Twenty-four players who have been nominated for the Japan Olympic baseball team will be announced on the 16th.
In addition to Masahiro Tanaka, who has returned to Rakuten from the major leagues, young players such as Seibu's Kaima Taira and Yakult's Munetaka Murakami are expected to join the team.
For four years since he took office, Japan National Baseball Team coach Atsunori Inaba has been selecting members by inspecting professional baseball and holding staff meetings with the national coaches under the theme of "speed and power."
At the premiere 12 international tournament in November, which was the outpost of the Olympics, Japan gained momentum by winning its first victory with the strength of pitching power, but the Olympics were postponed for one year due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection. As a result, I was forced to rethink the selection of members.
On the other hand, pitcher Tanaka's return to Rakuten from the major league Yankees has made it possible to participate in the Olympics, and Seibu's 21-year-old Taira, who has been breaking the professional baseball record with 33 games since the opening, has not scored any goals. With the rapid growth of young pitchers such as pitchers, Hiroshima's second year, Masato Morishita, and rookie Ryosuke Kuribayashi, Inaba is expected to pull out these new strengths.
On the other hand, the fielders are expected to be centered on Premier12 members such as giant Hayato Sakamoto and Seiya Suzuki of Hiroshima, and Yuki Yanagita of Softbank and Yakult's 21 who are hitting the top 20 home runs of both leagues. It is expected that Murakami will also be selected.
Director Inaba will hold a press conference in Tokyo from 11:00 am on the 16th to announce the players who have been nominated for the Japan national team.