Toshihiro Kase, Jun Hagiwara, and Fumiaki Imamura’s three fielders turned into pitchers during the Orix 2nd Army coaching era.
The league match for professional baseball resumed on the 17th, but it was the outfielder Akira Neo, who received a lot of attention. He has been controversial as he turned from a fielder to a pitcher. Meanwhile, Hiromasa Arai, a baseball critic who had the experience of converting three players from fielders to pitchers at the same time when he was a coach of the Orix 2nd Army, said, “Professional baseball players are evaluated only if they play an active part in the 1st army.” I said my opinion.
Neo started with one outfielder this season in his fourth year of high school, but he experienced shortstop in the second army from the middle. And, in the middle of the season, it became an unusual pitcher conversion. He has pitched in two games in one army while registering as a fielder. He has marked 150km and is showing stable ball control, so attention is focused on how he will grow in the future.
Orix has produced many players who have turned from fielders to pitchers. Mr. Arai, who was the director of the 2nd Army in 2000 and 2001, said, “I remember the three people who originally joined the professional team as fielders even though they had pitching experience in high school. However, he found a way out as a pitcher, “said Toshihiro Kase, Atsushi Hagiwara, and Fumiaki Imamura.
