Matsui Seibu’s chief coach is 42-year-old Rakuten
He is a 47-year-old novice coach and a 42-year-old head coach.
The Seibu Lions, which will start anew under “Little Matsui” coach Kazuo Matsui, announced their coaching staff in the first, second and third divisions. There are two outstanding coaches. They are Yosuke Hiraishi (42) and Tetsuya Utsumi (40), the second-tier pitching coach.
Matsui, a former Seibu franchise star, retired from Seibu after playing for the Rakuten Eagles through the Major League. He served as Seibu coach, second-tier coach, and first-tier head coach and recently became the head coach. He took the helm of the professional first team for the first time. He is determined to rebuild Seibu, which finished third in the Pacific League this season.
However, Hiraishi is a former coach who experienced the command tower in his 30s. After retiring from Rakuten in 2011, he served as a batting coach and second-tier coach. In 2018, he was the head coach and batting coach of the first division, but coach Masataka Nasida resigned during the season and became the acting coach.
After the season ended, he took office as a formal coach at the age of 38. He was the first Rakuten coach and the first head coach in the 1980s. He was an unknown player who had only 37 hits in the first division, and was recognized as a leader.
Coach Hiraishi, who left the team after a season, became the chief coach of Seibu after serving as a batting coach for the Softbank Hawks first division. I have a connection with manager Matsui. He is a junior at the Osaka PL Academy, and has been a player and coach at Rakuten.
Utsumi, an ace of the Yomiuri Giants, moved to Seibu and ended his career with the end of this season. He immediately became a pitching coach after his retirement.