Yuki Saito Watch

Welcome to America

July 4th kicks off the 36th edition of the US/Japan Collegiate Baseball Games. The team of talented young Japanese players has arrived in the US and commenced training in South Carolina prior to the official contest, held in Durham, NC. There are 5 games altogether, and we should get a look at a variety of outstanding players from both sides of the world. Of course, the most heralded player among this group is our own Yuki Saito, who figures to be the Game One starter on July 4th.

My latest Baseball Prospectus article gives a complete rundown of the players on the Japanese roster, including a brief scouting report. It's subscription only, so you'll have to invest a little of your hard earned cash to get the full details, but I promise it's worth it if you love to read about baseball. I'll give you the rosters of both teams here, as available via normal means of information gathering and throw in a sprinkle of extra information on several of the key Japanese players. First, Team USA:

#	Name	Pos.	B/T	Ht.	Wt.	Class	School	Hometown
25	Alvarez, Pedro	IF	L/R	6-2	212	So.	Vanderbilt	New York, NY
28	Berry, Ryan	RHP	R/R	6-1	195	Fr.	Rice	Humble, TX
15	Danks, Jordan	OF	L/R	6-5	205	So.	Texas	Round Rock, TX
8	Espinosa, Danny	IF	S/R	6-0	185	So.	Long Beach State	Santa Ana, CA
5	Flaherty, Ryan	UT	L/R	6-3	200	So.	Vanderbilt	Portland, ME
11	Forsythe, Logan	IF/OF	R/R	6-0	195	So.	Arkansas	Memphis, TN
29	Hamilton, Jeremy	IF	L/L	6-0	180	So.	Wright State	Cincinnati, OH
14	Hunter, Brett	RHP	R/R	6-2	190	So.	Pepperdine	Moorpark, CA
36	Kelly, Joe	RHP	R/R	6-1	165	Fr.	UC Riverside	Corona, CA
6	Kieschnick, Roger	OF	L/R	6-3	200	So.	Texas Tech	Rockwall, TX
40	Lynn, Lance	RHP	R/R	6-5	260	So.	Mississippi	Brownsburg, IN
17	Matusz, Brian	LHP	L/L	6-4	180	So.	San Diego	Cave Creek, AZ
18	Medica, Tommy	C	R/R	6-1	190	Fr.	Santa Clara	San Jose, CA
9	Mercer, Jordy	RHP/IF	R/R	6-3	192	So.	Oklahoma State	Taloga, OK
37	Minor, Mike	LHP	L/L	6-3	175	Fr.	Vanderbilt	Chapel Hill, TN
35	Paramore, Petey	C	S/R	6-2	195	So.	Arizona State	Allen, TX
4	Romanski, Josh	LHP/OF	L/L	6-0	180	So.	San Diego	Corona, CA
44	Ross, Tyson	RHP	R/R	6-5	215	So.	California	Oakland, CA
7	Satterwhite, Cody	RHP	R/R	6-4	205	So.	Mississippi	Jackson, MS
10	Smoak, Justin	IF	S/L	6-3	200	So.	South Carolina	Goose Creek, SC
24	Thompson, Jacob	RHP	R/R	6-6	190	So.	Virginia	Danville, VA
34	Wallace, Brett	IF	L/R	6-1	245	So.	Arizona State	Sonoma, CA

#	Name	Pos.	School
26	Mike Weathers	Field Manager	Long Beach State
16	Rob Cooper	Assistant/First Base Coach	Wright State
27	Bill Kinneberg	Assistant/Pitching Coach	Utah
3	Mark Scalf	Assistant/Third Base Coach	UNC-Wilmington

This is a very talented group of ballplayers. Many current Major Leaguers have played in this series of games in the past and you'll be getting a very good look at some of the future stars by checking in on these games. The same can be said of the Japanese group. The NPB will welcome a handful of the graduating seniors on the Japanese roster, and several of the underclassmen sure to be drafted in the near future. Yuki Saito may be one of a very small handful to attempt a jump directly to the Majors, so here's your chance to get a very early look at what he brings to the table. Tell your friends that you saw the next Daisuke Matsuzaka way back when...

