Final countdown to 2020

The 12 teams in Japan’s two six-team leagues, the Pacific and Central, announced their 31-player active rosters for Opening Day on Thursday. All six games start at 6 pm Japan Time (5 am EDT).

My guide to Japanese pro baseball is HERE. It’s still a bit of a work in progress, but there may be something there of interest. You’ll find full rosters with links to the players’ English language NPB web pages, managers’ records, team info and more.

Friday’s Opening Day match-ups:

There are a variety of routes through which one can stream Japanese games outside of the country, but Pacific League TV (pay) is the one I’m most familiar with. HERE‘s my guide to that service.

Yomiuri Giants vs Hanshin Tigers

-At Tokyo Dome: Tomoyuki Sugano vs Yuki Nishi

Yakult Swallows vs Chunichi Dragons

-At Jingu Stadium: Masanori Ishikawa vs Yudai Ono

DeNA BayStars vs Hiroshima Carp

-At Yokohama Stadium: Shota Imanaga vs Daichi Osera

Opening Day active rosters

A total of 18 first-year pros made the Opening Day rosters, a rather large figure — even for a country with only one real tier of minor leagues. Players with an asterisk are still considered rookies for 2020, while those with their names in capital letters are registered as imported players.

Pacific League

Seibu Lions

Pos	No.	Name
P	14	Tatsushi Masuda
P	15	Tetsu Miyagawa*
P	17	Wataru Matsumoto
P	20	Shota Hamaya*
P	25	Katsunori Hirai
P	28	Ryosuke Moriwaki
P	33	REED GARRETT
P	40	Ichiro Tamura*
P	44	Kaito Yoza*
P	48	Shota Takekuma
P	54	ZACH NEAL
P	61	Kaima Taira*
C	2	Masatoshi Okada
C	10	Tomoya Mori
C	37	Sena Tsuge*
IF	3	Hotaka Yamakawa
IF	4	Kakeru Yamanobe*
IF	5	Shuta Tonosaki
IF	6	Sosuke Genda
IF	39	Wu Nien-ting
IF	60	Takeya Nakamura
OF	1	Takumi Kuriyama
OF	7	Yuji Kaneko
OF	9	Fumikazu Kimura
OF	22	CORY SPANGENBERG
OF	46	Shohei Suzuki*
OF	58	Masato Kumashiro
OF	72	Seiji Kawagoe*

SoftBank Hawks

Pos	No.	Name
P	11	Yuki Tsumori*
P	13	Akira Niho
P	16	Nao Higashihama
P	17	Sho Iwasaki
P	21	Tsuyoshi Wada
P	28	Rei Takahashi
P	35	LIVAN MOINELO
P	38	Yuito Mori
P	53	Keisuke Izumi*
P	57	Shinya Kayama
P	63	Hiroyuki Kawahara
P	66	Yuki Matsumoto
C	12	Hiroaki Takaya
C	19	Takuya Kai
C	31	Ryoya Kurihara
IF	5	Nobuhiro Matsuda
IF	6	Kenta Imamiya
IF	8	Kenji Akashi
IF	22	Tetsuro Nishida
IF	23	Ukyo Shuto
IF	36	Taisei Makihara
IF	68	Masaki Miori*
IF	99	Keizo Kawashima
OF	4	WLADIMIR BALENTIEN
OF	9	Yuki Yanagita
OF	24	Yuya Hasegawa
OF	32	Tatsuru Yanagimachi*
OF	51	Seiji Uebayashi

Rakuten Eagles

Pos	No.	Name
P	13	Kohei Morihara
P	14	Takahiro Norimoto
P	15	JON THOMAS CHARGOIS
P	20	Tomohiro Anraku
P	22	Kazuhisa Makita
P	28	Tomohito Sakai
P	32	ALAN BUSENITZ
P	52	Taisei Tsurusaki*
P	58	Wataru Karashima
C	2	Hikaru Ota
C	29	Ayatsugu Yamashita
C	44	Yuichi Adachi
IF	0	Hiroto Kobukata*
IF	3	Hideto Asamura
IF	5	Eigoro Mogi
IF	6	Kazuya Fujita
IF	7	Daichi Suzuki
IF	26	Naoto Watanabe
IF	33	Ginji Akaminai
IF	34	Tsuyoshi Yamasaki
IF	36	Yasuhito Uchida
OF	8	Ryosuke Tatsumi
OF	9	STEFEN ROMERO
OF	35	Hiroaki Shimauchi
OF	51	Yuya Ogo*
OF	69	JABARI BLASH

