2015 Nippon Professional Baseball draft
The 2015 Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Draft was held on 22 October 2015 at the Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa to assign amateur baseball players to the NPB. It was arranged with the special cooperation of Taisho Pharmaceutical Co. with official naming rights. The draft was officially called "The Professional Baseball Draft Meeting supported by Lipovitan D".
Summary
This was the third year in a row that Taisho Pharmaceuticals had been a partner for the NPB draft and as such one of their most prominent products "Lipovitan D" was used in the official name becoming "Professional Baseball Draft meeting supported by Lipovitan D."[1]
Only the first round picks were allowed to be contested with all picks from the second round onward being based on table placing in the 2015 NPB season in a waiver system. Waiver priority was changed from All-Star game results to inter-league results. As the Pacific League teams came out on top with 61 wins, 44 losses and 3 draws against Central League opposition, Pacific League teams were given preference. From the third round the order was reversed continuing in the same fashion until all picks were exhausted.
For the first time since 1974, the Yomiuri Giants were without a manager present at the draft. In the previous instance, that year's manager Tetsuharu Kawakami was to be replaced by Shigeo Nagashima who was absent due to his participation in the MLB Japan All-Star Series having still been an active player.[2]
88 new players were signed at the draft with a further 28 development player contracts decided on.[3]
Lottery Mistake
In the competition for the signature of Meiji University's Shun Takayama between Tokyo Yakult Swallows and the Hanshin Tigers there was an error leading to some trouble at the meeting.[4]
At the lottery, both team managers Tomoaki Kanemoto and Mitsuru Manaka both pulled their tickets and it was Manaka who pulled his ticket first mistaking the draft logo for the "winning" stamp, raising his fist in a victory pose. Kanemoto, after seeing the Swallows manager's delight, felt that he had lost and went back to his seat without checking his ticket.
After checking the "winning" ticket, NPB officials realized immediately that there had been a mistake but before other officials could check the Hanshin ticket, an interview with Manaka had already started. In regards to this, NPB secretary general Atsuhi Iihara later apologized "we should have stopped the interview but we couldn't. It was a clumsy piece of work." After it was confirmed that Hanshin had indeed won the rights to negotiate, Kanemoto laughingly remarked "it was like a homerun that had been taken away by video replay."[5]
In the aftermath Takayama made comment that "it was a meeting where you didn't now what was going to happen, I certainly didn't, but I'm very appreciative to have been selected in the first round of picks."[6] The mistaken Manaka, commented "please return my celebration."[7] As a result of the systems trouble, the draft was delayed by 10 minutes.
First Round Contested Picks
| Player Name | Postion | Teams Selected by | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Round | Taiga Hirasawa | Infielder | Rakuten、Lotte |
| First Round | Jumpei Takahashi | Pitcher | Chunichi、Nippon Ham、Softbank |
| First Round | Shun Takayama | Outfielder | Hanshin、Yakult |
| Second Round | Shinnosuke Ogasawara | Pitcher | Chunichi、Nippon Ham |
- Bolded teams indicate who won the right to negotiate contract following a lottery.
Selected Players
| * | Player did not sign |
|---|
Pacific League
Fukuoka Softbank Hawks
| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Jumpei Takahashi | Pitcher | Gifu Commercial and Business High School | |
| #2 | Reiji Kozawa | Pitcher | Nihon University Mishima Senior High School | |
| #3 | Kento Tanagiwara | Catcher | Toyohashi Chuo High School | |
| #4 | Kenta Chatani | Pitcher | Teikyo Daisan High School | |
| #5 | Kenta Kurose | Infielder | Hatsushiba Hashimoto Senior High School | |
| #6 | Akira Kawase | Infielder | Oita Commercial and Business High School | |
| Development Player Draft | ||||
| #1 | Yuto Nozawa | Pitcher | Tsukuba Shuei High School | |
| #2 | Ryuya Kodama | Pitcher | Kanagawa University | |
| #3 | Yuichi Higoshi | Catcher | Tokyo Nogyo University Hokkaido Okhotsk | |
