We’re going to Okinawa! For the first time in the history of JapanBall, we are taking tourists to Japan’s tropical paradise island for some spring training. Here’s a look at our basic schedule. We will be getting a good look at six camp locations and will see seven of the nine teams that are on island for spring training!
- February 21: Chiba Lotte Marines camp (hope to see Roki Sasaki)
- February 22: Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters camp
- February 23: Yomiuri Giants vs Hanshin Tigers exhibition game, awamori distillery tour
- February 24: Yakult Swallows vs Hanshin Tigers exhibition game
- February 25: Chunichi Dragons vs Hanshin Tigers exhibition game
- February 26: Discover Okinawa’s history!
- February 27: Hiroshima Toyo Carp camp
Here is a quick look at five players from each team. They are in the following order: Key acquisition / First round draft pick / Key departure / Key position player / Key pitcher (as borrowed from a Japanese website).
Buffaloes: Ryoma Nishikawa (OF), Seiya Yokoyama (INF), Yoshinobu Yamamoto (P), Kotaro Kurebayashi (SS), Daiki Tajima (P)
Marines: Neftali Soto (1B), Kiyuto Ueda (INF), Luis Perdomo (P), Kyota Fujiwara (OF), Atsuki Taneichi (P)
Hawks: Hotaka Yamakawa (1B), Yugo Maeda (P), Yuito Mori (P), Ukyo Shuto (OF), Tomohisa Ohzeki (P)
Eagles: Cody Ponce (P), Tatsuki Koja (P), Yuki Matsui (P), Eigoro Mogi (INF), Ryota Takinaka (P)
Lions: Hiroshi Kaino (P), Natsuki Takeuchi (P), Hotaka Yamakawa (1B), Takayoshi Yamamura (INF), Hiroshi Kaino (P)
Fighters: Sachiya Yamasaki (P), Haruki Hosono (P), Naoyuki Uwasawa (P), Yuki Nomura (INF), Shoma Kanemura (P)
Tigers: Javy Guerra (P), Kaito Shimomura (P), Kyle Keller (P), Teruaki Sato (3B), Junya Nishi (P)
Carp: Mark Reynolds (INF), Hayato Tsunehiro (P), Ryoma Nishikawa (OF), Shota Dohbayashi (INF), Takehisa Masuda (P)
Baystars: Yuito Mori (P), Ryuki Watarai (OF), Shota Imanaga (P), Tyler Austin (OF), Kentaro Taira (P)
Giants: Rougned Odor (INF), Yuhi Nishidate (P), Adam Walker (OF), Yuto Akihiro (INF/OF), Rei Takahashi (P)
Swallows: Haruki Nishikawa (OF), Kota Nishidate (P), Dillon Peters (P), Tetsuto Yamada (2B), Taichi Yamano (P)
Dragons: Sho Nakata (1B), Sho Kusaka (P), Hiroshi Suzuki (P), Kenta Bright (OF), Humberto Mejia (P)
In other Japanese baseball player news, high school graduate and top prospect Rintaro Sasaki has decided on his next step. The 18-year-old is of no relation to Roki, though he played in Iwate Prefecture, where he set a new high school record with 140 home runs. Instead of staying in Japan, he declared that he would try to enter a post-secondary institution in the United States and try to go directly to the majors. He was accepted into Stanford University, where he will play for the next few years while working on a degree. Keep your eyes on him, as his ceiling is sky-high!
All for now. Catch you again after the tour. I’ll tell you all about it next time!
