DragonSoulCast #4: 2022 NPB Draft Preview & Predictions

 Hi all, after recording, re-recording and then sitting on it for a few days, I finally have my draft preview ready. You can listen via the embedded link here or through Spotify. I am not sure what's happening with iTunes at the moment. 

Through this podcast I go through 12 of the brightest talent available at the draft that I predict will be selected in the opening two rounds. It's very hard to predict exactly how the dominoes will fall as through the lottery and team need, selections may pivot wildly. I think here, the 12 guys I have selected will all disappear in the top 2 rounds. 

After this, I take a deep dive into the Dragons roster construction and make some predictions on who they might go after based on team need. I identify 5 particularly important areas that need to be addressed in the off-season and preferably at the draft. I then go into roughly what I think the Dragons will end up. All this has been based on my research into who the Dragons have shown interest in and where those players might end up falling to them. 

I'd also like to mention that the Carp have since announced one of their picks which I would have included otherwise so I apologise to any Carp fans out there who may be listening that were interested to hear about their man. I have otherwise included all other publicized picks in the top 12. 

I'll do a write-up on how accurate my predictions were once the draft has finished. 

The broadcast of the draft will start at 5:00pm JST on the 20th of October. The Sportsbull app has been streaming the draft the last few years. It will otherwise be broadcast via TBS (first round only), Paravi and SkyA.

Addtional Notes 19/10/2022

I thought it would be worth listing who has publicized their first round picks. I've also tried to find any news of what types of players teams will be targeting in the first round and made a quick table.

Team	Name	Position	School
Swallows	Kojiro Yoshimura	RHP	Toshiba
Baystars	-	Either
Tigers	-	??
Carp	Yuta Saito	RHP	Tomakomai Chuo HS
Giants	Shogo Asano	OF	Takamatsu Commercial HS
Dragons	Reia Nakachi	RHP	Okinawa University
Buffaloes	Ryuhei Sotani	LHP	Hakuoh University
Hawks	Ikhine Itua	SS	Homore HS
Lions	Takuya Hiruma	OF	Waseda University
Eagles	Kosei Shoji	RHP	Rikkyo University
Marines	-	P/IF?
Fighters	Kota Yazawa	LHP/OF	Nippon Sports Science Uni

Team departures and a new arrival

 Hi all, I should have my draft preview podcast ready very soon. Will be editing a little bit now. I recorded it yesterday and unfortunately it's already a little out of date (curse you Carpies!). 

In the meantime some interesting developments have taken place with regards to the team. Firstly, Ariel Martinez has left the team and is now a free agent. He performed well this year hitting a .276/.350/.435 slash with 8 homeruns in 82 games this year. It seems...strange to jettison a player that actually did quite well but perhaps there were some things in the background. It sounds like firstly, Martinez reluctantly left the catching position this year to make some kind of team contribution. His inability to play as a catcher may have been a deciding factor. The team may also have not thought his relative contribution worthy of the possible price-tag. With news that Tatsunami is going on a scouting mission the the Dominican Republic Winter League, it sounds like they're looking for someone a bit cheaper and with more upside. 

On the staff side of things, there has also been a bit of a shake-up. There was news earlier that Toshio Haru, long serving batting coach, would be leaving the team. He has now left the team alongside other long-standing coaches, Takashi Ogasawara and Hidenori Kuramoto. Ogasawara has been busy developing arms on the farm since 2013 and has a fairly decent track record. Hidenori has been up and down between the first and second team as an outfield coach since 2013 as well. Haru I can understand leaving given the hitting issues, but I don't understand jettisoning two perfectly good coaches in Ogasawara and Hidenori. The former I thought was quite good at his job and this now leaves two relatively inexperinced pitching coaches in Daisuke Yamai and Takuya Asao. Hidenori was given a role on the farm this year as a development coach, but I think that was merely the precursor for him leaving the team when his contract finished. There may have been compatibility issues with Atsushi Kataoka that led to the change, but this is pure speculation. What will this mean for the farm team? Since Asao was hired, the team have had 3 pitching coaches on the farm. Maybe cutting one is making room for another hitting coach perhaps? We'll have to wait and see. 

