Kimiyasu Kudo, newly installed as manager of the Chunichi Dragons, showed no mercy toward his young players from day one of fall camp, which kicked off in Kochi on the 2nd. During fielding drills, he barked “You can do it, can’t you?!” at a 22-year-old infielder after a sluggish play. Footage streamed on the team’s official YouTube channel showed the atmosphere freeze over as the player bowed his head and apologized, saying “I’m sorry.” On 5ch, opinions split between those backing his demand for full effort even in drills with no runners on base, and those flagging it as workplace-harassment behavior, with the discussion spreading to comparisons with his track record — and his handling of pitchers — during his years managing SoftBank.
Manager Kudo Erupts Over “Sluggish Play”: “You Can Do It, Can’t You?!” — Atmosphere Freezes as He Calls Out 22-Year-Old Infielder on the Spot
The Chunichi Dragons’ fall training camp got underway in Kochi on the 2nd. New manager Kimiyasu Kudo wasted no time giving his young players no-mercy instruction.
During fielding drills, an angry shout was directed at a 22-year-old infielder. The footage was also livestreamed on the team’s official YouTube channel, watched by many fans.
Honestly, I'd rather watch the "Naoya Railway" channel on YouTube than the Peace-kun peacock cam at Omiya Park (a random, unrelated YouTube reference — looks like a non-sequitur post)
5AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:06
Real talk, in fielding drills with no runners on base some guys do ease up and lob the throw
Kudo's right on this one
You can't suddenly do in a game what you never practiced
6AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:06
So if a guy gets the yips now, is that harassment?
7AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:07
Players' drinking is gonna drop so much the izakayas (Japanese pubs) near camp are gonna go under
9AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:07
Don't baseball managers lean on old-school 'guts and grit' thinking a lot?
Isn't there a single manager out there who can give precise instructions instead of relying on 'gut-computer' hunches? (a sarcastic term for managers who treat their intuition as if it were as precise as a computer)
16AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:09
Re: #9
Do people actually evolve in just a few years?
Kudo's track record is miles above Matsui's
18AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:09
Re: #9
Isn't the whole point that it's NOT precise — that's exactly why they call it a 'gut-computer'?
43AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:15
Re: #9
Guys like Kudo are still from the 'Star of the Giants' generation (a classic manga symbolizing brutal old-school training)
— bunny hops, no water breaks allowed, lol
11AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:07
Funny thing is, right before this particular knock, the backup fielder actually botched the catch
12AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:07
What's amazing about SoftBank is how few fielding errors they make
Defense is the thing you can actually fix. Hitting always takes time — thinking you can turn that around overnight is amateur thinking
13AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:08
So Chunichi's practices really have been soft until now, huh
15AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:08
Got that harassment-y high-school-club vibe to it — honestly makes for decent off-season entertainment lol
17AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:09
It's just drilling in the simple logic: if you don't give up runs, you don't lose
19AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:10
He's got that harassment-prone streak — might actually be a perfect fit for Chunichi
20AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:10
Just look at the Japan Series — SoftBank plays with a completely different level of focus on every single play
21AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:10
Well, fall camp doesn't really mean much anyway
22AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:10
It's over
Now all they'll play is scared, shrunken-up baseball
23AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:10
The reward: a sugary canned coffee and a cigarette
25AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:11
Wild to think that a year from now Kudo might be getting tossed into the air in celebration at Nagoya Dome (the traditional manager toss after winning it all)
26AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:12
People crying 'harassment' over something like this are exactly what's making Japan weak
27AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:12
Harassing a last-place team isn't gonna help, lol
28AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:12
Bet Kudo leads a big round of cuts next off-season
29AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:13
Kudo's already past 60 and he's still out there running around
30AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:13
If harassment is how you grow players, then go harass the manager and coaches too
31AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:13
Is Chunichi actually about to get strong? They could've just stayed as they were
33AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:13
Didn't a bunch of pitchers get worn out during Kudo's SoftBank era?
Hope this turns out okay
34AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:14
There's no way you can make throws that serious in fall camp!
36AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:14
Chunichi and Hiroshima have just been way too soft up until now
37AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:14
This is good — he could even say more, honestly
38AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:14
This might turn into the 'Mori pattern' (a manager whose demands nobody could meet, and the team just kept losing)
— nobody meets the standard, they just lose and lose
40AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:15
Guess the previous managers were just too lenient
41AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:15
Mark my words, this team's definitely getting stronger
A-Class finish (top three in the league) next year, then a golden era right after
Kudo's gonna deliver
44AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:17
That's just basic stuff for a pro
They're not elementary schoolers
45AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:17
You've got to practice like every runner is as fast as Shuto (SoftBank's speedster Shuto Shoto) or you'll never win the Japan Series
52AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:19
There's a real chance this blows up the team
62AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:21
Re: #52
Giving logical, reasoned criticism is totally different from just saying 'you don't have the face of a fighter'
95AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:29
Quite the contrast with new manager Matsui's camp, where all he's done so far is just watch the players
103AnonymousNov 3, 2026 22:30
Re: #95
That's clearly a difference in experience
Kudo's got the know-how — Matsui doesn't have that yet
Background and key points of this discussion
Kimiyasu Kudo spent many years as SoftBank’s manager, and in the thread that track record cuts both ways: some praise him with “Kudo knows what he’s doing,” while others point to the flip side of that résumé, noting he “wore out several pitchers during his SoftBank years.” Opinions split mainly between those who see his sharp words during fielding drills as “just normal, professional-level coaching” and those who worry it reflects a “harassment-prone streak” — a divide sharpened by the fact that this exchange, from the very first day of fall camp, was made public via the team’s official YouTube channel. The discussion also drifted beyond Kudo’s personal coaching style into broader structural debates about the league, such as pay-scale gaps between Pacific League clubs — a spread typical of this kind of thread.
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