Chunichi “over-hires” players to strengthen the batting lineup…Disgruntled veteran Yuryu “rushes” to the leaders⁉

Starting with the “Reiwa rice riot,” this magazine has reported that Kazuyoshi Tatsunami, 54, the manager of the Chunichi baseball team, has been criticized by young players for his “over-hunting” of players, which has been described as the “De-Nami Rebellion” by this magazine. This time, he has been criticized by the young and talented players for his “over-hunting” of players.

This offseason, Chunichi acquired four players, Sho Nakata (34) and Hiroyuki Nakajima (41) from the former Giants, Makoto Kamihayashi (28) from the former Softbank, and Yasuhiro Yamamoto (30) and Yutaro Itayama (29) from the former Hanshin as a catalyst for the team struggling with poor hitting.

Nakajima will turn 42 next year, and Uebayashi, a regular player for Softbank in ’18, has not been playing as well as he would like since injuring his Achilles tendon. Yamamoto and Itayama, too, have failed to make any significant contributions to the first team.

Hiroyuki Kato, the team’s representative, explained that the goal of the team is to strengthen the reserve players , saying, “I think it is to strengthen the depth of the bench, such as by substituting and solidifying defensive positions. He emphasized that the team’s priority is to use young players in their early 20s, such as Yuki Okabayashi (21) and Takiya Ishikawa (22), but Takeshi Yamazaki, 55, an alumnus of the team, disagreed.

Appearing on a Tokai Radio program where he provides commentary, Yamazaki asked, “Is it safe considering the balance of the team? 　How many first basemen do they have? He stressed that the important thing is “balance in everything. In fact, an alumnus of the team lamented, “The current team has lost its balance. The team is “buying up” players from other teams, and the veteran players are booing, saying, “Are you trying to dry us out again? The team is now “buying up” players from other teams.

The team retired veteran players such as Nagamasa Fukuda (35) and Naomichi Dojo (35) one after another, and cut the ranks of those who were no longer useful. It is true that the team now has more room on its roster than other teams.

That said, the reinforcement this time around is too haphazardly planned. Since all positions are in short supply, I can only think that the manager has gathered players who can fit into any position at the pleasure of manager Tachinami.

It is the young players who are being pushed out of their positions by these transfers that are taking the brunt of the work. The team is now in a situation where it is necessary to give the young players more opportunities. The young dragon players are very angry. They can’t hide their anger, saying, ‘Are we going to be pushed around by manager Tatsunami again?

Even if we only look at first basemen, there will be a total of four “surplus players” in the same position, including Dayan Viciedo (34), Shingo Usami (30), who recently announced his divorce, and Nakajima. Another alumnus, who heard the news, was frightened, saying, “We will end up in the bottom of the standings again next year.

Hopefully, next year will not be another season in which Tachinami and Chunichi’s straying from the path they have set for themselves will be more conspicuous.