# 2023 Nippon Professional Baseball draft

The 2023 Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Draft was held on October 26, 2023, for the 59th time at the Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa to assign amateur baseball players to the NPB. It was arranged with the special cooperation of Taisho Pharmaceutical with official naming rights. The draft was officially called "The Professional Baseball Draft Meeting supported by Lipovitan D ". It has been sponsored by Taisho Pharmaceutical for the 11th consecutive year since 2013.
This season's draft was held for the first time in four years with spectators in attendance. However, previously, free spectators were recruited through a lottery, but from now on, spectators will be recruited for a fee.

## Summary

Only the first round picks will be done by bid lottery. from 2019, the Professional Baseball Executive Committee has decided that the Central League and the Pacific League will be given the second round of waiver priority alternately every other year, and in 2023 Central League received the waiver priority. From the third round the order was reversed continuing in the same fashion until all picks were exhausted. It ends when all teams are "selected" or when the total number of selected players reaches 120. Also, if the number of players has not reached 120, we will continue to hold a "developmental squad player selection meeting" with the participation of the desired team.

## First Round Contested Picks

| | Player Name | Position | Teams Selected by |
| First Round | Ryūki Watarai | Outfielder | Dragons, BayStars, Marines |
| First Round | Natsuki Takeuchi | Pitcher | Swallows, Lions, Hawks |
| First Round | Yūhi Nishidate | Pitcher | Fighters, Giants |
| First Round | Hayato Tsunehiro | Pitcher | Eagles, Carp |
| Second Round | Shō Kusaka | Pitcher | Dragons, Marines |
| Second Round | Yūgo Maeda | Pitcher | Eagles, Hawks |
| Third Round | Haruki Hosono | Pitcher | Fighters, Marines |
* Bolded teams indicate who won the right to negotiate contract following a lottery.
* In the first round, Kaito Shimomura (Pitcher) was selected by the Tigers, and Seiya Yokoyama (Infielder) by the Buffaloes without a bid lottery.
* In the second round, Kōta Nishidate (Pitcher) was selected by the Swallows without a bid lottery.
* In the third round, Tatsuki Koja (Pitcher) was selected by the Eagles without a bid lottery.
* In the fourth round, Kyūto Ueda (Infielder) was selected by the Marines.
* List of selected players.

## Selected Players

Key :
| * | Player did not sign |
* The order of the teams is the order of second round waiver priority.
* Bolded After that, a developmental player who contracted as a registered player under control.
* List of selected players.

### Chunichi Dragons

| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team |
| #1 | Shō Kusaka | Pitcher | Asia University |
| #2 | Keishi Tsuda | Infielder | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries East |
| #3 | Rintarō Tsujimoto | Infielder | Sendai University |
| #4 | Kōnosuke Fukuda | Pitcher | Riseisha High School |
| #5 | Shōta Habu | Pitcher | Ibaraki Astro Planets |
| #6 | Ryūma Kato | Pitcher | Toho Gas |
| Developmental Player Draft ||||
| #1 | Tōki Hiwatari | Catcher | Ibaraki Astro Planets |
| #2 | Towa Kikuta | Pitcher | Ehime Mandarin Pirates |
| #3 | Gōki Oda | Outfielder | Tochigi Golden Braves |
| #4 | Rii Kawakami | Outfielder | Oita B-rings |

### Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters

| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team |
| #1 | Haruki Hosono | Pitcher | Toyo University |
| #2 | Yuya Shintoh | Catcher | Jobu University |
| #3 | Kazuki Miyazaki | Outfielder | Yamanashi Gakuin University |
| #4 | Ryōsuke Myōse | Infielder | Kagoshima Josei High School |
| #5 | Hinode Hoshino | Outfielder | Maebashi Industrial High School |
| Developmental Player Draft ||||
| #1 | Taiki Hamada | Infielder | Kyoto International High School |
| #2 | Daiju Hirata | Outfielder | Seta Technical High School |
| #3 | Yamato Katō | Pitcher | Teikyo University Kani High School |

### Tokyo Yakult Swallows

| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team |
| #1 | Kōta Nishidate | Pitcher | Senshu University |
| #2 | Kengo Matsumoto | Pitcher | Toyota |
| #3 | Yūki Ishihara | Pitcher | Meiji University |
| #4 | Kyō Suzuki | Catcher | Tokoha University Kikugawa High School |
| #5 | Ryui Itoh | Infielder | Niigata Albirex BC |
| Developmental Player Draft ||||
| #1 | Shōsei Takahashi | Pitcher | New Taipei Municipal Yingge Vocational High School |
| #2 | Sōta Takano | Infielder | Mitoya High School |

