# 2015 Nippon Professional Baseball draft

The 2015 Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Draft was held on October 22, 2015, for the 51st 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 Co. with official naming rights. The draft was officially called "The Professional Baseball Draft Meeting supported by Lipovitan D".

## Summary

This was the third year in a row that Taisho Pharmaceuticals had been a partner for the NPB draft and as such one of their most prominent products "Lipovitan D" was used in the official name becoming "Professional Baseball Draft meeting supported by Lipovitan D."
Only the first round picks were allowed to be contested with all picks from the second round onward being based on table placing in the 2015 NPB season in a waiver system. Waiver priority was changed from All-Star game results to inter-league results. As the Pacific League teams came out on top with 61 wins, 44 losses and 3 draws against Central League opposition, Pacific League teams were given preference. From the third round the order was reversed continuing in the same fashion until all picks were exhausted.
For the first time since 1974, the Yomiuri Giants were without a manager present at the draft. In the previous instance, that year's manager Tetsuharu Kawakami was to be replaced by Shigeo Nagashima who was absent due to his participation in the MLB Japan All-Star Series having still been an active player.
88 new players were signed at the draft with a further 28 development player contracts decided on.

### Lottery Mistake

In the competition for the signature of Meiji University's Shun Takayama between Tokyo Yakult Swallows and the Hanshin Tigers there was an error leading to some trouble at the meeting.
At the lottery, both team managers Tomoaki Kanemoto and Mitsuru Manaka both pulled their tickets and it was Manaka who pulled his ticket first mistaking the draft logo for the "winning" stamp, raising his fist in a victory pose. Kanemoto, after seeing the Swallows manager's delight, felt that he had lost and went back to his seat without checking his ticket.
After checking the "winning" ticket, NPB officials realized immediately that there had been a mistake but before other officials could check the Hanshin ticket, an interview with Manaka had already started. In regards to this, NPB secretary general Atsuhi Iihara later apologized "we should have stopped the interview but we couldn't. It was a clumsy piece of work." After it was confirmed that Hanshin had indeed won the rights to negotiate, Kanemoto laughingly remarked "it was like a home run that had been taken away by video replay."
In the aftermath, Takayama made comment that "it was a meeting where you didn't now what was going to happen, I certainly didn't, but I'm very appreciative to have been selected in the first round of picks." The mistaken Manaka, commented "please return my celebration." As a result of the systems trouble, the draft was delayed by 10 minutes.

## First Round Contested Picks

| | Player Name | Position | Teams Selected by |
| First Round | Jumpei Takahashi | Pitcher | Dragons, Fighters, Hawks |
| First Round | Taiga Hirasawa | Infielder | Eagles, Marines |
| First Round | Shun Takayama | Outfielder | Tigers, Swallows |
| Second Round | Shinnosuke Ogasawara | Pitcher | Dragons, Fighters |
* Bolded teams indicate who won the right to negotiate contract following a lottery.
* In the first round, Taiga Hirasawa (Infielder) was selected by the Marines, Shota Imanaga (Pitcher) by the BayStars, Shinsaburo Tawata (Pitcher) by the Lions, Akitake Okada (Pitcher) by the Carp, and Toshiki Sakurai (Pitcher) by the Giants without a bid lottery.
* In the second round, Louis Okoye (Outfielder) was selected by the Eagles without a bid lottery.
* In the thrird round, the last remaining the Fighters, selected Kenta Uehara (Pitcher).
* 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.

### Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team |
| #1 | Louis Okoye | Outfielder | Kanto Daiichi High School |
| #2 | Ryota Yoshimochi | Infielder | Osaka University of Commerce |
| #3 | Eigoro Mogi | Infielder | Waseda University |
| #4 | Kengo Horiuchi | Catcher | Shizuoka Senior High School |
| #5 | Ryota Ishibashi | Pitcher | Honda |
| #6 | Yuichi Adachi | Catcher | Panasonic |
| #7 | Itsuki Murabayashi | Infielder | Otsuka Senior High School |
| Developmental Player Draft ||||
| #1 | Takumi Deguchi | Infielder | Tsuda Gakuen High School |
| #2 | Hiroki Yamada | Infielder | Komono High School |

