Shinjo’s Surprising Move: Yamazaki Fukuya as Top Pitcher in Interleague Play

The proposal to use him in the cleanup position

Nippon Ham’s manager, Tsuyoshi Shinjo (53), hinted at the possibility of using pitcher Fukuya Yamazaki (32) in a two-way role during the interleague games.

On March 19, Yamazaki appeared as a pinch hitter in an exhibition game against the Giants at Escon Field Hokkaido. Although he struck out, he excited the fans. After the game, Manager Shinjo explained, “I let him do what he likes to raise his motivation,” but revealed that from the next game onward, he would focus solely on pitching.

“On the other hand, Manager Shinjo hinted at using him as a real two-way player during the Interleague games. While pitchers from the Pacific League typically bat in the nine spot at Central League home stadiums, Shinjo is considering surprising the fans by using him in the ‘1st spot pitcher’ or other unconventional roles.”

Yamazaki has had good batting sense since his time with the Orix Buffaloes, with a career batting average of .250. He has also expressed his dream of following in Shohei Ohtani’s footsteps, so it’s possible that he could even be used in the cleanup spot” (Former team member).

The reason behind Manager Shinjo’s eagerness to use Yamazaki as a hitter is largely connected to his struggle with a lack of new ideas in his fourth year of tenure.

“Manager Shinjo had initially planned to step down after his third season, but due to his impressive use of young players and his ability to develop talent, the team strongly urged him to stay. This season, which is his fourth, was unexpected for him, and now he lacks new ideas to captivate the fans” (Former team member).

Manager Shinjo, who had made various proposals as a veteran of the baseball world, has faced unexpected challenges this year, and it seems he hasn’t been able to make the impact he had hoped for in the baseball world.

“It was unexpected that the Professional Baseball Players Association filed a complaint against him for questioning Naoyuki Uwasawa’s (31) moral responsibility after his move from MLB to the SoftBank Hawks.

Shinjo had also raised issues such as requesting improvements to the outfield fence at the Chunichi Dragons’ camp and criticizing the environment at Seibu’s Belluna Dome, even suggesting the team move to Nagoya. However, his comments caused resentment from other teams, leading him to turn his attention to Yamazaki and try to generate buzz with the two-way player concept that’s associated with Nippon Ham” (Team insider).

What might seem like a mere whim, the “Shinjo Theater,” is actually a carefully planned strategy.