At one time, right-hander Daichi Moriki was a first-round selection of the Hanshin Tigers in Nippon Professional Baseball, and one of the most highly-touted high school arms in the country. Four years later, he is now at the lowest level of the Padres’ minor leagues, aiming to revive his career. 

Over the offseason, the San Diego Padres made a roster move that went unnoticed by most, signing former NPB pitcher Daichi Moriki to a minor league deal.

To most who follow the Padres, the move was just another depth addition. However, as someone who has kept a cursory eye on NPB for the last few seasons, it became evident that Moriki’s signing with San Diego was an unconventional move, but one that has potential. 

Now, who exactly is Daichi Moriki?

Well, the right-hander was a top prospect going into the 2021 draft, coming out of Kochi High School in the Japanese prefecture of Kochi. The right-hander was touching as high as 150 kph (93.2 mph) as a high school pitcher, and was also one of the better-hitting pitchers in the Japanese high school ranks at the time. His high school teams, however, were never able to advance to the national high school baseball tournaments, more commonly known as Koshien.

Koshien was, at one time in baseball history, a way for players from unknown areas to make names for themselves on the national stage. For those of us in America, think of Koshien as an equivalent to the College World Series tournament, or something akin to March Madness but with baseball. 

森木大智 Daichi Moriki
高知高校
最速149km
2021年4月某日 pic.twitter.com/x2c0xzga2r

— けいそう (@Baseball_TYO) July 4, 2021

Moriki entered the 2021 NPB Draft as one of the top high school arms in the class. The NPB Draft is not like the MLB Draft, as a player can be selected by multiple teams. All teams drafting pick a player, and whenever multiple teams have chosen the same player, a lottery is conducted to see which of the selecting teams wins the player’s rights. Moriki may have been a highly touted arm, but he was not taken in the first lottery go-round; instead being taken after the lottery phase in the first round by the Hanshin Tigers. 

For a draft in another league, there wasn’t much coverage on this side of the ocean. So, to know more about Moriki’s situation, I reached out to Yuri Karasawa and Brandon Tew, who cover NPB close up with JapanBall.com and the Talking Yakyu Podcast. Here is what they had to say about Moriki’s draft situation. (Note, the quotes in this piece come from Yuri Karasawa, but were relayed to the author by Brandon Tew, hence why both journalists/pro evaluators are credited).

“The 2021 NPB Draft had the “Big 3” of high school prospects with Kenta Kozono, Kyuta Kazama, and Moriki. Kota Tatsu was also in that conversation but considered more of a risk. As it turns out, Kazama and Moriki were complete busts. Kozono is finally starting to come around a bit for [Yokohama] DeNA, but not very good either.” 

As noted by Karasawa, Moriki was a bust in NPB despite the hype coming into the draft. His performance in NPB’s minor leagues started out promising, as he struck out 25.4% of batters in his first stint in the minors across 14 starts. Moriki’s performance was solid for a pitcher of his age, and he earned a call-up to the Tigers’ big league squad. In two starts with the Tigers, he posted a 6.23 ERA in 8.2 innings, albeit with a 3.58 FIP.

While the early results showed promise, this would be the peak of his performance in NPB. Moriki would not see time with the major league club in 2023, as the team’s rotation held the fort down. The Tigers would go on to win the Japan Series (NPB’s World Series) that year, but Moriki did not see any action that postseason either. His 6.15 ERA and loss of command did not help his case at a big league spot. 

The former first-rounder found himself on the outside looking in to open 2024 as well, and things did not get any better. “Moriki had some injuries, including a broken rib, and just kept getting worse on the farm,” Karasawa told EVT. “Basically unplayable last year with 18 walks and 23 runs allowed in 14 innings.” 

In his final three seasons in NPB, Moriki battled injuries but also lost the serviceable command that made him a candidate to start games. He was used mostly in shorter outings between 2024-25, but walked 45 batters in 35 innings over those two seasons. His ability to get strikeouts dwindled as well, as he only fanned 28 batters in the same span. Here are his rate-based statistics over his NPB career:

• 2022 (14 Games in Minors, 2 Games in Majors): 16 GS, 61.2 IP, 4.38 ERA, 3.41 FIP, 1.362 WHIP, 24.2% K, 10.9% BB
• 2023 to 2025 (All Minor Leagues): 50 Games (15 GS), 87.2 IP, 8.62 ERA, 6.14 FIP, 2.098 WHIP, 13.3% K, 18.5% BB

Moriki was released following the 2025 NPB season, having spent the last two years as a developmental player in the Tigers’ system. Moriki did see some interest from teams in the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO), attending a workout for three teams. The Hanwha Eagles, KT Wiz, and Lotte Giants were in attendance, and Moriki sat comfortably between 145 and 149 km/h, or between 90.1 & 92.5 mph.

Despite the workout, Moriki remained unsigned into the new year. Nothing came about until February, when Sports Hochi reported that the 23-year-old was signing with the San Diego Padres. The reports were confirmed shortly thereafter, and his signing became official via the transactions log on February 9. Despite his past career struggles, he was the kind of arm the Padres have shown a willingness to take a flier on down on the farm. “[…} he’s still very young and has topped at around 95-96 so I guess the Padres took a chance on him,” said Karasawa of the signing. 

Sports Hochi reports that fomer Hanshin Tigers 1st round pick Daichi Moriki may land a minors deal with the San Diego Padres.

Moriki made 2 NPB starts in 2022. He posted a 13.81 ERA in 14 games on the farm in 2025 and was released.https://t.co/WNxzkfvsrN

— Yakyu Cosmopolitan (@yakyucosmo) February 10, 2026

Moriki made appearances in minor league spring training with San Diego and was recently assigned to the Camp Break roster for the team’s Single-A affiliate in Lake Elsinore. The right-hander faces an uphill battle to make it to the Major Leagues, but he appears to be taking the challenge in stride. In an interview with Japanese web magazine CoCoKara-Next, Moriki had this to say about the jump to the American minor league system. “Looking forward to the evolution from a super junior high school student to a super major leaguer. The American training method may be right. I’m young, and I have enough room to grow.” (translated from CoCoKara-Next.com)

Former Nippon Professional Baseball Hanshin Tiger Daichi Moriki 3/28/26. pic.twitter.com/UfPF4EOTGS

— TheJerryEspinoza (@JEspinoza1634) March 29, 2026

In a system, even on a very intriguing and talented Lake Elsinore Storm team, the former first-round pick from half-a-decade ago may be one of the most interesting stories to follow this season. While his development has been anything but linear, he’s close to the age of a typical college senior or graduate student draftee to where there is still room for growth, as well as time. If the right-hander has a good season down on the farm, in a year’s time, Moriki could not only have revived his career, but put his name on the map with an unconventional but hopefully successful path in pro baseball.

Diego Garcia

A born and raised San Diegan, Diego Garcia is a lifetime Padres fan and self-proclaimed baseball nerd. Diego wrote about baseball on his own site between 2021-22 before joining the East Village Times team in 2024. He also posts baseball content on his YouTube channel “Stat Nerd Baseball”, creating content around trades, hypotheticals, player analyses, the San Diego Padres, and MLB as a whole.

A 2024 graduate of San Diego State, Diego aims to grow as a writer and content creator in the baseball community.