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The story
DeNA reportedly issued first-round roster cut notices on September 29 to 10 players in total — 6 on the active roster, including pitchers Shintaro Fujinami, Kenta Kozono, and Chihaya Sasaki, plus 4 development-squad players. On 5channel threads, the main topic was Kozono’s stalled development, given he joined the team as a first-round pick contested by multiple clubs out of high school and is now facing this notice in his fifth year, with many posts comparing his fate to that of high school pitchers from the same draft class who went to other teams. There was also plenty of speculation about where Fujinami might end up next, with some predicting this first round of cuts won’t be the last.
On the 29th, DeNA issued roster cut notices to six active-roster players — pitchers Shintaro Fujinami, Kenta Kozono, Chihaya Sasaki, Hayato Horioka, and Hayate Nakagawa, plus outfielder Ayato Inoue — along with four development-squad players: infielder Kenji Nishimaki, pitcher Ryunosuke Matsumoto, infielder Sou Ogasawara, and catcher Taiga Kondo. With this first round already topping 10 players, it looks set to be an offseason of major roster turnover.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Guess he's just fallen apart.
Forever stuck throwing that limp-noodle ~140 km/h (~87 mph) fastball.
I mean, even in high school he couldn't dominate other high schoolers.
His control was just way too bad.
Only 5 appearances, so honestly that's basically nothing.
Still, he's already 32… wonder if anyone will pick him up.
Did that year's high school BIG3 completely wash out?
Yeah, it's pretty rough.
Just Tatsu, Taisei, and Sumida left standing, huh?
He was always a mystery pitcher — a righty who topped out at 140 km/h (~87 mph).
Though DeNA only had one true first-rounder in that mix.
He was getting into games as a rookie straight out of high school and seemed pretty highly touted, no?
In the end he never did learn to hit the fastball.
If you can stick around as a pro until you're 32, that's already way above average.
This guy might actually get drafted on potential alone.
Honestly surprised to hear he's still even playing baseball.
Not the 'Zombie Cigarette' guy, though — different person.
What's this 'Tatsu-Tatsu' thing?
Guess you don't know the first thing about keeping up appearances.
Well, 'Justice' (Tanaka's nickname, a pun on his name) hasn't lived up to his amateur-days hype either.
Back in his amateur days he was mowing down pros with ease, so everyone assumed he'd dominate as a starter from year one.
Makes no sense that Kamizato and Shibata weren't cut in this first round.
Those two are on the first team.
There are still games left to play this season.
According to Takada, the former GM, the Fighters apparently have a team policy of favoring that kind of maverick-type player in the draft.
They still got him in the second round though, right?
Oyama should've been a contested pick too!
that's honestly enough talent to build a decent rotation out of.
Is DeNA's pitching staff really going to be okay cutting this many guys?
Isn't Fujinami the only one with an actual track record?
And now Sasaki Chihaya, the guy fans wanted to see as a contested pick alongside Oyama, gets cut first.
If Oyama had been a contested pick and they'd ended up with Sasaki instead, there'd have been no championship this year.
Background and Key Points of This Topic
NPB’s roster cut notices begin every year in late September, starting with each team announcing its ‘first-round’ list of released players, followed by a second round of notices and shifts to development contracts before final rosters are settled by year’s end. The 10 players named this time include both active-roster and development-squad players, and the article alone doesn’t make clear that development contracts differ from active-roster contracts in terms of treatment and re-signing conditions. Kozono, who became the focus of the thread’s discussion, was a highly touted prospect who joined the team as a first-round pick contested by multiple clubs out of high school, and his results became a point of comparison against other high school pitchers drafted around the same time by other teams. That said, internal team matters such as individual development progress or injury history can’t be determined from the thread posts alone, so caution is warranted before drawing firm conclusions. As for where Fujinami might transfer to, the discussion never goes beyond rumor, and an official announcement will need to be awaited.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Live Galileo) thread “DeNA cuts a massive 10 players lol.”
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