Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) has announced that 23.625.292 fans voted to pick the starting lineups of the NPB All-Star Series, scheduled for Tuesday, 26 July, at the Fukuoka PayPay Dome and Wednesday, 27 July, at the Botchan Stadium in Matsuyama.
WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2019 alum Roki Sasaki (Chiba Lotte Marines), who in April became, at 20, the youngest pitcher to throw a perfect game in Japanese pro baseball, will take the mound for the Pacific League. He outvoted Tokyo 2020 star Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Orix Buffaloes) 304,034 vs. 251,825.
Tokyo 2020 gold medalist Hideto Asamura (Rakuten Golden Eagles) will start at second base. Two of the three starting outfielders, Yuki Yanagita (Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks) and Masataka Yoshida (Orix Buffaloes), also featured on the Olympic gold medal team. Starting designated hitter Brandon Laird (Chiba Lotte Marines) is a former Major Leaguer who represented Mexico at the World Baseball Classic.
Veteran right-hander Koyo Aoyagi (Hanshin Tigers) will be the Central League starting pitcher. The 28-year-old appeared in two games for Japan at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Olympic gold medal winner Munetaka Murakami (Tokyo Yakult Swallows) will start at third base, while Olympics and WBSC Premier12 winner Hayato Sakamoto will start at shortstop.
