The ‘2026 Professional Baseball Draft Conference’ aired live on TBS starting at 4:40 PM on the 22nd. After Minaki Fujimoto was brought in as the broadcast’s guest host, Hello! Project fans on 5ch’s Hello! Pro board reacted with comments like “First I’ve heard Mikitty was into baseball” and “Wouldn’t Mai Satoda, Rika Ishikawa, or Asami Konno have been a better fit?” TBS announced that only the first and second rounds of picks would air live, with later rounds covered via rolling updates, while off-air chatter buzzed about each team’s first-round pick and the reputations of the top prospects.
What people said
1AnonymousOct 22, 2026 15:42
The 'day of destiny' is back again this year…!
We'll bring you live coverage of the conference that decides the fates of young players chasing a spot in professional baseball.
What kind of drama will unfold this year…?!
2AnonymousOct 22, 2026 15:53
■ Maria Makino ■ Live Commentary Stream: 2026 Draft Conference ■ 10/22 4:45 PM~ YouTube Fighters MIRU ■
https://kizuna.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/morningcoffee/1792631965/
4AnonymousOct 22, 2026 15:59
Lost interest in this ever since Poncho died (nickname of a well-known baseball stats commentator)
6AnonymousOct 22, 2026 16:18
First I've heard Mikitty was into baseball
9AnonymousOct 22, 2026 16:25
Should've been Mai Satoda, Rika Ishikawa, Asami Konno, or Melon Shibata here
not Mikitty
10AnonymousOct 22, 2026 16:31
Could've had Maria as the guest instead
Mikitty's not even into baseball, is she?
11AnonymousOct 22, 2026 16:33
Wait, it's Mikitty? Not Makino? lol
12AnonymousOct 22, 2026 16:35
Guess they cast her for that 'mom's-eye view' angle or something
14AnonymousOct 22, 2026 16:37
Fujimoto's the one more people recognize since she's in commercials too
Makino's only known to a small niche, so she's the weaker pick
15AnonymousOct 22, 2026 16:38
Same as every year — TBS will probably only air the 1st-round pick
Go online if you want to see the lottery results for round 2 and beyond
18AnonymousOct 22, 2026 16:40
Apparently this is TBS's plan:
Live broadcast for 1st and 2nd round picks
Rolling updates from the 3rd round on
22AnonymousOct 22, 2026 16:42
Anyone here watching on Sky A?
28AnonymousOct 22, 2026 16:45
Re: #22
I had a spare channel slot on my Select 5 cable plan, so I switched to Sky A just for this month
25AnonymousOct 22, 2026 16:45
If it were Shibata, she'd probably break into 'This Is Unmei' (a song titled 'Destiny') for us
27AnonymousOct 22, 2026 16:45
They should just make Oda ineligible to be drafted
29AnonymousOct 22, 2026 16:46
At this stage he's already more built than Ohtani was
32AnonymousOct 22, 2026 16:57
Sky A doesn't pile on the entertainment stuff, so it's easier to watch
Fewer commercials too
34AnonymousOct 22, 2026 16:58
Komoda's pretty overrated, honestly
Oda probably won't get picked at all
35AnonymousOct 22, 2026 17:00
Komoda's raw talent is what it is, can't help that
I do think Hirata could break out if he goes in the 4th round
38AnonymousOct 22, 2026 17:02
Sueyoshi will probably get picked, but what about Gakki? Hasn't he not even filed his 'death notice' yet (slang for declaring you won't turn pro)?
39AnonymousOct 22, 2026 17:02
Isn't Oda also someone who hasn't filed anything either?
40AnonymousOct 22, 2026 17:03
For me, Maeda's head and shoulders above the other high-school pitchers
I expect him to perform on Orix's Miyagi's level
45AnonymousOct 22, 2026 17:05
Guess this year's draft ends up being Watanabe's year after all
57AnonymousOct 22, 2026 17:07
A secret deal, here it comes━━━━(°∀°)━━━━!!
63AnonymousOct 22, 2026 17:08
If Oda ends up with the Giants, he's gonna get ripped apart for it
69AnonymousOct 22, 2026 17:09
No way he goes to the Giants!
If he turns them down, that'd be unprecedented
72AnonymousOct 22, 2026 17:09
The Giants can't develop players anyway
Might be better off going to America
I dunno though
74AnonymousOct 22, 2026 17:09
Stuff like this is exactly why 'yakyu' gets side-eyed by everyone (mocking slang for baseball)
78AnonymousOct 22, 2026 17:10
The Giants, tossing their first-round pick straight in the gutter lol
86AnonymousOct 22, 2026 17:11
This Oda guy never even planned to go NPB in the first place — so why's he standing by at the press conference venue?
88AnonymousOct 22, 2026 17:12
If Rakuten wanted a catcher, there were guys like Ota and others available
93AnonymousOct 22, 2026 17:13
Re: #88
Ota's a free agent this year
101AnonymousOct 22, 2026 17:14
Komoda going to the Fighters uncontested was a lucky break
Is Oda-to-Giants outside interference, or a secret deal?
108AnonymousOct 22, 2026 17:15
Re: #101
It's pure interference
Oda probably won't even sit down at the negotiating table
104AnonymousOct 22, 2026 17:15
They should just ride in the same taxi together
Background and Key Points of This Topic
Because the NPB draft conference uses a lottery system, the outcome of the first-round picks is always the year’s biggest draw, and it’s become standard practice for terrestrial broadcasters to air only the first and second rounds live while treating the third round onward as news-flash updates. This time, TBS brought in Hello! Project alum Minaki Fujimoto for its broadcast, while at the same time Maria Makino was doing live commentary on a separate YouTube channel — meaning the same conference ended up covered live by multiple outlets with different talent. On the thread, many comments compared the two programs’ choice of talent, with some favoring other members from the same generation, such as Mai Satoda, Rika Ishikawa, and Asami Konno. Note that many of the actual draft results had not yet been determined at the time of the thread, so comments about individual teams’ negotiations should be read as viewer speculation.
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