Former Associate Reveals Shogo Kiyohara’s Legendary Physical Ability After Home Run in Front of Father Kazuhiro

In front of the eyes of his great father, he hit a shot that proved his true worth.

Shogo, 22, the eldest son of Kazuhiro Kiyohara, 57, who is playing in the fall league of the six university baseball tournament as No. 4 at Keio University, hit his first home run in the league on September 28 against Meiji University, and the game was tied at the last minute with this shot in the bottom of the 9th inning. Kazuhiro, who was watching the game from the stands, watched his son circle the diamond with tears in his eyes.

He has played in all four games so far in the fall season. With his 186 cm, 90 kg physique, he was tied for the team lead among players who reached the batting average requirement in the spring league with a .269 batting average. In addition, as a mainstay of the team, he scored a team-leading seven runs and earned a Best Nine award for first baseman. There is no doubt that he is a player to watch in the college baseball world.

Growth Curve Surprises Scouts

This summer, he was selected for the Tokyo Rokugaku University team, and in a game against Nippon Ham in late August, he threw a professional pitch right at the left field pole, showing off his father’s punching power. Even so, the reality is that scouts still have a hard time evaluating him.

One scout who saw him hit a home run against Nippon-Ham’s second team said, “He hit it by folding his big body well and rotating it on an inside pitch. He has made rapid progress over the past four years. Tomoya Yagi, a scout from Chunichi who observed the game there, also rolled his eyes at the speed of his growth, saying, ‘I have seen him step up in college. Takashi Ohbuchi, assistant GM and head of scouting at Nippon Ham, which has a reputation for developing young players, also commented, ‘He has a fine physique and power.

However, we cannot say for sure that there is a team that will nominate him at this point. The fact that he is a right-handed long-range gunner, which is very valuable in the professional game, is appealing, but he has only started to play consistently for Keio this spring. Most scouts are probably still undecided. However, even if he does not enter the draft this time, he could continue his career as a member of society and aim for the next two or three years. The fact that he has made up his mind to go pro is the most important thing for us to evaluate.