Lotte Marines

Pos	No.	Name
P	12	Ayumu Ishikawa
P	15	Manabu Mima
P	16	Atsuki Taneichi
P	20	Taiki Tojo
P	30	Tsuyoshi Ishizaki
P	37	Fumiya Ono
P	42	FRANK HERRMANN
P	47	Yasuhiro Tanaka
P	48	Toshiya Nakamura*
P	49	CHEN KUAN-YU
P	52	Naoya Masuda
P	58	JAY JACKSON
C	22	Tatsuhiro Tamura
C	32	Toshiya Sato*
C	99	Tomoya Kakinuma
IF	0	Takashi Toritani
IF	4	Yudai Fujioka
IF	5	Hisanori Yasuda*
IF	8	Shogo Nakamura
IF	40	Koki Fukuda*
IF	44	Seiya Inoue
IF	54	BRANDON LAIRD
OF	0	Takashi Ogino
OF	1	Ikuhiro Kiyota
OF	3	Katsuya Kakunaka
OF	7	Shuhei Fukuda
OF	25	Hiromi Oka
OF	63	Koshiro Wada*
OF	79	LEONYS MARTIN

Nippon Ham Fighters

Pos	No.	Name
P	14	Takayuki Kato
P	16	Kohei Arihara
P	19	Chihiro Kaneko
P	25	Naoki Miyanishi
P	29	Kazutomo Iguchi
P	31	Toru Murata
P	34	Mizuki Hori
P	39	Ryo Akiyoshi
P	47	Kenya Suzuki*
P	49	Katsuhiko Kumon
P	54	Taisho Tamai
P	56	Mitsuo Yoshikawa
C	10	Yushi Shimizu
C	22	Shinya Tsuruoka
C	30	Shingo Usami
IF	2	Kenshi Sugiya
IF	6	Sho Nakata
IF	9	Takuya Nakashima
IF	21	Kotaro Kiyomiya
IF	23	Ryo Watanabe
IF	24	Yuki Nomura*
IF	32	Ryota Yachi
IF	38	Kazunari Ishii
IF	58	Toshitake Yokoo
OF	3	WANG PO-JUNG
OF	4	Yuya Taniguchi
OF	5	Taishi Ota
OF	7	Haruki Nishikawa
OF	8	Kensuke Kondo

Orix Buffaloes

Pos	No.	Name
P	14	Kazumasa Yoshida
P	15	Yudai Aranishi
P	18	Yoshinobu Yamamoto
P	19	Taisuke Yamaoka
P	29	Daiki Tajima
P	32	BRANDON DICKSON
P	35	Motoki Higa
P	47	Tomoyuki Kaida
P	49	Keisuke Sawada
P	57	Nobuyoshi Yamada
P	95	Fumiya Kanbe*
C	23	Torai Fushimi
C	33	Masato Matsui
C	37	Kenya Wakatsuki
IF	0	Shoki Katsumata*
IF	3	Ryoichi Adachi
IF	9	Koji Oshiro
IF	38	Shohei Kojima
IF	42	ADERLIN RODRIGUEZ
IF	64	Shinya Hirosawa*
IF	67	Keita Nakagawa
OF	8	Shunta Goto
OF	10	ADAM JONES
OF	25	Ryo Nishimura
OF	34	Masataka Yoshida
OF	41	Kodai Sano
OF	50	Yuya Oda
OF	55	Takahiro Okada