### Yokohama DeNA BayStars

| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team |
| #1 | Shota Imanaga | Pitcher | Komazawa University |
| #2 | Kento Kumabara | Pitcher | Sendai University |
| #3 | Tatsuhiro Shibata | Infielder | Kokugakuin University |
| #4 | Yasutaka Tobashira | Catcher | NTT West Japan |
| #5 | Kakeru Ayabe | Pitcher | Kasumigaura High School |
| #6 | Koki Aoyagi | Outfielder | Osaka Toin High School |
| #7 | Takuto Nogawa | Pitcher | Saginomiya Seisakusho |
| Developmental Player Draft ||||
| #1 | Keisho Amiya | Catcher | Chiba Eiwa High School |
| #2 | Musashi Yamamoto | Infielder | Kyushu International University Senior High School |
| #3 | Joh Tamura | Pitcher | Kwansei Gakuin University |

### Orix Buffaloes

| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team |
| #1 | Masataka Yoshida | Outfielder | Aoyama Gakuin University |
| #2 | Taisuke Kondoh | Pitcher | Panasonic |
| #3 | Koji Ohshiro | Infielder | Rikkyo University |
| #4 | Daiki Aoyama | Pitcher | Toyota Motors |
| #5 | Ryo Yoshida | Pitcher | Tokai Sagami High School |
| #6 | Sena Sato | Pitcher | Sendai Ikuei High School |
| #7 | Kohei Suzuki | Infielder | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagoya |
| #8 | Ryuta Kadoya | Pitcher | J-Project Corp |
| #9 | Ken Akama | Pitcher | Saginomiya Seisakusho |
| #10 | Yutaro Sugimoto | Outfielder | JR East |
| Developmental Player Draft ||||
| #1 | Takayuki Tsukada | Pitcher | Hakuoh University |
| #2 | Kosuke Akamatsu | Catcher | Kagawa Olive Guyners |

### Chunichi Dragons

| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team |
| #1 | Shinnosuke Ogasawara | Pitcher | Tokai Sagami High School |
| #2 | Yu Satoh | Pitcher | Tohoku Fukushi University |
| #3 | Takuya Kinoshita | Catcher | Toyota Motors |
| #4 | Hiroto Fuku | Pitcher | JR Kyushu |
| #5 | Toshiki Abe | Infielder | Honda |
| #6 | Ryota Ishioka | Infielder | JR East |
| Developmental Player Draft ||||
| #1 | Seiya Nakagawa | Pitcher | Aichi University |
| #2 | Shu Yoshida | Pitcher | Tokushima Indigo Socks |
| #3 | Takuya Mitsuma | Pitcher | Musashi Heat Bears |
| #4 | Mikihiro Nishihama | Pitcher | Seijoh University |
| #5 | Kaito Goya | Pitcher | Hachinohe Gakuin Kosei High School |
| #6 | Masaru Watanabe | Outfielder | Tokai University |

### Saitama Seibu Lions

| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team |
| #1 | Shinsaburo Tawata | Pitcher | Fuji University |
| #2 | Seiji Kawagoe | Pitcher | Hokkai Gakuen University |
| #3 | Shogo Noda | Pitcher | Seino Transportation |
| #4 | Aito Ohtaki | Outfielder | Hanasaki Tokuharu High School |
| #5 | Tadasuke Minamikawa | Pitcher | JR Shikoku |
| #6 | Keisuke Honda | Pitcher | Tohoku Gakuin University |
| #7 | Nien Ting Wu | Infielder | Daiichi Institute of Technology |
| #8 | Tsubasa Kokuba | Pitcher | Daiichi Institute of Technology |
| #9 | Koki Fujita | Pitcher | Hirosaki Technical High School |
| #10 | Naoaki Matsumoto | Pitcher | Kagawa Olive Guyners |

### Hiroshima Toyo Carp

| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team |
| #1 | Akitake Okada | Pitcher | Osaka University of Commerce |
| #2 | Hiroki Yokoyama | Pitcher | NTT East Japan |
| #3 | Mikiya Takahashi | Pitcher | Hanamaki East High School |
| #4 | Ryota Funakoshi | Catcher | Oji Paper Company |
| #5 | Ryoma Nishikawa | Infielder | Oji Paper Company |
| #6 | Oscar Nakaoshi | Pitcher | Honda |
| #7 | Riku Aoki | Infielder | Yamagata Chuo High School |

### Chiba Lotte Marines

| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team |
| #1 | Taiga Hirasawa | Infielder | Sendai Ikuei High School |
| #2 | Ryota Sekiya | Pitcher | JR East |
| #3 | Kakeru Narita | Pitcher | Akita Commerce & Business High School |
| #4 | Taiki Tojo | Pitcher | JR East |
| #5 | Shu Hara | Pitcher | Senshu University Matsudo Senior High School |
| #6 | Akifumi Shigaraki | Pitcher | Miyazaki Umeda Gakuen |
| #7 | Keisuke Takano | Pitcher | JR West |
| Developmental Player Draft ||||
| #1 | Takamasa Ohki | Infielder | Kagawa Olive Guyners |
| #2 | Tomoya Kakinuma | Catcher | Nihon University College of International Relations |

