On January 25, 2023, Manager Hideki Kuriyama of the Japan National Baseball Team (Japan Samurai) announced the 30 members who will face the WBC (World Baseball Classic) starting in March.
While leading players such as Major League Angels pitcher Shohei Otani and Yakult closer Munetaka Murakami who hit 56 home runs in the Central League last season were selected, there are many leading players who were left off the list .
So, J-CAST News conducted a reader poll to ask “Who would you like to be selected for the WBC Japan national team?” What is the star player he wanted to participate?
-
Hideki Kuriyama, manager of the Japan National Baseball Team (Photo: Rodrigo Reyes Marin/Aflo)
-
Players who wanted to be selected for the WBC Japan National Team
-
Players who wanted to be selected for the WBC Japan National Team
-
Players who wanted to be selected for the WBC Japan National Team
-
Players who wanted to be selected for the WBC Japan National Team
The name of an American major leaguer with Japanese blood
The questionnaire was carried out in J-CAST News from January 17th to 12:00 on January 27th, when the names of the 30 players who unofficially decided to join the team were reported. Among the 1340 votes collected, here are the names of the top 10 players.
10th place is Nippon-Ham winger Kotaro Kiyomiya (40 votes). During his time at Waseda Jitsugyo High School, he hit a total of 111 home runs in high school, which is still unbeaten, and attracted a lot of attention before turning professional. After joining Nippon-Ham, he was sluggish, but last season, in his fifth year, he hit 18 home runs, the most of his career.
9th in the big leagues, Cleveland Guardians outfielder Stephen Kwan (44 votes). His mother is Japanese-American, and last season he was 9th in the American League with a .298 batting average and won the Gold Glove Award. He was keen to join the Japanese national team, but did not meet the qualifications. I couldn’t become a samurai.
8th place is the pitcher Kaiba Taira from Seibu (46 votes). A relief right arm with the fastest 160 km, he played 61 games and caught 34 catches last season, the most in the Pacific League. He has indicated his intention to switch to the starting line-up from this season, and announced his withdrawal from WBC when he renewed his contract last year.
7th place is Major League Baseball pitcher Ko Senga of the New York Mets (48 votes). Until last season, he achieved double-digit wins for seven years in a row as Softbank’s ace, and from this season he is challenging for the long-awaited major. He played well in the previous WBC in 2017 and contributed to the victory in the Tokyo Olympics in 2009, but was not called up in this WBC.
Outfielder Yuki Yanagida of SoftBank came in 6th (51 votes). A two-time Pacific League MVP slugger representing Japan has announced his withdrawal from this tournament due to his condition.
Needless to say, the 1st place is a well known “big pitcher”.
Hanshin outfielder Koji Chikamoto (55 votes) finished fifth. He is a speedster who has stolen a base king three times in four years since his rookie year in 2019. Steady hitting and defense that includes two Golden Glove Awards are also attractive, and he was expected to join the national team, but was not called up.
Yakult outfielder Yasutaka Shiomi (56 votes). With punching power and running power, he led Yakult to the league championship for the second year in a row as Yakult’s leader. In the fall of 2010, he took part in a warm-up match as a representative of Japan, but was not selected as a member of the WBC.
Rakuten outfielder Eito Asamura (68 votes) came in third. Recorded double-digit home runs for 10 consecutive years as one of the best righty sluggers in the Pacific League. He also contributed to the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Stable second base defense is also a strength, and although motivated to participate in the WBC, he did not make the team.
Second place is outfielder Tsuyoshi Matsumoto of Nippon-Ham (76 votes). After turning professional from Teikyo High School, he had a hard time getting a regular game, but he woke up with a batting average of . Many players belonging to Nippon-Ham, such as colleague Taikai Ito, ex-colleague Kensuke Kondo (Softbank) outfielder, and Ohtani, were selected, but they were not invited to Kuriyama Japan.
And the first place is Masahiro Tanaka from Rakuten (91 votes). It goes without saying that he is a great pitcher who has won 190 games in Japan and the United States, the most for active Japanese players. In the 2nd WBC in 2009, he played with Ichiro, Daisuke Matsuzaka, and Yu Darvish (Padres) and won the championship. Since then, he has contributed to Japan in international competitions such as the 3rd WBC in 2013 and the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Although he is ready to participate in the WBC for the first time in 10 years, he revealed that Kuriyama contacted directly him to be “selected without being chosen”.
11th place and below are catcher Seiji Kobayashi (39 votes) of the Giants, known for excellent hitting in international tournaments, and Takayuki Kato (39 votes) of Nippon-Ham, who posted the 3rd highest ERA in the League Pacific last season. , Hanshin pitcher Akihiro Aoyagi (35 votes), who has earned the most wins in the Central League for the second consecutive year, and Ryosuke Kikuchi, a shutout from Hiroshima (34 votes).
