WBC Special Feature Star Scorers Yasuhiro Mitsui and Munetaka Shida Two Strategists Who Know the World Speak Out
Special Talk [Part 2
Yasuhiro Mitsui participated as a scorer for Samurai Japan in the 2nd WBC in 2009, and Sōdai Shida served in the 4th WBC in 2017. The role of a scorer in an international tournament is to gather and analyze information necessary to win and share it with the coaching staff and players.
Part 1: Yasuhiro Mitsui and Munehiro Shida talk about what they need to do to beat the U.S. in the WBC!
Strategy for the Cy Young duo
——I think the biggest challenge this time will definitely be the United States, with Aaron Judge. Even Kazuma Okamoto, in an interview with FRIDAY, chuckled, saying, “I don’t know how to hit Paul Skenes or Tarik Skubal.” The chances of facing Skubal against Japan are low, but if by any chance they pitch, is there a strategy to tackle them?
Shida: Let’s start with Skenes. His repertoire includes a four-seam fastball with slight shoot rotation over 160 km/h, a sinker, cutter, sweeper, curve, splitter, and changeup. Against left-handed batters, he tends to locate splitters and changeups on the outside while attacking the inside with fastballs. Against right-handed batters, he throws sweepers rather loosely. That sweeper is tough, making it very difficult for right-handed batters to hit him effectively.
Mitsui: At first glance, he seems to have a diverse set of pitches, but to a batter, the sweeper and cutter look almost identical, and fastballs and sinkers don’t appear very different either. So it’s easier to think in terms of three categories: straight pitches, breaking balls, and dropping balls. For right-handed batters, it’s good to focus slightly inside on the plate. That way, they don’t have to chase breaking balls like the sweeper moving away outside, but can still handle mislocated inside pitches.
Okamoto, Seiya Suzuki, and Shugo Maki are all elite hitters, so if they focus, they can react to inside pitches. For them, an inside pitch is hard to ignore even if told “don’t hit it!” But if they stay jammed up, pitchers will keep throwing straight pitches inside. So I’d probably tell them, “Aim for the third-base line and turn inside fastballs into solid fouls.”
Shida: Indeed, a well-hit foul is frustrating for the pitcher. That’s where a strategy can emerge.
Mitsui: For left-handed batters, since most pitches are located on the outside, they should think about swinging from the inside out and hitting the ball toward the pitcher’s feet. Against a pitcher of this level, trying to reach every pitch makes the bat weaker, so they should focus on driving the ball strongly to center.
Many key players besides Ohtani
——How about left-hander Skubal?
Shida: His most frequently thrown pitch is the changeup, and he builds his repertoire with a true slider-type fastball and a sinker. He also has breaking balls like a curve and a cutter, but he doesn’t throw those much. He locates his fastballs to both sides, and places his changeup precisely on the outside corner against right-handed batters. From video, the changeup doesn’t look like a particularly hard pitch to hit.
Mitsui: True, you can’t fully judge from video alone. But this pitcher has a long arm hold. So when a right-handed batter thinks “this is a fastball!” and swings at the changeup, they often get fooled and hit weakly. It’s important to bring the bat early and hit in front. Unlike with Skeen, for a right-handed batter you might ignore the inside fastball and focus on the slower outer pitches to hit toward right-center. If it were me, I’d instruct, “Aim inside only on the first strike. If it doesn’t come, focus on the outer zone and use your whole body to swing.”
Shida: His changeup sinks inside to left-handed batters, so ironically, it may actually be easier for them to hit. I can imagine Kondo hitting it to the opposite field.
——So even the seemingly unbeatable American aces have weaknesses to exploit. Who do you think will be the key players for this tournament in terms of pitching and batting?
Mitsui: Of course, we need Ohtani to perform, but I’m paying attention to Shota Morishita. He could be interesting as a solid defensive outfielder, and his clutch hitting is appealing. If he functions well as a pinch hitter or lower-order batter, it could be very effective.
Shida: As for pitchers, I’d say Daiya Miyagi. People often assume that international tournaments favor tall pitchers with high-release fastballs and forkball-type pitches, but even successful Major Leaguers like Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga aren’t particularly tall. Their strength lies in a lower release point and an unfamiliar pitch trajectory for major league hitters. Miyagi’s fastball and sharply breaking changeup from his height (171 cm) can be very effective against American batters.
Mitsui: Also, a lot depends on Yoshinori Murata’s pitcher usage (laughs). The current pitching coaches, Atsushi Nohmi and Kazuki Yoshimi, have limited experience, so I think Murata will likely advise on pitcher deployment. He’s the behind-the-scenes key player.
Shida: The U.S., Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Mexico all have star-studded rosters, but if you look closely at the data, there are gaps and surprisingly high swing-and-miss rates. As long as we don’t get intimidated by the names, we have a very real chance to win.
Yasuhiro Mitsui (2009 Chief Scorer)
Born in 1961 in Shiga Prefecture. He served as a scorer for the Yomiuri Giants for about 22 years and was the Chief Scorer for the 2009 WBC. He currently provides coaching through organizations such as “Ariake Boys.”
Munetaka Shida (2017 Scorer)
Born in 1979 in Iwate Prefecture. He served as a scorer for the 2017 WBC. He currently works at LiveLitz Co., Ltd., handling data analysis, commentary, amateur baseball support, and seminars.
From the March 13-20, 2026 issue of “FRIDAY”
PHOTO： Hiroyuki Komatsu