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The story
Weekly Bunshun’s report that “a first-round draft pick pitcher assaulted a woman” became a hot topic on the NanJ board (“Everything Live Broadcast,” a well-known 5channel sports-chat forum). The article itself didn’t name the player, but posters pieced together fragments of information and worked out it was Taito Murakami — the pitcher SoftBank picked first overall in the 2024 draft straight out of high school, now in his second pro year. Later in the thread, a link to TBS-affiliated news coverage was shared, bringing further developments. The debate split between those questioning the individual player’s character and those questioning the team’s training and oversight given how many players it manages, with several names of other former top draft picks from the same generation who’d been cut over scandals or injuries also coming up.
Yes.
Source: bunshun.jp / Original article here
What people said
Who even is this guy
Apparently it's Taito Murakami, in his 2nd year
If he weren't playing baseball he'd probably be in a gang ("hansha" — the Japanese euphemism for organized-crime-linked people)
Never heard of him
Fire the scout
Not letting him use the posting system is the real "refusal" here
https://youtu.be/Xfr_ouwlitE
That slider he got the second strikeout with is nasty
If it were Neo they'd have written "competed-for first-round pick," so it's not him
What kind of training are they giving these guys
Nothing but below-the-belt scandals
Takahashi Jun too
With that many players on the roster they probably can't keep track of everyone
How many guys do they even have, counting the developmental squad
Why's Kanamaru doing time when he hasn't done anything?
Quite the lineup, huh
He just joined, it's not really on the team
They run background checks and give training when players join
If it happened early in year one, maybe, but this is year two — of course people are going to say something
Causing trouble this soon after joining means he wasn't properly trained as an adult
Some competition this is — does Kozono win just by not having been cut yet?
Kozono's done for this year too
He's washed up even in the minors
As a starter his fastball only hits 135 km/h
Even as a reliever he barely scrapes 140
Just having 1 win already puts Kozono a head above the rest
Was it really that big of a screwup?
Scandal aside, he had the yips and his velocity dropped into the 130s
Every time I checked the minors he was walking guys back-to-back, and toward the end I don't think he was even pitching in games
It's not about some screwup — he's just not usable as a ballplayer
If he'd been there a long time and caused trouble, maybe the team would share some blame, but he just joined — there's been no time to train him
https://newsdig.tbs.co.jp/articles/-/1667352
Wait, what?
There it is
Background and Key Points of This Story
This story originated with Weekly Bunshun’s report that “a first-round draft pick pitcher assaulted a woman.” The Bunshun article itself withheld the player’s name, but thread posters used circumstantial evidence to identify him as Taito Murakami, SoftBank’s 2024 first-round pick now in his second year, and later in the thread a link to TBS-affiliated coverage was shared with further factual updates. Worth noting: at the time of Bunshun’s report, this was still at the “allegation” stage — no criminal proceedings or official team statement had confirmed the details. Some posts in the thread used language like “attempted murder,” but that’s posters’ own speculation, not something the reporting itself confirmed about the actual charges. The debate split between whether responsibility lies with the 19-year-old player himself or with the team’s training system given how many players it manages, with more posts leaning toward the latter. Several other former top draft picks from the same generation who were cut over scandals or injuries came up repeatedly, reflecting a broader distrust of how NPB teams develop young players.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Everything Live Broadcast board) thread “Bunshun: “Draft-1 pitcher assaulted a woman” → Turned out to be SoftBank.”
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