Rookie Ryuki Watarai, 21, of the DeNA BayStars in Yokohama, Japan, is hot with the bat. He is expected to be a top hitter in his debut year.
Yokohama played an exhibition game against Nippon Ham at Escon Field in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, on Feb. 22. Watarai started in right field and continued his 4-for-4, two-hit performance.
In the first inning, Watarai hit a 143-kilometer cutter to left off Nippon Ham ace Hiromi Ito. It was his first hit in his first at-bat at Escondido.
In the third inning, he flied out to center field with one out. Faced Ito for the third time in the fifth inning with runners on second and third with the score tied 1-1. Watarai struck out swinging on a 131-kilometer forkball.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh inning with a 3-1 lead, Watarai lined a single to left for a multi-hit game. 토토사이트 He added an RBI single in his final at-bat to push his batting average back into the .400s.
In 14 exhibition games, Watarai is batting 4-for-9 (18-for-44) with two doubles and an OPS of .901.
He’s also shown off his strong shoulder on defense.
With two outs in the seventh inning, he caught a line drive in front of the right fielder and made a laser throw home. Martinez tried to round third base and come home, but was stopped by Watarai’s accurate and quick throw.
After the game, Watarai said, “I wanted to make sure I made the throw. It was good to be able to judge the situation,” Watarai said.
Watarai went undrafted in his senior year at Yokohama High School, so he turned to social baseball. He joined the ENEOS and played three seasons.
“If you go to college, you can go to the draft again after four years. In social baseball, you have a chance to be drafted after three years, so I wanted to go pro a year earlier,” he said, explaining why he chose social baseball.
“At ENEOS, a top social team, coach Hideaki Okubo believed in me and coached me to become a player who could go pro as the No. 1 draft pick. Over the past three years, I’ve gotten stronger at the plate and my contact rate has improved. I’ve been able to play the outfield as well as the infield, and I’ve been able to improve both my shoulder and speed,” said Wada.
After three years in social baseball,
Watarai competed for the No. 1 pick in last year’s draft with three teams, including Yokohama, and was selected first overall by the Yokohama organization.
Watarai pinch-hit in the seventh inning of an exhibition game against the Orix on Aug. 20 and was thrown out at shortstop on a line drive. He was hitless in one at-bat. His 15-game hitting streak, dating back to a Feb. 18 exhibition game against Chiba Rode, came to a halt. 파워볼사이트 However, he had a multi-hit game against Nippon Ham on Feb. 22, extending his streak of 15 consecutive games with a hit from the Feb. 21 exhibition game against Hiroshima.