### Saitama Seibu Lions

| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team |
| #1 | Natsuki Takeuchi | Pitcher | Kokugakuin University |
| #2 | Taiga Ueda | Pitcher | Osaka University of Commerce |
| #3 | Haruki Sugiyama | Pitcher | Yokohama High School |
| #4 | Haruse Narita | Pitcher | Hirosaki Technical High School |
| #5 | Taisei Miyazawa | Pitcher | Tokushima Indigo Socks |
| #6 | Reon Murata | Infielder | Kogakkan University |
| #7 | Ryōta Itogawa | Pitcher | ENEOS |
| Developmental Player Draft ||||
| #1 | Kounosuke Joseph Sinclair | Pitcher | Tokushima Indigo Socks |
| #2 | Asahi Taniguchi | Infielder | Tokushima Indigo Socks |
| #3 | Masahiro Kawashimo | Pitcher | Hakodate University Yuto High School |
| #4 | Kōji Kaneko | Infielder | Saitama Musashi Heat Bears |
| #5 | Shōta Kise | Pitcher | Kitasaga High School |
| #6 | Kōichi Okumura | Outfielder | Gunma Diamond Pegasus |

### Yomiuri Giants

| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team |
| #1 | Yūhi Nishidate | Pitcher | Chuo University |
| #2 | Shunya Morita | Pitcher | Honda Suzuka |
| #3 | Shunsuke Sasaki | Outfielder | Hitachi |
| #4 | Yūta Izuguchi | Infielder | NTT West |
| #5 | Teppei Mataki | Pitcher | Nippon Life |
| Developmental Player Draft ||||
| #1 | Katsuya Miura | Pitcher | Tokyo International University |
| #2 | Gen Murayama | Infielder | Kanoya Chuo High School |
| #3 | Kisara Utsunomiya | Infielder | Ehime Mandarin Pirates |
| #4 | Yūya Tanoue | Infielder | Nihon University Fujisawa High School |
| #5 | Atsuki Sonoda | Pitcher | Fukuoka Institute of Technology Jyoto High School |
| #6 | Takahiro Chiba | Pitcher | Asahikawa Meisei High School |
| #7 | Kōta Hirayama | Outfielder | Chiba Sky Sailors |

### Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team |
| #1 | Tatsuki Koja | Pitcher | Toin University of Yokohama |
| #2 | Haruto Sakai | Pitcher | Takigawa Daini High School |
| #3 | Naoki Hinata | Pitcher | Tokai University Sugao High School |
| #4 | Jumil Rikai Waters | Infielder | Nihon Wellness Okinawa High School |
| #5 | Takuma Matsuda | Pitcher | Osaka Sangyo University |
| #6 | Daisuke Nakajima | Outfielder | Aoyama Gakuin University |
| #7 | Seiya Ohuchi | Pitcher | Nihon Wellness Miyagi High School |
| #8 | Takumi Aono | Infielder | Himi High School |

### Yokohama DeNA Baystars

| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team |
| #1 | Ryūki Watarai | Outfielder | ENEOS |
| #2 | Ryōto Matsumoto | Pitcher | Meijo University |
| #3 | Riku Takeda | Pitcher | Yamagata Chuo High School |
| #4 | Taiki Ishigami | Infielder | Toyo University |
| #5 | Yutarō Ishida | Pitcher | Chuo University |
| #6 | Kento Inoue | Outfielder | Tokushima Indigo Socks |
| Developmental Player Draft ||||
| #1 | Ikumi Takamizawa | Infielder | Tsuruga Kehi High School |
| #2 | Manato Shimizu | Pitcher | Jyutoku High School |
| #3 | Sō Ogasawara | Infielder | Kyoto Shoei High School |
| #4 | Haruto Shōji | Pitcher | Aomori University |
| #5 | Taiga Kondoh | Pitcher | Senshu University Kitakami High School |

### Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks

| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team |
| #1 | Yūgo Maeda | Pitcher | Osaka Tōin High School |
| #2 | Shunsuke Iwai | Pitcher | Meijo University |
| #3 | Ryūta Hirose | Infielder | Keio University |
| #4 | Kenichi Murata | Pitcher | Meiji University |
| #5 | Ryōtarō Sawayanagi | Pitcher | Loki Techno Toyama |
| #6 | Ryō Ōyama | Pitcher | Higashi Nippon International University |
| #7 | Yutarō Fujita | Catcher | Fukuoka University Ohori High School |
| Developmental Player Draft ||||
| #1 | Shūya Ōizumi | Outfielder | Fukushima RedHopes |
| #2 | Yuwa Miyasato | Pitcher | Tokyo University of Agriculture |
| #3 | Kyōshirō Sakura | Infielder | Kyushu International University High School |
| #4 | Kōki Nakazawa | Infielder | Hachinohe Gakuin Kosei High School |
| #5 | Kōtarō Hoshino | Pitcher | Komazawa University |
| #6 | Haruto Fujiwara | Pitcher | Iizuka High School |
| #7 | Jumpei Fujita | Pitcher | Tokushima Indigo Socks |
| #8 | Keishin Nagamizu | Pitcher | Kyoto International High School |

### Hiroshima Toyo Carp

| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team |
| #1 | Hayato Tsunehiro | Pitcher | Aoyama Gakuin University |
| #2 | Taichi Taka | Pitcher | Osaka University of Commerce |
| #3 | Kazuki Takita | Pitcher | Seisa Dohto University |
| #4 | Yūto Nakata | Infielder | Okinawa Shogaku High School |
| #5 | Kento Akatsuka | Pitcher | Chukyo Gakuin University |
| Developmental Player Draft ||||
| #1 | Ken Sugita | Pitcher | Nihon University |
| #2 | Keisuke Sato | Infielder | Shizuoka University |
| #3 | Mirai Sugihara | Pitcher | Kyoto International High School |

### Chiba Lotte Marines

| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team |
| #1 | Kyūto Ueda | Infielder | Meiji University |
| #2 | Hikaru Ohtani | Pitcher | Toyama GRN Thunderbirds |
| #3 | Yūto Kimura | Pitcher | Kasumigaura High School |
| #4 | Oto Hayasaka | Pitcher | Makuhari Sogo High School |
| #5 | Ryusei Terachi | Catcher | Meitoku Gijyuku High School |
| Developmental Player Draft ||||
| #1 | Ryōta Takeuchi | Pitcher | Seiryo High School |
| #2 | Shinya Matsuishi | Pitcher | Toin High School |
| #3 | Hikaru Kōno | Outfielder | Toyama GRN Thunderbirds |
| #4 | Kazuki Fujita | Outfielder | Nobeoka Gakuen High School |
| #5 | Kōnoshin Toyama | Catcher | Aizu Hokurei High School |

### Hanshin Tigers

| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team |
| #1 | Kaito Shimomura | Pitcher | Aoyama Gakuin University |
| #2 | Tsuyoshi Shiiba | Pitcher | Tokushima indigo socks |
| #3 | Shūya Yamada | Infielder | Sendai Ikuei High School |
| #4 | Aoi Momosaki | Infielder | Tokai University Kumamoto Seisyo High School |
| #5 | Yūya Ishiguro | Pitcher | West Japan Railway Company |
| #6 | Junya Tsuda | Pitcher | Osaka University of Economics |
| Developmental Player Draft ||||
| #1 | Kai Matsubara | Pitcher | Toyama GRN Thunderbirds |
| #2 | Kein Fukushima | Outfielder | Hakuoh University |

### Orix Buffaloes

| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team |
| #1 | Seiya Yokoyama | Infielder | Ueda Nishi High School |
| #2 | Kōsuke Kawachi | Pitcher | St. Catherine Gakuen High School |
| #3 | Kaisei Tōmatsu | Pitcher | Kyoei High School |
| #4 | Shūna Hori | Catcher | Hotoku Gakuen High School |
| #5 | Taito Takashima | Pitcher | Oji |
| #6 | Seiryū Kotajima | Pitcher | Nippon Express |
| #7 | Ryūsei Gonda | Pitcher | TDK |
| Developmental Player Draft ||||
| #1 | Hiroto Suga | Pitcher | Eimei High School |
| #2 | Kaito Ohe | Pitcher | Kitakyushu Shimonoseki Phoenix |
| #3 | Riku Miyaguni | Pitcher | Toho High School |
| #4 | Taketo Ashida | Pitcher | Saitama Musashi Heat Bears |
| #5 | Sōta Kawano | Infielder | Ehime Mandarin Pirates |