High School Baseball Sensation Kiyomiya Ready to Negotiate with Nippon-Ham Fighters, Slug with The Pros

Video footage taken on Oct. 26 in Tokyo shows high school slugger Kotaro Kiyomiya, 18, speaking to the press after the results of this year’s pro baseball draft lottery were announced. Kiyomiya garnered the most interest, with seven teams bidding for the right to negotiate a contract with him, which the Nippon-Ham Fighters won. The infielder, who hit 111 homers during his three-year career at Tokyo’s Waseda Jitsugyo High School, noted the Fighter’s reputation for producing stars and acknowledged that the pro game would be a world of a different magnitude. While tracing his achievements back to his parents’ support, Kiyomiya also said that he was ready to take the pro plunge and put his own mark in the game.