Underfire GM Phil Doyle spoke exclusively to the CBL website to confirm that it was both a data driven decision and a gut feel for selecting left handed starter Eijun Sawamura, the 15 year old from Nagano in Japan.
“Firstly, can I say how delighted we are to welcome Eijun to the organisation. We believe he has the talent to be a front line starter for this ball club in years to come. We met him and his family on several occasions and were very impressed with his work ethic and his leadership skills. When we evaluate players, it is important to assess players who not only play great baseball, but also have the personality traits to be the face of the franchise. To be good guys.”
When asked about Sawamura being only 15, Doyle was quick to reply “We know he has to develop, but his body of work at High School was impressive. As an organisation, we have time on our side to let him develop and mature and we are confident that he will lead Tabasco to great things in the future.”
Doyle also added that calling up Joey Liva to the ML roster was another sign that the ballclub was turning things around. “Joey is another fabulous individual who has earned the right to be pitching in the CBL. We feel now is the right time to give him a taste of the big time and hopefully he has the time to make the adjustments to be a rotation arm for us for the foreseeable future.”
Many outsiders were surprised that the Pitcher heavy organisation turned its back on the consensus elite talent of RF Erik Wemple. “You know, sometimes you just have a feeling about a guy. There is no doubt Erik will be a top class RF in the CBL for many years to come, but our scouting team felt they saw more upside in Eijun and that was supported by our meetings with him.”
He may not have been top of many lists but Tabasco feel they have another great talent to add to their strong farm system.
If nothing else it will give fans a distraction from the poor form of the CBL team.
