Brazilians in Japanese Baseball

» 01 July 2011 » In international baseball, npb »

Last week, a tweet asking about Brazilian ballplayers in Japan came my way (and Ken’s). I’ve maintained an interest in Brazil since David Byrne started marketing 1960’s psychodelic innovators Os Mutantes around the turn of the century, so I decided to write a little more about the subject. If nothing else, it gave me a chance to write that last sentence.

I don’t know much about baseball in Brazil, but I know that there are significant reciprocal expatriate communities in Brazil and Japan, and it’s generally known that baseball was brought to Brazil by Japanese immigrants. Although it’s not terribly common, it’s not that unusual to see players with Brazilian heritage active in the amateur ranks in Japan, particularly in high school and college ball. And Yakult has some kind of academy in Brazil, but I have no idea how active it is. That’s about the extent of my knowledge of baseball in Brazil. If anyone can enlighten me further, I’m all ears.

There are currently three Brazilian players active at the pro in Japan, all with Yakult: OF/1B/PH Yuichi Matsumoto, P Rafael Fernandes, and OF Maike Magario. Each took a different path to pro ball. Matsumoto is the elder statesman of the group, with 13 years in the Yakult organization. He’s mostly served as a pinch hitter over the last few years, but is probably the most successful Brazilian professional baseball player to date. Fernandes played college ball at Hakuoh University, where he apparently showed great velocity but little polish. Yakult drafted him as an ikusei player in 2008, and he earned a promotion to the regular roster this season. Through 38 innings at ni-gun, he has a 1.89 ERA, but command is still a problem, as he has allowed 22 walks. Magario was born in Sao Paulo but moved to Japan at age five and came up through the high school ranks, playing at Koshien and eventually getting drafted as an ikusei player. So far at ni-gun this year, Magario has a defensive replacement’s line: 25 games played, seven plate appearances.

Looking to the future, a couple of Brazilian Industrial Leaguers I’m keeping half an eye on as potential NPB draft prospects. The first is pitcher Felipe Natel of Yamaha, who has commented that he would like to go pro after meeting the residence requirements to qualify as a Japanese player, thus avoiding the foreign player limit. My Natel experience is limited to video clips that I’ve sought out, but I’d like to see a little more velocity from him. The other is outfielder Allen Fanhoni of NTT East. Fanhoni first caught my eye a few years ago when I saw him in a prefectural high school game. I probably wouldn’t have remembered him if not for his name. He doesn’t look like much of a prospect at this point, but he’s probably the biggest guy in the Industrial Leagues at 196 cm / 100 kg, only 19 years old, and relatively in experienced at higher levels of competition. If he can refine his approach and turn himself into a real power prospect, he’ll be valuable NPB commodity.

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  1. Patrick
    passerby
    02/07/2011 at 12:26 am Permalink

    I think Shigeo Tamaki is more accomplished than Yuichi at this point.
    http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/玉木重雄

    Here’s a little bit about the Yakult academy.
    http://www.nikkeyshimbun.com.br/2009rensai-sakagami1.html

  2. Patrick
    Patrick
    02/07/2011 at 7:28 am Permalink

    Ah yes, I completely overlooked Tamaki.

  3. Patrick
    Eiki
    02/07/2011 at 8:06 am Permalink

    Hi
    I’m from Brazil and I thought this post was very intersting.
    Kids between 13 and 18 years old stays in this academy looking to play abroad someday, in Japan, USA or Venezuela mostly. They live in this academy, going to school in the morning and trainning in the afternoon. They only come back to their homes on weekends.
    By the way, I’m looking to see Felipe Natel and Allan in NPB someday, I already played with them here in Brazil

  4. Patrick
    Billy D
    03/07/2011 at 5:30 am Permalink

    Since Patrick’s on the intl. side of talent distributsions… I spotted “simon”, whom I believe is a regular here:

    http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/the-determinates-of-foreign-talent/

    I believe there are one or two other major reasons for a lack of Japanese talent to enter the MLB system, but I wonder what’s your thoughts?

  5. Patrick
    simon
    04/07/2011 at 10:52 pm Permalink

    Yeah, that’d be me.

    Anyways, interesting that Natel and Fanhoni are both in HR, not sure if it means anything though.

    Pedro Okuda signed with the Mariners but is struggling in Rookie ball.
    http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=okuda-001ped

    Diego Ito is attending Kyoei U.

    Neat.

    Development of sports I like in countries where it is a minor sport is pretty fascinating.

  6. Patrick
    Patrick
    05/07/2011 at 6:53 am Permalink

    I liked Simon’s comments on Fangraphs, I think that summed it up nicely. What are the other factors you had in mind Billy?

  7. Patrick
    Billy D
    06/07/2011 at 6:45 am Permalink

    In short: Amateur baseball.

  8. Patrick
    Patrick
    06/07/2011 at 7:20 am Permalink

    Can you explain that in more detail? Not sure I follow.

  9. Patrick
    Patrick
    07/07/2011 at 7:14 am Permalink

    Also, Eiki, thank you for your comment. I’d love to learn more about the baseball culture in Brazil, if there’s anything more you can tell us.

  10. Patrick
    Billy D
    07/07/2011 at 7:34 am Permalink

    Yeah, I got work and part-time. Long days. In spare time, I need to prepare for my Kyoto and Lake Biwa trip next month.

    I’ll come back with this idea during the weekend. (Cross your fingers.) Thanks for opening up for discussions, though. This is one of the happiest site I’ve visited for real talks on NPB.
    🙂