With all the outs, we have had an in. Former MVP, Kazuhiro Wada has joined the Tatsunami backroom as first team hitting coach. He was reportedly sent an invite when it was announced Haru was leaving. Wada was a great hitter in his day but has not had any coaching experience. His post-retirement days have been mostly spent as a colour commentator. Wada and Tatsunami spent two years together with the Dragons in 2008 and 2009. 

That was just a small update on some key moves the Dragons are making. I will be interesting to see what further shake-ups may occur post-draft and if there will be further additions to the coaching staff. 

Phoenix League Team Announced

 The team for the annual Phoenix League in Miyazaki prefecture has been announced. The following players will be playing in the roughly 3 week long fall tournament. The Phoenix League is usually for younger players to get more experience and the roster is often an expanded farm team of sorts but mostly for prospects or older players that need to tune-up.

Pitchers	Position Players
Akira Neo	Taisei Miya
Yuki Hashimoto	Yuya Gunji
Hiroto Takahashi	Kota Ishibashi
Hiroto Mori	Shuhei Takahashi
Yuichiro Okano	Masami Ishigaki
Akiyoshi Katsuno	Ryuku Tsuchida
Hiroshi Suzuki	Mao Hoshino
Takumi Yamamoto	Kosuke Ukai
Ryushin Takeuchi	Yuma Fukumoto
Yuta Matsukihira	Hironori Miyoshi
Hiroaki Matsuda	Kenta Bright
Sho Ishikawa	Kosuke Ito
Shota Fukushima	Yuki Okabayashi

I think we'll see Yuya Gunji being tested to find his position. He has been playing outfield by news says he will also play some first base in the Phoenix League. Kenta Bright gets to have a good hit-out after missing most of the season with injury while Kosuke Ukai similarly will be looking to make-up for lost at-bats. Overall, a lot of exciting young talents to watch, I'd personally like to see them line-up like this:

1. RF Hironori Miyoshi

2. CF Yuki Okabayashi

3. LF Kenta Bright

4. DH Kosuke Ukai

5. 3B Shuhei Takahashi

6. 1B Yuya Gunji

7. C  Kota Ishibashi

8. 2B Masami Ishigaki

9. SS Ryuku Tsuchida 

Given the DH is in play, there'll be plenty of opportunities for all the hitters to get some ABs. I hope they test Bright in CF as well and I'd like to see Masami Ishigaki really have a good fall league. I think we'll also see Fukumoto play some first-base as well as getting some reps in the outfield. Here's hoping for an injury-free, productive Phoenix League.

DragonSoulCast #3 - 2022 is dead, long live 2022

 Hi guys,

I'm sticking with Podcasts for now. I have actually set-up an RSS feed (still playing with this) for future podcasts. As I mention in the episode, I don't have a schedule or anything so I just upload when I can.

Today I talk about the end of the season, staff shuffles, who the Dragons might be saying farewell to and what they might want to target at the draft. 

I will have an episode as well to preview the draft but that will go-up likely next week. Draft is slated for the 20th of October.

DragonSoulCast #3 - 2022 is dead, long live 2022

4th October 2022 - 5:00pm update

The Dragons have gone heavy on the cuts and have laid off the following:

Ryosuke Hirata, Ayatsugu Yamashita, Yu Sato, Masaru Watanabe, Marc Ishida, Yoan Tavarez, Luke Wakamatsu, Kaname Takino, Yuta Omine and Tatsuro Hamada. 

They have cleared 8 spots on the top-team roster in one foul swoop. The names listed are not one's I'm surprised about but perhaps Kaname Takino can consider himself a little unlucky. Tatsuro Hamada's career has been hanging on by the good wishes of the club. He's had injury after injury and the man once uttered in the same breath as Shohei Otani and Shintaro Fujinami will be leaving the team. Yamashita leaving is also slightly surprising given the lack of options at first-base on the farm, but this may well change. Looks as though at least the team are keen on bringing back Ariel Martinez, we'll have to see how his contract plays out.

DragonSoulCast #2 - Who is Neo? The oufielder-come-short-stop now a pitcher (16th June 2022)

 Hi all, another podcast of sorts today which is a half-rant/analysis about Neo being converted to a pitcher by Kazuyoshi Tatsunami. I make a few comparisons and largely throw my arms up in despair. 

DragonSoulCast #2 - Who is Neo? The outfielder-come-short-stop now a pitcher (16th June 2022)