TOKYO - The Yomiuri Giants on Thursday secured negotiating rights to star 18-year-old pitcher Shoki Oda, who a week ago expressed his desire to pursue a career in the United States straight out of Yokohama High School.
The Central League club was the only team to select the right-hander in the first round of Nippon Professional Baseball's new player draft and has until the end of next March to sign him.
Oda, who stands 186 centimeters tall, threw the fastest pitch ever recorded at the Japanese national high school baseball championship in August, clocking 156 kilometers per hour at Koshien Stadium.
"Honestly, I'm surprised," Oda said. "I got an extremely honorable nomination, but as I've conveyed at the press conference, my desire to challenge the United States (baseball) does not waver at all."
His decision to skip Japan's professional ranks and attempt to reach Major League Baseball via the U.S. college or minor league pathway is rare for a top Japanese high school prospect.
In 2012, current Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani voiced his desire to move to MLB out of Hanamaki Higashi High School ahead of the NPB draft. He changed his mind after he was picked in the first round by the Nippon Ham Fighters and was presented with a plan to enable him to pursue an unorthodox two-way career.
The Fighters this year chose Ohtani-inspired two-way prospect Haruki Komoda of Yamanashi Gakuin Senior High School, who stands 195 centimeters tall and weighs 103 kilograms, as their first-round pick.
"I'm filled with joy to get drafted by Nippon Ham, a team I wanted to go to," the 17-year-old said of the Fighters, managed by former major leaguer Tsuyoshi Shinjo. "I want to be raised there and eventually become a player who can perform on the world stage."
