Samurai Japan: Preliminary 2013 WBC Roster
by Gen on Dec.04, 2012 @ 5:58 pm, under WBC
Preliminary WBC Roster
(34 players - 16 pitchers, 3 catchers, 8 infielders, seven outfielders)
| Pos | Name JPN | Name ENG | Team | DOB | Ht | Wt | T | B |
| P | 杉内 俊哉 | Sugiuchi, Toshiya | Yomiuri | Oct. 30, 1980 | 175 | 82 | L | L |
| P | 内海 哲也 | Utsumi, Tetsuya | Yomiuri | Apr. 29, 1982 | 186 | 90 | L | L |
| P | 山口 鉄也 | Yamaguchi, Tetsuya | Yomiuri | Nov. 11, 1983 | 184 | 86 | L | L |
| P | 澤村 拓一 | Sawamura, Hirokazu | Yomiuri | Apr. 3, 1988 | 183 | 96 | R | R |
| P | 山井 大介 | Yamai, Daisuke | Chunichi | May 10, 1978 | 179 | 82 | R | R |
| P | 吉見 一起 | Yoshimi, Kazuki | Chunichi | Sep. 19, 1984 | 182 | 91 | R | R |
| P | 浅尾 拓也 | Asao, Takuya | Chunichi | Oct. 22, 1984 | 182 | 75 | R | R |
| P | 前田 健太 | Maeda, Kenta | Hiroshima | Apr. 11, 1988 | 182 | 73 | R | R |
| P | 今村 猛 | Imamura, Takeru | Hiroshima | Apr. 17, 1991 | 183 | 83 | R | R |
| P | 能見 篤史 | Nomi, Atsushi | Hanshin | May 28, 1979 | 180 | 72 | L | L |
| P | 牧田 和久 | Makita, Kazuhisa | Seibu | Nov. 10, 1984 | 177 | 82 | R | R |
| P | 涌井 秀章 | Wakui, Hideaki | Seibu | Jun. 21, 1986 | 185 | 85 | R | R |
| P | 攝津 正 | Settsu, Tadashi | Softbank | Jun. 1, 1982 | 181 | 90 | R | R |
| P | 大隣 憲司 | Otonari, Kenji | Softbank | Nov. 19, 1984 | 175 | 85 | L | L |
| P | 森福 允彦 | Morifuku, Masahiko | Softbank | Jul. 29, 1986 | 171 | 65 | L | L |
| P | 田中 将大 | Tanaka, Masahiro | Rakuten | Nov. 1, 1988 | 188 | 93 | R | R |
| C | 阿部慎之助 | Abe, Shinnosuke | Yomiuri | Mar. 20, 1979 | 180 | 97 | R | L |
| C | 相川 亮二 | Aikawa, Ryoji | Yakult | Jul. 11, 1976 | 182 | 86 | R | R |
| C | 炭谷銀仁朗 | Sumitani, Ginjiro | Seibu | Jul. 19, 1987 | 180 | 93 | R | R |
| INF | 村田 修一 | Murata, Shuichi | Yomiuri | Dec. 28, 1980 | 177 | 92 | R | R |
| INF | 坂本 勇人 | Sakamoto, Hayato | Yomiuri | Dec. 14, 1988 | 185 | 80 | R | R |
| INF | 井端 弘和 | Ibata, Hirokazu | Chunichi | May 12, 1975 | 173 | 75 | R | R |
| INF | 鳥谷 敬 | Toritani, Takashi | Hanshin | Jun. 26, 1981 | 180 | 77 | R | L |
| INF | 稲葉 篤紀 | Inaba, Atsunori | Nippon Ham | Aug. 3, 1972 | 185 | 94 | L | L |
| INF | 松田 宣浩 | Matsuda, Nobuhiro | Softbank | May 17, 1983 | 180 | 85 | R | R |
| INF | 本多 雄一 | Honda, Yuichi | Softbank | Nov. 19, 1984 | 174 | 72 | R | L |
| INF | 松井稼頭央 | Matsui, Kazuo | Rakuten | Oct. 23, 1975 | 177 | 85 | R | S |
| OF | 長野 久義 | Chono, Hisayoshi | Yomiuri | Dec. 6, 1984 | 180 | 83 | R | R |
| OF | 大島 洋平 | Oshima, Yohei | Chunichi | Nov. 9, 1985 | 176 | 74 | L | L |
| OF | 糸井 嘉男 | Itoi, Yoshio | Nippon Ham | Jul. 31, 1981 | 187 | 88 | R | L |
| OF | 中田 翔 | Nakata, Sho | Nippon Ham | Apr. 22, 1989 | 182 | 95 | R | R |
| OF | 内川 聖一 | Uchikawa, Seiichi | Softbank | Aug. 4, 1982 | 185 | 88 | R | R |
| OF | 聖澤 諒 | Hijirisawa, Ryo | Rakuten | Nov. 3, 1985 | 179 | 72 | R | L |
| OF | 角中 勝也 | Kakunaka, Katsuya | Lotte | May 25, 1987 | 180 | 80 | R | L |


am i misreading this, Gen? not one MLB guy said yes?
Yeah, no one said yes. They asked five players (I think it was Ichiro, Aoki, Darvish, Kuroda, and Kawasaki) and they all said no. Iwakuma also said he wanted to sit out. I’m not sure if other players said one way or the other, but I think Japan sort of figured they would go with an all NPB team this time.
That Yamai pick is simply baffling.
Just one Yakult player…and may not make final cut…
I thought Kawabata could have least gotten a look. Are other players selected at his position really much better?
This roster is really not exciting to me. Makita and WAKUI? Ibata? Kaz Matsui????
Too many Gomiuri players.
Too many Softbank players.
Well, I bought my tickets today anyway.
I would have loved to see Uehara. He was the best relief pitcher in all MLB last year, he would have been my choice to close games. He just strikes out everybody. If not him I hope it’ll go for Asao and not Tanaka or anyone else, no WTF choice please.
Other than that, as you said Steve, Wakui doesn’t really deserve to be here and I’d rather have Shima than Aikawa or Sumitani to call games and put Abe at 1B.
Guys, not only MLB players but manager candidates backed down. It’s understandable because anything beside champion is a disappointment at this point. Koji Yamamoto took the job knowing that. Let him do whatever he wants.