| #4 | Shin Nakamura | Pitcher | Luther High School | |
| #5 | Takeshi Watanabe | Pitcher | Iizuka High School | |
Nippon Ham Fighters
| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Kenta Uehara | Pitcher | Meiji University |
| #2 | Takayuki Kato | Pitcher | Shin Nittetsu Sumikin Kazusa Magic |
| #3 | Kazutomo Iguchi | Pitcher | Tokyo Nogyo University Hokkaido Okhotsk |
| #4 | Shota Hiranuma | Infielder | Tsuruga Kehi High School |
| #5 | Toyoki Tanaka | Pitcher | Nippon Bunri University |
| #6 | Toshitaki Yokoo | Infielder | Keio University |
| #7 | Yuki Yoshida | Pitcher | Tokai University |
| #8 | Yuya Himeno | Outfielder | Osaka Kaisei High School |
Chiba Lotte Marines
| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Taiga Hirasawa | Infielder | Sendai Ikuei High School | |
| #2 | Ryota Sekiya | Pitcher | JR East | |
| #3 | Kakeru Narita | Pitcher | Akita Commerce & Business High School | |
| #4 | Taiki Tojo | Pitcher | JR East | |
| #5 | Shu Hara | Pitcher | Senshu University Matsudo Senior High School | |
| #6 | Akifumi Shigaraki | Pitcher | Miyazaki Umeda Gakuen | |
| #7 | Keisuke Takano | Pitcher | JR West | |
| Development Player Draft | ||||
| #1 | Takamasa Oki | Infielder | Kagawa Olive Guyners | |
| #2 | Tomoya Kakinuma | Catcher | Nihon University College of International Relations | |
Saitama Seibu Lions
| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Shinsaburo Tawada | Pitcher | Fuji University |
| #2 | Seiji Kawagoe | Pitcher | Hokkai Gakuen University |
| #3 | Shogo Noda | Pitcher | Seino Transportation |
| #4 | Aito Otaki | Outfielder | Hanasaki Tokuharu High School |
| #5 | Tadasuke Minamikawa | Pitcher | JR Shikoku |
| #6 | Keisuke Honda | Pitcher | Tohoku Gakuin University |
| #7 | Nien Ting Wu | Infielder | Daiichi Institute of Technology |
| #8 | Tsubasa Kokuba | Pitcher | Daiichi Institute of Technology |
| #9 | Koki Fujita | Pitcher | Hirosaki Technical High School |
| #10 | Naoaki Matsumoto | Pitcher | Kagawa Olive Guyners |
Orix Buffaloes
| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Masataka Yoshida | Outfielder | Aoyama Gakuin University | |
| #2 | Taisuke Kondo | Pitcher | Panasonic | |
| #3 | Koji Oshiro | Infielder | Rikkyo University | |
| #4 | Daiki Aoyama | Pitcher | Toyota Motors | |
| #5 | Ryo Yoshida | Pitcher | Tokai Sagami High School | |
| #6 | Sena Sato | Pitcher | Sendai Ikuei High School | |
| #7 | Kohei Suzuki | Infielder | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagoya | |
| #8 | Ryuta Kadoya | Pitcher | J-Project Corp | |
| #9 | Ken Akama | Pitcher | Saginomiya Seisakusho | |
| #10 | Yutaro Sugimoto | Outfielder | JR East | |
| Development Player Draft | ||||
| #1 | Takayuki Tsukada | Pitcher | Hakuoh University | |
| #2 | Kosuke Akamatsu | Catcher | Kagawa Olive Guyners | |
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Louis Okoye | Outfielder | Kanto Daiichi High School | |
| #2 | Ryota Yoshimochi | Infielder | Osaka University of Commerce | |
| #3 | Eigoro Mogi | Infielder | Waseda University | |
| #4 | Kengo Horiuchi | Catcher | Shizuoka Senior High School | |
| #5 | Ryota Ishibashi | Pitcher | Honda | |
| #6 | Yuichi Adachi | Catcher | Panasonic | |
| #7 | Itsuki Murabayashi | Infielder | Otsuka Senior High School | |
| Development Player Draft | ||||
| #1 | Takumi Deguchi | Infielder | Tsuda Gakuen High School | |
| #2 | Hiroki Yamada | Infielder | Komono High School | |
Central League
Tokyo Yakult Swallows
| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Juri Hara | Pitcher | Toyo University |
| #2 | Taishi Hirooka | Infielder | Chiben Gakuen High School |
| #3 | Keiji Takahashi | Pitcher | Ryukoku University Heian High School |
| #4 | Julius Higuma | Pitcher | Kochi Chuo High School |
| #5 | Kotaro Yamasaki | Outfielder | Nihon University |
| #6 | Daiki Watanabe | Infielder | Senshu University Matsudo High School |
Yomiuri Giants
| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Toshiki Sakurai | Pitcher | Ritsumeikan University | |
| #2 | Shinnosuke Shigenobu | Outfielder | Waseda University | |
| #3 | Hirotaka Yonahara | Pitcher | Futenma High School | |
| #4 | Shingo Usami | Catcher | Josai International University | |
| #5 | Yasuhiro Yamamoto | Infielder | Keio University | |
| #6 | Daisuke Tatsuma | Pitcher | Iwakura High School | |
