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Baseball: Ohtani's 1st club Nippon Ham bets on another 2-way talent
MAINICHI
| 11 jam yang lalu
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FUKUOKA (Kyodo) -- With a vision of developing the next big thing in the mold of their star alumnus Shohei Ohtani, the Nippon Ham Fighters picked a two-way talent in the first round of last month's draft.
Reo Shibata, an 18-year-old out of Fukuoka's Ohori High School, bats left-handed and throws right-handed like the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar and is confident at both.
"I want to be like Ohtani-san from the bottom of my heart," Shibata said. "I'm thrilled to be drafted by the team I wanted to join."
Shibata stands 187 centimeters and weighs 87 kilograms. He throws a fastball that touches 149 kilometers (92.6 miles) per hour with a smooth delivery.
He hit 19 home runs in his high school career that ended when his team fell one win short of a trip to this summer's national championship.
Shibata was introduced by the Fighters during a press conference in Fukuoka on Tuesday.
"Shibata plays baseball with a happy face," said Fighters chief baseball officer Hideki Kuriyama, who helped Ohtani build his career as a two-way player when he was the Pacific League club's manager.
"I believe Shibata will be a new type of baseball player. We'll try not to eliminate his various possibilities."
Previously, the Fighters selected left-handed pitcher-outfielder Kota Yazawa in the first round of the 2022 draft, out of Nippon Sport Science University.
Yazawa, now 24, has a 1-2 career record with a 3.52 ERA in 19 games as a pitcher while batting .167 with one homer and four RBIs in 65 games.
Nippon Ham manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo has been impressed with the way Shibata swings the bat.
"His swing path is just like Ohtani's," the former New York Mets and San Francisco Giants outfielder said.
Shibata hopes to face Orix Buffaloes pitcher and Ohori High School graduate Shumpeita Yamashita, the 2023 PL Rookie of the Year, in the future.
"It would be great if I can produce strong results both ways," Shibata said.
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