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:
Seibu Lions vs Nippon Ham Fighters
-At MetLife Dome: ZACH NEAL vs Kohei Arihara
Orix Buffaloes vs Rakuten Eagles
-At Kyocera Dome: Taisuke Yamaoka vs Takahiro Norimoto
Seibu Lions vs Nippon Ham Fighters
-At PayPay Dome: Nao Higashihama vs Ayumu Ishikawa
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 |