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Nominated as starting pitcher for the third year in a row… High expectations for Hayato Tsunehiro, Yuta Saito and Takumi Kurohara
In manager Takahiro Arai’s first year, Hiroshima suddenly jumped to second place in the A Class for the first time in five years, and signs of a pitching kingdom are beginning to emerge. At the draft meeting, after a competition with Rakuten, they managed to nominate Seigaku University pitcher Hayato Tsunehiro. They have selected starting pitchers three years in a row and have independently selected five prospects expected to be on the first team in 2024.
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The 5th and 4th spots were selected from outfielders who are as promising as pitchers. Outfielder Takahiro Nakamura, who joined the team second in the 2022 developmental draft, performed well in his first year with the second team and was given a controlled contract in May. 20-year-old outfielder Shunsuke Tamura made his first-team debut in his second year, recording eight hits in 22 at bats for a .364 batting average. His second-team batting average was .278, showing glimpses of a great player.
Thirdly, I would like to mention pitcher Takumi Kurohara, who is the first pick in the 2021 draft. On the first team, he appeared in 12 games in 2022 with an ERA of 6.52 and in 5 games in 2023 with an ERA of 10.66. Despite hitting a wall, he still put in a flawless performance in the second team. He pitched in 17 games with 6 wins and 1 loss and an ERA of 2.58. He showed his potential with 81 strikeouts in 90 2/3 innings.
The 2nd place is pitcher Yuta Saito, the 1st pick in the 2022 draft. In his first year he will slowly gain experience on the second team and, like former pitcher Kenta Maeda, aim for the big break. Still, he batted second in a practice game against Samurai Japan (Miyazaki) in November and went hitless and no runs in two innings. The fastest time was 152 km/h and the cleanup efforts of Morishita, Maki and Kozono were all wiped out.
And No. 1 is Tsunehiro, who will be drafted No. 1 in 2023. Even considering that he is still unknown as a professional, he should be at the top. Armed with a fastball that can reach a top speed of 95 mph (155 km/h) and a fork pitcher, he is known as the number one pitcher in college and was named MVP after leading his team to victory in the All-Japan Collegiate Baseball Championship had. I hope he gets included in the opening rotation.
(Full editorial)
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