Hirokazu Ibata, 50, manager of Samurai Japan, announced on April 16 the 11 additional members of Japan's national team for the 6th World Baseball Classic (WBC) next March. The previous announcement was preceded by 8 pitcher including Otani of the Dodgers and Kikuchi of the Angels, and this second announcement includes 11 new members, including Orioles FA Tomoyuki Kanno pitcher, Hanshin Tigers and Teruaki Sato infielder. In addition to Teruaki Sato, Seishiro Sakamoto catcher and Shota Morishita outfielder were added from Softbank Hawks, which won the Yuki Matsumoto pitcher, Taisei Makihara infielder, Ukyo Shuto outfielder, Kensuke Kondo outfielder and Central League championships last season, and from Hanshin Tigers, which won the Pacific League championship in Japan last season.

As for the remaining 11 spots, candidates are likely to include already-sold major league players such as Yamamoto of the Dodgers, Okamoto of the Blue Jays, and Murakami of the White Sox, as well as the left-handed duo of Ryuhei Sotani and Taiya Hiroya Miyagi Orix Buffaloes, and Koki Kitayama of Nippon-Ham for the second starting spot.

Manager Ibata explained, "I've been discussing it with my staff for a long time, and we're close to deciding on one catcher, infield, and outfield. We'll thoroughly discuss it and make a decision once we're satisfied." The names being mentioned for the remaining catcher slot are Yakult 's Nakamura Yuhei, who was the "catcher was hoisted up in celebration" at the last tournament, and The Giants' Kishida Yukinori, who is known for his batting.

◆ WBC Japan National Team Members (★ indicates players announced this time)

[pitcher = 10]

1. Yuki Matsui (Padres)

14. Taikai Ito (Nippon-Ham)

15. Large group (The Giants)

16. Shohei Ohtani (Dodgers)

17 Yusei Kikuchi (Angels)

19. Tomoyuki Sugano (Orioles free agent)

26. Atsuki Taneichi (Lotte)

61. Kaima Taira (Seibu Lions)

66 ★ Yuki Matsumoto (Softbank Hawks)

69. Daichi Ishii (Hanshin Tigers)

[catcher = 2]

4 ★ Kenta Wakatsuki (Orix Buffaloes)

12 ★Seishiro Sakamoto (Hanshin Tigers)

[infielder = 4]

2. Hideto Maki (DeNA)

5. Taisei Makihara (Softbank Hawks)

6. Sosuke Genda (Seibu Lions)

7 ★Teruaki Sato (Hanshin Tigers)

[outfielder = 3]

8 ★Kensuke Kondo (Softbank Hawks)

20 ★ Yukio Shuto (Softbank Hawks)

23 ★ Shota Morishita (Hanshin Tigers)

*The number before the name is number