Hanshin Tigers

Takashi Toritani told fans during a talk session on Friday that he planned to provide 1st round draft pick Hayata Ito with whatever help/support he might need, especially since he too joined the team as a high profile 1st round pick out of a Kanto university (Waseda).

On Sunday, Ito took part in the 34th Annual Yachimata Youth Baseball Clinic at Chiba Reimei High School.  About 150 kids from 10 teams attended the clinic.  He also wore a Keio University uniform.

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Ni-gun pitching coach Kiyooki Nakanishi thinks highly of 2nd round draft pick Hiroaki Saiuchi's split finger fastball.

Said Nakanishi, "Saiuchi can get swinging strikes and grounders [with the pitch].  He does not miss with it much and I think it can be an effective pitch at the professional level.  It is not an unrefined pitch, but very close to being complete."

Assuming he can polish up his fastball, Nakanishi believes he could make it to the active roster fairly quickly.

Chiba Lotte Marines

1st round draft pick Takahiro Fujioka will be making an appearance at a fan event at QVC Marine on 1/2/2012.

Hiroshima Carp

1st round draft pick Yusuke Nomura would like a shot at pitching in the exhibition game that takes place in his home town (Kurashiki, Okayama) on 3/7 against the Yomiuri Giants.

Rakuten Eagles

2nd round draft pick Yoshinao Kamata could have a shot at beginning his first year in the pros at Ichi-gun spring camp.  The last Eagles' player to make Ichi-gun spring camp right out of high school was Masahiro Tanaka.

Chunichi Dragons

The Dragons opened up their 2011 draft class introductions to fans this year for the first time in franchise history.  Around 800 fans showed up.

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1st round draft pick Shuhei Takahashi is still scheduled to start this off at Ichi-gun spring camp next year.

Hanshin Tigers

The media learned on Tuesday that Ikusei 1st round draft pick Seiya Hirokami already moved into the player dorms on 12/12 (the earliest for a newly drafted player in franchise history).

Yomiuri Giants

Ikusei 5th round draft pick Takashi Amemiya and Ikusei 6th round draft pick Takahiro Watanabe worked out for about two hours at Giants Stadium on Tuesday.

Hiroshima Carp

The 2011 draft class had a chance to visit Mazda Stadium on Wednesday.

The Rakuten Eagles introduced their 2011 draft class today at a hotel in Sendai.

Uniform Numbers

The Chunichi Dragons introduced their 2011 draft class at Nadya Park in Nagoya today.  About 800 fans attended the event.

Uniform Numbers

The Yokohama Bay Stars announced the uniform numbers for the 2011 draft classed.

Uniform Numbers

The Hiroshima Carp introduced their 2011 draft class at Rihga Royal Hotel Hiroshima earlier today.  100 selected fans were invited to the event.

Uniform Numbers

Rakuten Eagles

The Eagles gave their 2011 draft class a tour of Kleenex Stadium and of their Ni-gun training facilities on Monday.

Hanshin Tigers

 The players the Tigers drafted this year were tested on nine different things during their physical fitness tests on Sunday.

1st round draft picks Hayato Ito's 21 chin-ups were higher than players like Masato Akamatsu (18), Takashi Toritani (13), and Atsushi Nomi (10) when they took their tests before their first years.  He also notched 69cm on the vertical jump and did 36 sit-ups in 30 seconds.

Hiroshima Carp

All eight players the Carp drafted this year arrived in Hiroshima on Monday, a day head of their introductions to the media.  2nd round draft pick Ryosuke Kikuchi arrived from Nagoya with his parents.

The Softbank Hawks held a press conference in Yahoo Dome today to introduce their 2011 Ikusei draft class.  A Ustream video covering the the event is also available.

Uniform Numbers

The Hanshin Tigers presented their 2011 draft class to the media at a hotel in Osaka earlier today.

Uniform Numbers