The 2019 Amateur Draft for the Shinkansen was quite an event. We got to see a glimpse of what the future of Shinkansen would look like. So here is the 2019 Draft class for the Shinkansen.

1. Eitoku Hirano (C) – 1st Round, 1st Overall. Hirano looks like the most advanced hitter of the class, and plays a premium position. Good hitting catchers are a tough find in the LRS, and Hirano looks to be added to that short list. He spent four years at Keio University. Over that time he amassed a batting average of .315 to go along with 39 long bombs. Now 39 may not seem like very much, but Hirano has some quiet power and might be starting to find his grove with it. During his senior year, he launched 16 homeruns. Another plus to Hirano is his advanced approach at the plate, he knows what’s a strike and what’s a ball. Over his college career he walked a remarkable 140 times, against just 84 strikeouts. Now, he may not possess any speed or be too great of a defensive catcher, but he was the best player available for the Shinkansen. They passed up on a premium college arm in Takanobu Shirai to get him, so they believe in him.

2. Matsudaira Suzuki (RF) – 1st Round, 12th Overall. Suzuki was one of the top all around hitters in the draft class, but lost a lot of stock due to an injury that will keep him out for the rest of this year. He’s no sure thing, but it looks like he’ll be in the LRS shortly. The 21-year old still has a little bit of ways to go in terms of driving the ball to all fields, but walks a ton, and doesn’t strikeout very much at all. Now, his senior year was cut short, but it had the makings of his best college year. The Asia University product hit 8 HRs in just 13 games before a ruptured medial collateral ligament ended his year. The injury usually takes about a year to come back from so he’ll be ready opening day, 2020.

3. Shunsen Taguchi (MR) – 7th Round, 74th Overall. This is the 5th time Taguchi has been drafted. The first four, he failed to sign. Hopefully the 5th time is the charm for him. Though, he has been rumored to demand a bonus north of $1.5M. It doesn’t look like HYA will pay that much for a 7th Rounder, but they have a little bit of spending to play with, so who knows? He has some solid reliever potential, but is 24. He’s definitely an interesting choice.

4. Ryoma Endoso (SS) – 8th Round, 86th Overall. The so called ‘Mr. Mustache’ fell all the way to the 8th Round to be scooped up by HYA. Out of Waseda University, this middle infielder can play all of the spots around the IF. He lacks power, but puts the bat on ball and knows his way around the strike zone. He has the potential to be one of the late round steals of this draft. Only time can tell though.

5. Masami Osada (RF) – 9th Round, 98th Overall. Teammates and OF buddy with Suzuki at Asia University. Osada lacks power and strikes out quite a bit. But, he can get into groves in which he doesn’t stop getting on base. A huge junior year led to more playing time his senior year for this speedy OF. Defensively Osada was one of the top OFs in the college circuit. He can roam all of the outfield spots too.

6.  Takuro Hirose (1B) – 10th Round, 110th Overall. Similar to Taguchi in times of sign-ability issues. Hirose didn’t sign out of HS or last year. He has some good gap power with an average eye. He’s an underdog who given some solid playing time could really turn into a good hitter. So far though he hasn’t signed and HYA hasn’t shown any real interest in giving him his $1.7M demand. Especially as a 10th Rounder.

Overall, this draft class was subpar do to the lack of picks. But, the ones they did have, they spent wisely. Look for these names in a few years, because a couple have a chance at leading the future of Hyakujuu.