Central League

Yomiuri Giants

Pos	No.	Name
P	12	RUBBY DE LA ROSA
P	15	Hirokazu Sawamura
P	18	Tomoyuki Sugano
P	20	ANGEL SANCHEZ
P	28	Kazuto Taguchi
P	30	Yohei Kagiya
P	40	Yuri Furukawa
P	41	Kota Nakagawa
P	47	Takahiro Fujioka
P	49	Thyago Vieira*
P	57	Kyosuke Takagi
P	58	Ryosuke Miyaguni
C	22	Seiji Kobayashi
C	24	Takumi Oshiro
C	27	Ginjiro Sumitani
C	69	Takaya Tanaka*
IF	0	Daiki Masuda*
IF	5	Hiroyuki Nakajima
IF	6	Hayato Sakamoto
IF	25	Kazuma Okamoto
IF	29	Naoki Yoshikawa
IF	51	Shunta Tanaka
IF	52	Takumi Kitamura*
IF	93	Dai Yuasa*
OF	2	Yang Dai-kang
OF	8	Yoshihiro Maru
OF	9	Yoshiyuki Kamei
OF	36	Shingo Ishikawa
OF	43	Shinnosuke Shigenobu
OF	88	GERARDO PARRA

DeNA BayStars

Pos	No.	Name
P	13	Hiromu Ise*
P	14	Kenta Ishida
P	17	Kazuki Mishima
P	19	Yasuaki Yamasaki
P	21	Shota Imanaga
P	34	Shingo Hirata
P	45	Michael Peoples*
P	53	SPENCER PATTON
P	58	Yuta Muto
P	92	Yuki Kuniyoshi
C	10	Yasutaka Tobashira
C	29	Hikaru Ito
C	32	Kyosuke Mashiko*
IF	0	Daisuke Nakai
IF	2	JOSE LOPEZ
IF	5	Toshihiko Kuramoto
IF	9	Yamato Maeda
IF	23	TYLER AUSTIN
IF	31	Tatsuhiro Shibata
IF	44	Keita Sano
IF	51	Toshiro Miyazaki
IF	99	NEFTALI SOTO
OF	1	Masayuki Kuwahara
OF	3	Takayuki Kajitani
OF	33	Tomo Otosaka
OF	37	Taishi Kusumoto
OF	61	Tatsuo Ebina*

Hanshin Tigers

Pos	No.	Name
P	14	Atsushi Nomi
P	16	Yuki Nishi
P	17	Yuta Iwasada
P	22	Kyuji Fujikawa
P	34	Masaki Tanigawa*
P	42	JON EDWARDS
P	43	Koki Moriya
P	50	Koyo Aoyagi
P	66	Ippei Ogawa*
P	67	Suguru Iwazaki
P	75	ROBERT SUAREZ
P	77	ONELKI GARCIA
C	12	Seishiro Sakamoto
C	44	Ryutaro Umeno
C	94	Fumihito Haraguchi
IF	0	Hiroki Uemoto
IF	0	Seiya Kinami
IF	2	Fumiya Hojo
IF	3	Yusuke Oyama
IF	31	JEFRY MARTE
IF	33	Kento Itohara
IF	41	JUSTIN BOUR
IF	55	Naomasa Yokawa
IF	58	Fumiya Araki
IF	62	Kai Ueda
OF	5	Koji Chikamoto
OF	7	Yoshio Itoi
OF	8	Kosuke Fukudome
OF	9	Shun Takayama
OF	25	Taiga Egoshi

Hiroshima Carp

No.	Name
P	14	Daichi Osera
P	16	Takeru Imamura
P	18	Masato Morishita*
P	21	Shota Nakazaki
P	23	Kazuki Yabuta
P	28	Hiroki Tokoda
P	36	Atsuya Horie
P	39	Yasunori Kikuchi
P	46	Mikiya Takahashi
P	70	TAYLER SCOTT
P	97	GERONIMO FRANZUA
C	27	Tsubasa Aizawa
C	31	Yoshiyuki Ishihara
C	61	Shogo Sakakura
IF	0	Takashi Uemoto
IF	2	Kosuke Tanaka
IF	4	Tetsuya Kokubo
IF	6	Tomohiro Abe
IF	7	Shota Dobayashi
IF	33	Ryosuke Kikuchi
IF	35	Takumi Miyoshi
IF	63	Ryoma Nishikawa
IF	96	ALEJANDRO MEJIA
OF	1	Seiya Suzuki
OF	5	Hisayoshi Chono
OF	10	JOSE PIRELA
OF	37	Takayoshi Noma
OF	50	Hiroki Takahashi

