka Yamakawa while some expected more from Brian O'Grady. They've depended on random contributions from role players and even part time players like Hiranuma, Shohei Suzuki and Aito in the past. 

Games are played for a reason and even though the odds aren't in their favor, there is a chance if they can score and not play with any nerves. Pressure is on the Hawks with the outside expectations. 

===

Follow us on Twitter @GraveyardBall

2022 Seibu Lions Weekly Digest: 5,000 wins

 ===

The Saitama Seibu Lions went 3-3 against the Chiba Lotte Marines and Orix Buffaloes in a road trip week.

They lost their first place positioning and sit 0.5 games behind the Softbank Hawks for the Pacific League pennant league.

===

Chiba Lotte Marines

The Lions barely held onto one game where Burch Smith was pulled early in middle relief. The use of starting pitching became stretched with Wataru Matsumoto and more. 

Takumi Kuriyama did all the could hitting home runs and several RBIs, but the Lions only took one game in Chiba where the third game was a backbreaker. 

With a 4-0 lead, the Lions couldn't do more damage and Yoshinobu Mizukami struggled as the game was tied in the 8th inning. Tatsushi Masuda gave up the walkoff run with one out.

Lions 5 Marines 4

Marines 5 Lions 2

Marines 6 Lions 5

===

Orix Buffaloes

The Lions held their ground against Yoshinobu Yamamoto and kept the game tied 2-2 into extra innings. Tatsuya Imai earned a tough win going nine frames with 144 pitches while Tatsushi Masuda had to close it in the 10th after Kuriyama hit a sacrifice fly.

Kaito Yoza struggled in the second game, leading to a shutout.

Dietrich Enns won his third game in a row through he gave up a three-run HR in the 6th. Hotaka Yamakawa went 4-5 with a HR and three RBIs to take the series.

With this win, the Lions won their 5,000th game in franchise history dating back to the 1950 Nishitetsu Clippers. They became the 6th team to reach this milestone and the first since the current NPB existed in 1950. 

Lions 3 Buffaloes 2

Buffaloes 6 Lions 0

Lions 10 Buffaloes 4

===

Let's just say it could be worse.  The bullpen concern is real and with Imai being forced to go old school, there's a bumpy ride ahead. Offense is sporadic, but forgiving in the series against Orix. 

Who knows how this pitching holds up. 

===

Follow us on Twitter @GraveyardBall 

Jon Daniels was a pioneer for NPB, baseball abroad

 

Daniels (right) observes Shohei Ohtani from Kamagaya.

===

The Texas Rangers cleaned house last week as both on-field manager Chris Woodward and General Manager Jon Daniels were let go two days apart on August 16 and 18, respectively. 

The Rangers haven't had a winning season since 2016 and the owner Ray Davis made it very clear they're not good. They recently had a new ballpark open in 2020 and the attendance has been dismal due to poor results. 

They signed three high-priced free agents in Marcus Semien, Corey Seager and Jon Gray hoping it would give them a jolt at competing again.

Daniels used Woodward as his scapegoat and took majority of the questions in the press conference after letting go of his manager. They had a 6-24 record in one run games at the time of Woodward's dismissal.

Davis turned around two days later to let go of Daniels, saying he made this decision long before Woodward was dismissed. 

Despite the recent failures in Texas, Daniels should be commended for his efforts in going to Japan and NPB for players.

This isn't just the time he added You Darvish through the posting system, but even the foreigners who've returned including Colby Lewis, Tony Barnette, Joely Rodriguez, Chris Martin and Anthony Bass. 

Playing baseball in Japan has had a reputation for decades as a destination for either veterans looking for some last paychecks to players who couldn't stay around in MLB. While the latter has truth to it, going to Japan is no longer an insult like it once was.

For a pitcher in particular, it's an opportunity to find ways to improve their game. It's possible Japanese coaches bring another perspective to their game and find any flaws they initially came with to fix. 

