Musashi Nagayama (3rd year), a 147km/h right-handed pitcher from Nippon Wellness Okinawa who was selected by the Softbank Hawks as the 9th developmental draft pick, announced on his social media on the 11th that he has declined to join the team. This marks the third consecutive year that the Softbank Hawks have had a player decline to join, following pitcher Ryo Furukawa of Nihon Gakuen (Tokyo) who was the 1st developmental pick in 2024, and infielder Rintaro Sasaki of Stanford University who was the 1st pick in 2025 but chose to join the Miami Marlins of MLB instead.

In this year's draft, the Softbank Hawks selected a record number of developmental players, surpassing their own previous high of 14 players from 2021 and 2022. Additionally, they selected 9 players in the regular draft, bringing the total to 24 players. While the Softbank Hawks had previously selected a total of 20 players in 2022 (6 in the regular draft and 14 developmental players), they exceeded that number this year, marking their highest total number of selections ever.

Nagayama possesses a gifted physique at 180 centimeters and 89 kilograms, and has drawn attention as a two-way player. In this summer's Okinawa tournament, he started the first-round match against Shuri under the Ohtani Rule as the number three hitter, DH, and pitcher. Using his fastball, which reaches a top speed of 144 kilometers per hour, and his change-up as weapons, he delivered a brilliant performance where he struck out eight batters. Lotte scout Fukuzawa, who observed the game, gave a high evaluation, stating, 'His hitting is a type we don't have. The launch angle of his hits is increasing, which is attractive.' Softbank Hawks scout Kato also watched intently, noting, 'There is still plenty of room for growth.'

Musashi Nagayama. Born May 24, 2008, in Okinawa City. 18 years old. Started playing baseball at age 5 with the Miyazato Carp, and played for the rubber-ball baseball club at Miyazato Junior High. At Japan Wellness Okinawa, he joined the bench starting in the fall of his first year wearing number 5. In April, he participated in the U-18 Japan National Team candidate training camp. 180 cm, 89 kg. Right-handed pitcher, left-handed batter. The players he admires are Chisholm of the Yankees and Richard of The Giants. His family consists of his parents and an older sister.