Chunichi Dragons

Pos	No.	Name
P	13	Yuki Hashimoto*
P	16	Katsuki Matayoshi
P	17	Yuya Yanagi
P	19	Kazuki Yoshimi
P	21	Toshiya Okada
P	22	Yudai Ono
P	28	Kodai Umetsu
P	33	Daisuke Sobue
P	34	Hiroto Fuku
P	46	Hiroshi Suzuki
P	53	LUIS GONZALEZ
P	97	RAIDEL MARTINEZ
C	35	Takuya Kinoshita
C	44	Yuya Gunji*
C	52	Takuma Kato
IF	1	Yota Kyoda
IF	3	Shuhei Takahashi
IF	5	Toshiki Abe
IF	9	Shun Ishikawa
IF	55	Nobumasa Fukuda
IF	63	Naomichi Donoue
IF	66	DAYAN VICIEDO
OF	6	Ryosuke Hirata
OF	8	Yohei Oshima
OF	23	Issei Endo
OF	26	Masataka Iryo
OF	31	Masaru Watanabe*
OF	42	ZOILO ALMONTE
OF	56	Kengo Takeda

Yakult Swallows

Pos	No.	Name
P	12	Taichi Ishiyama
P	17	Noboru Shimizu*
P	18	Naruki Terashima*
P	19	Masanori Ishikawa
P	20	Kazuki Kondo
P	37	SCOTT MCGOUGH
P	38	Yugo Umeno
P	44	Hiroki Onishi*
P	69	Ryuta Konno
P	90	Hiroki Hasegawa*
C	45	Motohiro Shima
C	52	Yuhei Nakamura
C	57	Yudai Koga*
IF	1	Tetsuto Yamada
IF	2	ALCIDES ESCOBAR
IF	10	Takahiro Araki
IF	36	Taishi Hirooka
IF	39	Takeshi Miyamoto
IF	55	Munetaka Murakami
IF	66	Taisei Yoshida*
OF	9	Yasutaka Shiomi
OF	23	Norichika Aoki
OF	31	Kotaro Yamasaki
OF	41	Yuhei Takai
OF	42	Tomotaka Sakaguchi
OF	49	Daiki Watanabe*
OF	50	Tsuyoshi Ueda

jballallen.com

Final countdown to 2020

Seibu Lions vs Nippon Ham Fighters

Orix Buffaloes vs Rakuten Eagles

Seibu Lions vs Nippon Ham Fighters

Yomiuri Giants vs Hanshin Tigers

Yakult Swallows vs Chunichi Dragons

DeNA BayStars vs Hiroshima Carp

Opening Day active rosters

Pacific League

Seibu Lions

SoftBank Hawks

Rakuten Eagles

Lotte Marines

Nippon Ham Fighters

Orix Buffaloes

Central League

Yomiuri Giants

DeNA BayStars

Hanshin Tigers

Hiroshima Carp

Chunichi Dragons

Yakult Swallows

Related

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writing & research on Japanese baseball

Seibu Lions vs Nippon Ham Fighters

Orix Buffaloes vs Rakuten Eagles

Seibu Lions vs Nippon Ham Fighters

Yomiuri Giants vs Hanshin Tigers

Yakult Swallows vs Chunichi Dragons

DeNA BayStars vs Hiroshima Carp

Opening Day active rosters

Pacific League

Seibu Lions

SoftBank Hawks

Rakuten Eagles

Lotte Marines

Nippon Ham Fighters

Orix Buffaloes

Central League

Yomiuri Giants

DeNA BayStars

Hanshin Tigers

Hiroshima Carp

Chunichi Dragons

Yakult Swallows

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writing & research on Japanese baseball