2026 Professional baseball Draft Conference supported by Lipovitan D (22nd)

Arata Higuchi (24), a pitcher for Oji, was selected in the third round by the Rakuten Eagles.

A southpaw whose strengths are a fastball reaching up to 151 km/h, high control, and sharp breaking balls. He joined Oji after attending Chiba Keizai University High School and Aichi Institute of Technology. At Oji, he was active as a starter from his first year, pitching 50 1/3 innings over 12 games with a 1.25 ERA, earning the adult baseball award for best ERA.

In his second season this year, he was selected as a representative for Japan in the 20th Asian Games held in Aichi in September, and he contributed to the win with a brilliant performance, allowing 4 hits and 0 runs over 7 innings in the Super Round match against South Korea.

Shin Higuchi. Born June 28, 2002, in Higashikurume City, Tokyo. 24 years old. Started playing baseball with West King in his first year at Dai-ju Elementary School. Played for Kodaira Club while at Shimosato Junior High School. Entered the bench at Chiba Keizai University High School starting in the summer of his second year. Finished as runner-up in the independent tournament during the summer of his third year. Entered the bench at Aichi Institute of Technology starting in the spring of his first year. Yuto Nakamura (Yakult) was his classmate in university. In 2025, his first year at Oji, he won the Best ERA Award. In 2026, he was selected as a member of the Japanese national team for the 20th Asian Games. 178 cm, 84 kg. Maximum speed 151 km/h. Left-handed pitcher and left-handed batter.