Special WBC feature: “What We Must Do to Beat the U.S.” by Yasuhiro Mitsui and Munehiro Shida, famous scorers!

What is a scorer?

–Yasuhiro Mitsui participated in the second tournament in 2009, and Munehiro Shida participated in the fourth tournament in 2005 as a scorer for Samurai Japan. Could you tell us again about the role of a scorer in international tournaments?

Shida: Simply put, my job is to gather and analyze the information necessary to win, and share it with the leaders and players. I think of it as just raising awareness of the team as a whole and then waiting for them to interpret the advice in their own way.

Mitsui: I feel the same way. For example, in the first game against Korea in 2009, I told the fielders, “Aim at their best pitches. The starter, Kim Kwang-hyun, was a left-handed pitcher whose slider was his weapon of choice, and he was the pitcher that the Japanese team led by Senichi Hoshino had beaten to a pulp at the Beijing Olympics. Many players still have an afterimage of his big, vertical slider, and when I became a scorer for the Samurai, I would say to them, “Aim for his straight ball. Don’t aim for his slider! But I said to them, “You guys, you’ve got to aim for the straight line. But I thought, “You guys couldn’t hit a straight line.
So I asked manager Tatsunori Hara, “Mitsu, have you thought of a strategy for Kim? I said, “Manager, give me one game in the preliminary round. I’ll have them all go for the slider. Then, Kim, who couldn’t hit that well, scored eight runs in two innings and knocked me out. I came up with the strategy, but it was the players who actually broke him down. I thought, “Wow, the Japan team! I thought.
In the semifinal game against the U.S., I found out the peculiarities of the opposing pitcher, Roy Oswalt. Ichiro said, “That pitcher is tough,” and when he got into set position, the back of his right hand looked different depending on the type of pitch. So on the day of the meeting, when I said, “You know, today, the pitcher has a peculiarity,” everyone was skeptical. But when I actually showed them a slow-motion video of the pitcher, they all laughed hysterically and said, “It’s true! and everyone laughed out loud.

A master strategist’s plan!

–The Samurai Japan team in this year’s tournament has a star-studded lineup that is as good as or better than the 2009 team. If the two of you were in the role of scorer, how would you use the players?

Shida: In the end, I don’t think anyone would want to compete with Shohei Otani. So instead of getting on base by hitting, there would be more cases where he would be at first base on a for-ball. If there are left-handed hitters in the top of the lineup at that time, I think they will have a hard time if they are hit by a left-handed pitcher. So, I think it would be good to form a zigzag top lineup with Ohtani at first, Seiya Suzuki at second, and Kensuke Kondo at third.
The problem is the third. Kaito Koen, the shortstop, has some concerns about his defense, and if Munetaka Murakami comes to third, the defense between the three players may become a little unstable. Kazuma Okamoto and Teruaki Sato are certainly better defenders, but it is hard to think of an option without Murakami. Hitting is water under the bridge, but a mistake in defense can be fatal. For example, if Murakami is to be placed at third, Sousuke Genda could play shortstop, or if Koen is to play, Sato could play third, and so on.

Mitsui: In terms of hitting, I think what is important in this tournament is the work of Otani, Seiya, and Masanao Yoshida. This is partly because I have high expectations for their hitting ability, but also because I think they will play the role of scorers. They are accustomed to analyzing data from the Majors, and the key will be whether they can share the characteristics of opposing pitchers and data trends with the fielders and unify the awareness of the batting lineup.

–I would like to ask you about the way you use your pitchers. While we have major leaguers such as Yoshinobu Yamamoto, we have had the accident of Daichi Ishii, Hirara Kaiba, and Hiroki Matsui, who were candidates for reliever and suppressor, all leaving the team due to injury.

Shida: The starters are good, but it is difficult to control them. Osei was a stopper, so he is a candidate, but in the end, I feel that pitcher Hiromi Ito will be the one to take the job. He has a variety of pitches and has guts.
Major league hitters do hit a lot of long balls, but on the other hand, there are many hitters who separate “striking out from hitting a home run” as a necessary expense. That is why Japanese pitchers with good control have an advantage in short-term games.

Mitsui: Yes, home runs can be prevented. To be honest, though, you can’t hold off hitters with deep pockets like Aaron Judge of the U.S. or Guerrero Jr. of the Dominican Republic (laughs). (laughs) But Judge’s strikeout rate is quite high. He is not good at slider pitches, which are balls from the outside, so it is good to hit them thoroughly, prepared to fore-ball. If you throw an unusual in-course pitch, you can easily get him to the stands. Yoshinori Murata is the battery coach, so I’m sure he will share his countermeasures. With Yoshinori in the team, we can rest assured.

Part 2 is here! Yasuhiro Mitsui, a great scorer, and Munehiro Shida, a strategist who knows the world, talk it all out!

Yasuhiro Mitsui (’09 Chief Scorer)
Born in Shiga Prefecture in 1961. He has been a scorer for the Giants for about 22 years and was chief scorer for the ’09 WBC. Currently coaches the Ariake Boys, which he runs.

Munehiro Shida (’17 Scorer)
Born in Iwate Prefecture in 1979. He was a scorer in the ’17 WBC. Currently he is engaged in data analysis, commentary, amateur baseball support, and seminars at LIVELITZ Corporation.

From the March 13-20, 2026 issue of FRIDAY