### Hanshin Tigers

| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team |
| #1 | Shun Takayama | Outfielder | Meiji University |
| #2 | Seishiro Sakamoto | Catcher | Meiji University |
| #3 | Daichi Takeyasu | Pitcher | Kumamoto Golden Larks |
| #4 | Atsushi Mochizuki | Pitcher | Yokohama So-Gakukan High School |
| #5 | Koyo Aoyagi | Pitcher | Teikyo University |
| #6 | Yutaro Itayama | Outfielder | Asia University |

### Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters

| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team |
| #1 | Kenta Uehara | Pitcher | Meiji University |
| #2 | Takayuki Katoh | Pitcher | Shin Nittetsu Sumikin Kazusa Magic |
| #3 | Kazutomo Iguchi | Pitcher | Tokyo Nogyo University Hokkaido Okhotsk |
| #4 | Shota Hiranuma | Infielder | Tsuruga Kehi High School |
| #5 | Toyoki Tanaka | Pitcher | Nippon Bunri University |
| #6 | Toshitaki Yokoo | Infielder | Keio University |
| #7 | Yuki Yoshida | Pitcher | Tokai University |
| #8 | Yuya Himeno | Outfielder | Osaka Kaisei High School |

### Yomiuri Giants

| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team |
| #1 | Toshiki Sakurai | Pitcher | Ritsumeikan University |
| #2 | Shinnosuke Shigenobu | Outfielder | Waseda University |
| #3 | Hirotaka Yonahara | Pitcher | Futenma High School |
| #4 | Shingo Usami | Catcher | Josai International University |
| #5 | Yasuhiro Yamamoto | Infielder | Keio University |
| #6 | Daisuke Tatsuma | Pitcher | Iwakura High School |
| #7 | Kota Nakagawa | Pitcher | Tokai University |
| #8 | Takuya Matsuzaki | Infielder | Nippon Paper Group |
| Developmental Player Draft ||||
| #1 | Daiki Masuda | Infielder | Tokushima Indigo Socks |
| #2 | Daisei Kobayashi | Catcher | Musashi Heat Bears |
| #3 | Yusuke Matsuzawa | Outfielder | Kagawa Olive Guyners |
| #4 | Kosei Tajima | Infielder | Musashi Heat Bears |
| #5 | Hideyoshi Ohtake | Pitcher | Musashi Heat Bears |
| #6 | Atsuro Hashimoto | Pitcher | Chinzei High School |
| #7 | Yohei Yajima | Pitcher | Musashi Heat Bears |
| #8 | Jun Hasegawa | Pitcher | Ishikawa Million Stars |

### Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks

| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team |
| #1 | Jumpei Takahashi | Pitcher | Gifu Commercial and Business High School |
| #2 | Reiji Kozawa | Pitcher | Nihon University Mishima Senior High School |
| #3 | Kenta Tanigawara | Catcher | Toyohashi Chuo High School |
| #4 | Kenta Chatani | Pitcher | Teikyo Daisan High School |
| #5 | Kenta Kurose | Infielder | Hatsushiba Hashimoto Senior High School |
| #6 | Hikaru Kawase | Infielder | Oita Commercial and Business High School |
| Developmental Player Draft ||||
| #1 | Yuto Nozawa | Pitcher | Tsukuba Shuei High School |
| #2 | Ryuya Kodama | Pitcher | Kanagawa University |
| #3 | Yuichi Higoshi | Catcher | Tokyo Nogyo University Hokkaido Okhotsk |
| #4 | Shin Nakamura | Pitcher | Luther High School |
| #5 | Takeshi Watanabe | Pitcher | Iizuka High School |

### Tokyo Yakult Swallows

| Pick | Player Name | Position | Team |
| #1 | Juri Hara | Pitcher | Toyo University |
| #2 | Taishi Hirooka | Infielder | Chiben Gakuen High School |
| #3 | Keiji Takahashi | Pitcher | Ryukoku University Heian High School |
| #4 | Julius Higuma | Pitcher | Kochi Chuo High School |
| #5 | Kotaro Yamasaki | Outfielder | Nihon University |
| #6 | Daiki Watanabe | Infielder | Senshu University Matsudo High School |