The Pacific League All-Star Guide Nobody Asked For (2025 Edition)
Let’s do this again, this time with the Pacific League.
The Pacific League took Game 1 at the Kyocera Dome, home of the Orix Buffaloes, by the score of 5-1. Home runs by two Buffaloes—Yuma Tongu’s three-run shot and a solo blast by Kenya Wakatsuki—accounted for most of the scoring for the Pacific League. Tongu was named MVP.
The second game of the All-Star Series takes place at Yokohama Stadium, home of the DeNA BayStars. If you missed my useless trivia about the Central League, you can find it here. Like last time, I skipped the stats and focused on the fun stuff—hobbies, nicknames, odd quotes. I’ve also included players who were selected but later withdrew.
◎ = fan vote | ☆ = player vote | No symbol = manager selection
Pitchers:
Hiroya Miyagi ◎ - Orix Buffaloes - 2x All-Star
Before turning pro, Miyagi didn’t understand which teams belonged to the Central League and which to the Pacific League, which is amazing because there are only 12 teams total.Hiroshi Kaino ◎ - Saitama Seibu Lions - 1x All-Star
A fun example of how names carry meaning in Japanese: the character 央 (ō), meaning "center," was chosen by his father: “His last name has 甲 (Kō) from 甲子園 (Kōshien) and 野 (no) from 野球 (baseball). I want him to be someone who stands at the center (央) of Kōshien.” Kōshien is Japan’s storied national high school baseball tournament—something every kid dreams of winning.
Seigi Tanaka ◎ - Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters - 3x All-Star
His nickname is “Justice,” the English translation of his given name.
Imai, the Lions ace, gets the start in Game 2. Tatsuya Imai ☆ - Lions - 3x All-Star
Proposed to his wife on a helicopter date taking place over Tokyo.
Livan Moinelo - Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks - 2x All-Star
Pitches left-handed but is right-handed in everyday life. After recording two outs throwing lefty in Wednesday's Game 1, switched to throwing with his right hand and got Sandro Fabian to pop to third for the final out of the fourth inning.
Kazuki Sugiyama - Hawks - 1x All-Star
In his third year as a pro, he had “A man is chicken breast” embroidered on his glove. The reason? “There’s this bodybuilder YouTuber who says, ‘A man is defined by how much chicken breast he eats.’”
Kota Tatsu - Fighters - 1x All-Star
His favorite artist is the rapper KREVA.
Koki Kitayama - Fighters - 1x All-Star
Reads about three books a month when he’s not practicing.
Shunsuke Nakamori - Chiba Lotte Marines - 1x All-Star
One of his hobbies is going to karaoke alone.
Naoto Nishiguchi - Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles - 1x All-Star
Because he played baseball at a school in Koka, a city famous for its ninjas, he named his fastball the “Kunai Fastball” and his curveball the “Shuriken Curve.”
Allen Kuri - Buffaloes - 2x All-Star
Loves pro wrestling; his favorite wrestler is Tetsuya Naito.
Chihiro Sumida - Lions - 1x All-Star
He’s had the habit of sleeping with something in his arms ever since high school.
Kaima Taira - Lions - 4x All-Star
Owner of the NPB record for most straight scoreless appearances: 39 games.
Catchers:
Kenya Wakatsuki ◎☆ - Buffaloes - 2x All-Star
His nickname is “KenKen” and he loves reading manga.
Ryusei Terachi - Marines - 1x All-Star
Tied the NPB record with six catcher assists on June 29, 2025, against the SoftBank Hawks — the 10th player to achieve the feat.
Infielders
Yuma Tongu ◎ - Buffaloes - 2x All-Star
Was neighbors with Yoshinobu Yamamoto as a kid.
Hotaka Yamakawa ☆ - Hawks - 6x All-Star
Yamakawa was accused of sexual assault in May 2023. His team at the time, the Seibu Lions, swiftly removed him from the roster. In August 2023, the Tokyo District Prosecutor's Office decided not to press charges. However, Seibu still imposed an indefinite suspension on him the following week. Yamakawa would later exercise his free-agent rights and sign with SoftBank in the offseason.
Ryo Ohta ◎☆ - Buffaloes - 2x All-Star
At 21 years and 8 months, he became the youngest player ever to hit a leadoff home run in Japan Series history — doing it in Game 7 of the 2022 Japan Series.
Kotaro Kiyomiya ◎☆ - Fighters - 2x All-Star
One of the reasons he wears number 21 is Roberto Clemente: “Like him, I hope to contribute to society in my own way as a player.”
Kotaro Kurebayashi ◎ - Buffaloes - 3x All-Star
Declined invitation. In 2023, he and Takumu Nakano (Hanshin Tigers) tied the Guinness World Record with 55 catches in one minute — matching the mark set by an amateur U.S. duo.
Rui Muneyama ☆ - Eagles - 1x All-Star
Named after his father’s love of baseball: “rui” means base in Japanese.
Itsuki Murabayashi - Eagles - 1x All-Star
Loves action movies and playing golf.
Natsuo Takizawa - Lions - 1x All-Star
At 5'5" (164 cm), he is the shortest active player in NPB.
Isami Nomura - Hawks - 1x All-Star
Injury replacement. Enjoys going on walks with Chun-Chun, his family’s pet Java sparrow.
Outfielders:
Chusei Mannami ◎☆ - Fighters - 3x All-Star
Once hit a leadoff homer and walk-off homer in the same game— only the second player in NPB history to do so (September 16, 2023).
Ryoma Nishikawa ◎☆ - Buffaloes - 2x All-Star
Declined invitation. His grandfather and father were both Hiroshima Carp fans. Nishikawa originally signed with the team before joining Orix.
Seiya Watanabe ◎☆ - Lions - 1x All-Star
When he needs to clear his head, he goes fishing.
Ukyo Shuto - Hawks - 2x All-Star
Holds the world record for stolen bases in 13 consecutive games — set on October 30, 2020, vs. the Seibu Lions. Also my wife’s favorite non-Lotte player.
Tatsuru Yanagimachi - Hawks - 1x All-Star
Grew up a Hawks fan — one of his favorite players was Kenji Johjima.
Manaya Nishikawa - Lions - 1x All-Star
Holds the NPB record for most consecutive hitless plate appearances by a position player: 62
Daito Yamamoto - Marines - 1x All-Star
Winner of the Plus One vote. Treats himself to cake as a reward.
Catcher Ryusei Terachi posing with Kyota Fujiwara. Daito is nowhere to be seen. Maybe he’s off eating cake. Kyota Fujiwara - Marines - 1x All-Star
Injury replacement. Became just the second high school rookie in NPB history to start as a leadoff hitter on Opening Day— March 29, 2019.
Designated Hitter:
Franmil Reyes ◎☆ - Fighters - 1x All-Star
Blood type O+. Favorite movie: The Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift.
That’s everyone. Enjoy Game 2, and may your favorite player say something weird while mic’d up during the in-game interviews. If I missed anything fun about your favorite player, let me know in the comments.
I was under the impression that Yamakawa was still a few days shy of free agency eligibility at the end of that season but the Lions released him, essentially making him a free agent. But they got Kaino as compensation so maybe I’m wrong.