Baseball draft: Giants pick MLB-bound Oda; two Aoyama Gakuin players each draw two bids

Japan's professional baseball draft meeting was held on 22 October at a hotel in Tokyo. Yahoo! News Japan's top page and Nippon TV reported that the first-round negotiating rights for all 12 teams had been decided. TBS gave the venue as the Shin-Takanawa Prince Hotel. [ 1 , 2 , 7 , 12 ]

The Giants nominated Shoki Oda, a pitcher from Yokohama High School, as their only first-round pick. Oda had declared that he wanted to go to the US major leagues. Nippon TV said the pick drew surprised voices at the venue. Jiji Press, Tokyo Shimbun and TBS described the move as a 強行指名 (forced nomination). TBS gave his age as 18. [ 2 , 7 , 10 , 12 , 13 ]

Two Aoyama Gakuin University players each drew bids from two teams. Catcher Kai Watanabe was contested by Rakuten and Chunichi, and Rakuten general manager Kazuhisa Ishii drew the winning lottery ticket. Pitcher Taisei Suzuki was contested by Lotte and SoftBank, and SoftBank chief baseball officer Kenji Jojima drew the winning ticket. Jiji Press and Asahi reported that this was the fourth straight year Aoyama Gakuin had multiple first-round picks. [ 2 , 9 , 12 , 19 ]

Chunichi and Lotte, who both lost their lotteries, went to a second bid and again contested the same player, pitcher Ren Miyahara of Kindai University. Chunichi won the lottery. TBS described Miyahara as a 21-year-old right-hander with a top speed of 156 km/h. Lotte then nominated Tomoto Yonezawa, a pitcher from Kansai University. [ 2 , 4 , 12 , 13 ]

Several other teams made sole first-round picks. Orix took pitcher Futo Kakuda of Fuji University, Hiroshima took Takara Yamazato of Asia University, Nippon-Ham took pitcher Haruki Komoda of Yamanashi Gakuin High School, DeNA took pitcher Sena Hoshino of Osaka University of Commerce, Seibu took pitcher Hirohito Kawajiri of Asia University and Hanshin took Nanato Sakakibara of Meiji University. Nippon TV said Yakult's pick, outfielder Ryosuke Fujisawa of Tokyo Gas, was the only one from outside the student ranks. Jiji Press said Komoda had drawn attention as a two-way player. [ 2 , 12 , 13 ]

Mainichi quoted Jojima as saying Suzuki was rated number one among pitchers and that he was relieved the winning ticket remained. He recalled that he also drew a winning ticket last year, for Rintaro Sasaki, who later declined. Asahi quoted Watanabe and Suzuki on their picks. Because both were chosen by Pacific League clubs, Asahi said they may face each other soon after turning professional. [ 15 , 19 ]

Jiji Press also reported that SoftBank used its ninth pick on Genei Sato and that the Giants won the rights to a 14-year-old catcher in the fifth round of the developmental draft. It said the catcher, Rentaro Seki of a Kanagawa junior high school, was the first middle-school student to be drafted, citing people involved. [ 12 ]