Daniels was willing to take a flyer and trust his scouts abroad to sign these players who were initially rejected at the MLB level to bring them back.

Lewis was the biggest success story on being able to return and be a rotational starter for multiple years. After leaving the Hiroshima Carp in 2009, Lewis was a starting pitcher until 2016, when he retired. 

In an era with new information and better resources than before, other teams have picked up on players beyond the stars like Shohei Ohtani and Darvish. 13 years ago, Miles Mikolas would have been an easy free agent signing by Daniels, but due to the information available, the St. Louis Cardinals were able to sign him and he's been good in their rotation pitching in his fifth season away from the Yomiuri Giants.

While not everything pans out like Kohei Arihara, Daniels had an open mind to look across the Pacific for depth. 

Today, his philosophy and ideas still influence San Diego Padres GM A.J. Preller, who worked until Daniels as an assistant GM from 2004-2014. 

Besides Darvish himself, the Padres roster in 2022 has Pierce Johnson and Robert Suarez among former NPB players. He also took a flyer on Kazuhisa Makita in 2018.

When the pursuit for Shohei Ohtani took place, he made a trip to Kamagaya, Chiba, the Fighters farm facility to scout him while he was rehabbing.

It was the most devoted trip to Japan by a Generalanagwr aside from when Seattle Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto was in Sapporo to see an Ohtani outing. Daniels tried to throw everything from saving international money and offering hitting freedom for Ohtani, but came up short as the reigning MVP is on the Angels.

There are plenty of what could have beens if Ohtani and Mikolas were on the Texas Rangers. Maybe they would've competed? However, the Rangers have failed to rebuild since their postseason exit on 2016.   

Daniels hit his expiration date with the Rangers, but the ideas and influence exists today as a bridge to NPB. Everyone should be thankful how much he respects the league for what it is when others saw little to no value aside from the obvious phenoms.

===

Follow us on Twitter @GraveyardBall 

2022 Seibu Lions Weekly Digest: Neutral results leads to small lead

 

===

The Saitama Seibu Lions went 3-3 against the Softbank Hawks and Orix Buffaloes in a top heavy homestand against two A-class teams.

They now cling to a 0.5 game lead on the Hawks as they retained first place, but the room for error is slim.  

===

Utsumi announces retirement

Veteran Tetsuya Utsumi announced he would retire at the end of this season.  He initially came to the Lions as part of a free agent compensation return in 2019, but only saw a handful of spot starts since.

The Lions have let him mostly coach the young pitchers on the roster. He made an ichi-gun appearance for the first time since the announcement and got a round of applause in his scoreless relief inning.

===

Softbank Hawks

Kona Takahashi earned his first win since June as the Lions shutout the Hawks in one game. Tomoya Mori's home run was just enough. 

They were out-pitched in game two by Colin Rea while Katsunori Hirai struggled. 

The Lions took the series in the rubber match scoring several runs off Nao Higashihama, including a three-run HR from Brian O'Grady. 

Lions 2 Hawks 0

Hawks 5 Lions 3

Lions 8 Hawks 5

===

Orix Buffaloes

Yoshinobu Yamamoto was vulnerable, but the Lions couldn't cash in and break the game open with only three runs. Pitching couldn't stop Kenya Wakatsuki in the first game as he hit multiple HRs. 

Hiroya Miyagi shut the Lions down in Game 2, but the team responding in the final match of the week.

Dietrich Enns prevented a sweep with six strong innings and only one run allowed. They also scored early with walks and hits off Ren Mukunoki. 

Buffaloes 4 Lions 3

Buffaloes 6 Lions 0

Lions 3 Buffaloes 0

===

This wasn't the best week, but it also wasn't the worst.  Offense has its problems, though the rest of the Pacific League doesn't hit either, which works to their advantage.

At least the bullpen was rested on this homestand. 

===

Follow us on Twitter @GraveyardBall