#	Name	Pos.	B/T	Ht.	Wt.	Class	School
16	Tomohisa NEMOTO	P	L/L	5-10	173	Senior	YOKOHAMA SHOKA UNIV.
17	Shota OBA	P	R/R	6-0	171	Senior	TOYO UNIVERSITY
28	Mikinori KATO	P	L/L	5-10	167	Senior	KEIO UNIVERISTY
11	Shingo TATSUMI	P	R/R	6-0	156	Junior	KINKI UNIVERSITY
18	Ryo SAKAKIBARA	P	R/R	5-9	151	Junior	KANSAI KOKUSAI UNIVERISTY
21	Tomoyuki KAIDA	P	L/L	5-10	171	Sophomore	KOMAZAWA UNIVERSITY
19	Shinya MURAMATSU	P	R/R	6-2	171	Freshman	KOKUGAKUIN UNIVERSITY
20	Yuki SAITO	P	R/R	5-9	164	Freshman	WASEDA UNIVERSITY
6	Takeshi HOSOYAMADA	C	R/R	5-10	169	Junior	WASEDA UNIVERSITY
25	Shota OHNO	C	R/R	5-10	169	Junior	TOYO UNIVERSITY
1	Tetsuya KOKUBO	IF	R/R	5-9	171	Senior	AOYAMA GAKUIN UNIVERSITY
3	Shiro MORI	IF	R/R	5-9	167	Senior	KINKI UNIVERSITY
7	Takashi OGINO	IF	R/R	5-8	160	Senior	KANSAI GAKUIN UNIVERSITY
2	Noriharu YAMAZAKI	IF	R/R	5-10	169	Junior	YOKOHAMA SHOKA UNIVERSITY
4	Hiroki UEMOTO	IF	R/R	5-8	151	Junior	WASEDA UNIVERSITY
27	Hiroki NAKAZAWA	IF	R/R	6-0	176	Junior	KOKUSAI BUDO UNIVERSITY
5	Ryoji NAKATA	IF	L/R	5-7	256	Sophomore	ASIA UNIVERSITY
26	Shota WAIZUMI	IF	S/R	5-10	167	Sophomore	HOSEI UNIVERSITY
8	Sho ARANAMI	OF	L/R	5-10	160	Senior	TOKAI UNIVERSITY
10	Yukinaga TANAKA	OF	R/R	5-10	182	Senior	WASEDA UNIVERSITY
9	Takahiro IWAMOTO	OF	L/L	6-0	182	Junior	ASIA UNIVERSITY
24	Keijiro MATSUMOTO	OF	L/L	5-11	167	Junior	WASEDA UNIVERSITY

#	Name	Pos.
50	Masao KAWARAI	Head Coach
51	Noritsugu MATSUOKA	Assistant Coach
52	Atsuyoshi OHTAKE	Assistant Coach
53	Tetsuo YAMAJI	Assistant Coach

A few of the players to watch, outside Saito, are as follows:
Pitchers
Shota Oba (Toyo University) - Pro Comparison: Kazumi Saito
Shingo Tatsumi (Kinki University) - Tall, lanky righty threw a no-hitter this season
Shinya Muramatsu (Kokugakuin University) - Powerful freshman with huge potential

Batters
Takeshi Hosoyamada (Waseda University) - Saito's catcher has MLB potential
Tetsuya Kokubo (Aoyama Gakuin U.) - Best infielder in 2007 draft, Japanese Pedroia?
Sho Aranami (Tokai University) - speedy CF lost to Saito in University Finals
Takahiro Iwamoto (Asia University) - power hitter, but may not hit for avg.

All of these players have the potential to impact the outcome of the series, but I picked a few I thought you might like to watch. Ultimately, any of the roster guys could be a hero (or a goat). You'll have to watch to see for yourself. One housekeeping note....

The Japanese players had a tune up exhibition against the Columbia Blowfish of Columbia, SC after arriving. A combination of Shota Oba and Mikinori Kato kept the Blowfish hitless through 5 innings, until Yuki Saito arrived on the scene for the 6th. Saito didn't seem right prior to the game, sweating and looking pale, and it showed in the results. He coughed up a 3-0 lead allowing a leadoff walk, a double, and two RBI singles. He pitched two innings and gave up 4 runs. In the end, Saito was saved a loss by his teammates, as they managed to scratch a run to tie it in front of 100 credentialed media, there primarily to watch our boy. It was one of the B-quality starters on the roster that lost the game, as Ryo Sakakibara of Kansai International University allowed a 3-run, walk off homer to Greg Phelps to end the exhibition. Let's hope we see the real Yuki Saito on Independence Day....

posted by Mike Plugh @ 9:23 AM