| #7 | Kota Nakagawa | Pitcher | Tokai University | |
| #8 | Takuya Matsuzaki | Infielder | Nippon Paper Group | |
| Development Player Draft | ||||
| #1 | Daiki Masuda | Infielder | Tokushima Indigo Socks | |
| #2 | Daisei Kobayashi | Catcher | Musashi Heat Bears | |
| #3 | Yusuke Matsuzawa[8] | Outfielder | Kagawa Olive Guyners | |
| #4 | Kosei Tajima | Infielder | Musashi Heat Bears | |
| #5 | Hideyoshi Otake | Pitcher | Musashi Heat Bears | |
| #6 | Atsuro Hashimoto | Pitcher | Chinzei High School | |
| #7 | Yohei Yajima | Pitcher | Musashi Heat Bears | |
| #8 | Jun Hasegawa | Pitcher | Ishikawa Million Stars | |
Hanshin Tigers
| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Shun Takayama | Outfielder | Meiji University |
| #2 | Seishirō Sakamoto | Catcher | Meiji University |
| #3 | Daichi Takeyasu | Pitcher | Kumamoto Golden Larks |
| #4 | Atsushi Mochizuki | Pitcher | Yokohama So-Gakukan High School |
| #5 | Kōyō Aoyagi | Pitcher | Teikyo University |
| #6 | Yutaro Itayama | Outfielder | Asia University |
Hiroshima Carp
| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Akitake Okada | Pitcher | Osaka University of Commerce |
| #2 | Hiroki Yokoyama | Pitcher | NTT East Japan |
| #3 | Mikiya Takahashi | Pitcher | Hanamaki East High School |
| #4 | Ryota Funakoshi | Catcher | Oji Paper Company |
| #5 | Ryoma Nishikawa | Infielder | Oji Paper Company |
| #6 | Oscar Nakaoshi | Pitcher | Honda |
| #7 | Riku Aoki | Infielder | Yamagata Chuo High School |
Chunichi Dragons
| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Shinnosuke Ogasawara | Pitcher | Tokai Sagami High School | |
| #2 | Yu Sato | Pitcher | Tohoku Fukushi University | |
| #3 | Takuya Kinoshita | Catcher | Toyota Motors | |
| #4 | Hiroto Fuku | Pitcher | JR Kyushu | |
| #5 | Toshiki Abe | Infielder | Honda | |
| #6 | Ryota Ishioka | Infielder | JR East | |
| Development Player Draft | ||||
| #1 | Seiya Nakagawa | Pitcher | Aichi University | |
| #2 | Shu Yoshida | Pitcher | Tokushima Indigo Socks | |
| #3 | Takuya Mitsuma | Pitcher | Musashi Heat Bears | |
| #4 | Mikihiro Nishihama | Pitcher | Seijoh University | |
| #5 | Kaito Goya | Pitcher | Hachinohe Gakuin Kosei High School | |
| #6 | Masaru Watanabe | Outfielder | Tokai University | |
Yokohama DeNA Baystars
| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Shōta Imanaga | Pitcher | Komazawa University | |
| #2 | Kento Kumabara | Pitcher | Sendai University | |
| #3 | Tatsuhiro Shibata | Infielder | Kokugakuin University | |
| #4 | Yasutaka Tobashira | Catcher | NTT West Japan | |
| #5 | Kakeru Ayabe | Pitcher | Kasumigaura High School | |
| #6 | Koki Aoyagi | Outfielder | Osaka Toin High School | |
| #7 | Takuto Nogawa | Pitcher | Saginomiya Seisakusho | |
| Development Player Draft | ||||
| #1 | Keisho Amiya | Catcher | Chiba Eiwa High School | |
| #2 | Musashi Yamamoto | Infielder | Kyushu International University Senior High School | |
| #3 | Jo Tamura | Pitcher | Kwansei Gakuin University | |
References
- ↑ "ドラフト会議の特別協賛社に大正製薬(Draft Meeting's special partner Taisho Pharmaceuticals)". Nippon Professional Baseball (in Japanese). Retrieved 21 July 2016.
- ↑ "【巨人】41年ぶり監督不在ドラフト、抽選くじは堤GMが(Giants first time in 41 years without a manager at the draft. Lottery ticket to be pulled by GM)". Sports Hochi (in Japanese). Retrieved 21 July 2016.
- ↑ "新人選手88名の交渉権が確定 (88 new player negotiations decided)". Nippon Professional Baseball (in Japanese). Retrieved 21 July 2016.
- ↑ "真中監督、外れなのにガッツポーズ 金本監督は起死回生 (Swallows manager Manaka raises fist despite not winning, Tigers skipper Kanemoto resucitated)". Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
- ↑ "金本監督「ビデオ判定でホームランの心境」くじ逆転(Tigers Manager Kanemoto: "it was like a homerun had been taken away by video replay" raffle reversal)". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). Retrieved 21 July 2016.
- ↑ "アクシデントに明大・高山も困惑(Meiji Uni's Takayama also troubled by accident)". Daily Sports (in Japanese). Retrieved 21 July 2016.
- ↑ "「あのガッツポーズを返してください」／真中監督 (Please return my celebration - Manager Manaka)". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). Retrieved 21 July 2016.
- ↑ "怪我のため入団を辞退(Unable to join Giants due to injury)". Independent Baseball League Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 22 July 2016.
External links
- プロ野球ドラフト会議 supported by リポビタンD - NPB.jp Nippon Professional Baseball