Saturday, October 22, 2016

2016 Draft

The 2016 NPB Draft took place a few days ago with the Dragons taking the following players:

1)  Yuya Yanagi  P  Meiji Univ.
2)  Yota Kyoda  IF  Nihon Univ.
3)  Masami Ishigaki  IF  Sakata Minami HS
4)  Shotaro Kasahara  P  Niigata Iryo Fukushi Univ.
5)  Kento Fujishima  P  Toho  HS
6)  Taisuke  Maruyama  P  Tokai Univ.

My first impression of Chunichi's haul is a positive one.  They picked up a highly-rated pitcher with their 1st pick, who may be able help sooner rather than later.  I was happy to see them pick up some position players with their second and third round picks, they need to spend more of their resources on that part of the team.

Chunichi's fifth round pick is of specific interest to me.  Kento Fujishima hails from Toyohashi, Aichi, my wife's hometown.  He is also the same age as my nephew, who played against him in Little League.  He will be a developmental player, but I hope he can progress.  I was a little surprised he chose not to go to college, but fortunately he was drafted even if it was late.  

If you would like more info on the draft and specific prospects, Yakyudb recently did a live stream on those topics, as well as some others.  You can access it below: