The growth of Keio University’s infielder Shogo Kiyohara, who was not selected at the “Professional Baseball Draft Conference supported by Lipovitan D” held in Tokyo on the 24th. He is the eldest son of Kazuhiro Kiyohara, who has hit a total of 525 home runs in the NPB. Why was the name of “Kiyohara Junior,” who is highly talked about and has immeasurable potential, not called? Takayoshi Nakao, who was a powerful catcher for Chunichi, Giants, and Seibu during his playing days, and who coached Kiyohara for four years as an external coach at Keio University, speaks. Kiyohara was a member of the volleyball club in junior high school and the American football club in high school. After a six-year hiatus from playing softball in elementary school, he began playing hardball seriously for the first time after entering Keio University. Despite this, he has become a regular as the fourth batter since this year’s Tokyo Big Six University Spring League. His improvement in batting has been remarkable. When asked why he was not selected, Nakao said, “First of all, I can only play first base. He’s pretty fast and has tried playing outfield before, but he wasn’t good at dealing with balls hit behind him,” he points out. Needless to say, in professional baseball, the first base position is often played by the main player in the batting line-up, and in many cases a foreign player is assigned to this position. Unless you’re an extremely powerful hitter, it’s a position where you can’t secure a regular spot. He also commented on the batting side, “I have the power to hit home runs, but at the moment I have some issues dealing with sharp inside fastballs and determining whether to turn a curveball into a ball from a strike.” After retiring from active play, Nakao served as a scout for the Hanshin Tigers for nine years from 2008 to 2016. “I think that Kiyohara still has the potential to improve technically, but from the perspective of scouts, he was not evaluated as having as much potential as other players who had made a name for themselves as amateurs. “It’s certainly newsworthy, but I think that’s why each team didn’t want to turn Kiyohara into a clown,” he speculates about the third reason. If he goes to a corporate baseball team, he will be eligible for selection in as little as two years, but if he plays in an independent league, he could be eligible for selection next year. It is unclear at this time what path Kiyohara, who was not drafted, will choose. Nakao said, “I think there is still room for improvement technically, especially in batting. “If he is motivated, one avenue would be to explore the possibilities of joining an independent league or a club team for working adults from next year onwards,” he points out. “If the person can’t give up on their dream, I think they should do it. “This is something you can only do when you’re young,” he says, encouraging her. If a player goes on to play in professional baseball, including on a corporate team, he will be eligible for the draft again at the earliest in two years. If he joins an independent league, he will also be eligible for nomination next year. Nakao pointed out areas that need improvement, saying, “At the moment, Kiyohara is tall (186 cm), but he has room to strengthen his core and increase his swing speed.” I wonder if Kiyohara’s dream will continue…
I think Kufuu Hayate would be fine since it seems like he wants it. Also, there were people who said “filing an application to become a professional is useless lol”, but it’s necessary if you want to join Kufuu Hayate.
>>17 How far is that? You probably don’t know much I don’t understand why it’s amazing for four years It would have been better if he’d played baseball for at least three years in high school.
High school graduates are golden eggs, but I want college graduates to be ready to hit the ground running. It’s such a waste, even if there are various reasons for this.
Seibu alumni GG Sato and Dave said that Seibu should definitely get him. But from a performance standpoint, they said that he would attract customers and his merchandise would sell like hotcakes, so in the end, looking at his current abilities, that’s the main focus.
Prince Handkerchief earned a signing bonus and lifetime annual salary of 300-400 million yen, but if he had aimed to become a sportscaster as a new graduate instead of going pro, he might have had his own show and developed talking skills by now.
Apparently there are almost no pro players whose batting average has improved since their college days. A 20% batting average in college is impossible.
He simply didn’t have the ability to turn pro this year. If he was going to be picked up as a development player, I thought it would be Seibu Giants, where my dad played, but no one took him.
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