Seibu Lions Send 20-Homer Yuta Nakami, Two Pitchers to Puerto Rico
The Seibu Lions will send Yuta Nakami, Haruse Narita and Keishin Saito to Puerto Rico after Nakami's 20-homer farm season. Here's why the move matters.
World Baseball News Editorial Team , 2 min read 
The Saitama Seibu Lions will send outfielder Yuta Nakami and pitchers Haruse Narita and Keishin Saito to Puerto Rico’s winter baseball league, the Japanese club announced on Monday, October 26. The assignment, scheduled to run from November 3 until mid-December, gives three players with different development needs another stretch of competitive baseball before the 2027 NPB season.
Yuta Nakami wants to solve the fastball problem
Nakami’s numbers explain why the move matters. The 24-year-old hit .287 with 20 home runs and 67 RBIs in 98 farm-league games in 2026, producing a .365 on-base percentage and .544 slugging percentage. He won the Central Division farm home-run title, yet that power did not translate consistently to Seibu’s first team.
In 11 NPB games, Nakami went 4-for-31 (.129) with one home run and three RBIs, striking out 17 times. His lone top-level homer came against the SoftBank Hawks in April, but he was unable to establish a lasting place in the lineup.
Nakami said he volunteered for the Puerto Rico assignment because his April promotion exposed difficulty handling high-velocity fastballs. He also wants to improve against unfamiliar pitchers rather than relying on advance knowledge of opponents. It is a specific test for a hitter who has already demonstrated his power in Japan’s developmental competition.
Two pitchers chase different opportunities
Narita, 20, views the winter stint as a chance to sharpen his pitching and learn in a higher-pressure environment. He said his role in Puerto Rico has not yet been determined, but he wants to return better equipped for next season.
Saito, 23, has a more immediate roster objective. The developmental-contract pitcher requested the assignment as part of his bid to earn a place on Seibu’s full 70-man roster and open 2027 at the club’s first-team spring training camp in Nango. He hopes the additional competition will help him broaden his pitching options.
Puerto Rico offers an extended audition
The three players are expected to compete in Puerto Rico’s Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente, where winter games will offer regular at-bats and innings after Japan’s season. Seibu has previously used Puerto Rican winter baseball for player development, including assignments involving Shinya Hasegawa and Taishi Mameda.
The Lions have not yet specified the Puerto Rican clubs each player will join. The measure of this trip will come next spring: whether Nakami can bring his farm-league power against stronger pitching, and whether Narita and Saito can turn extra innings into a bigger role in Japan.
