A year ago, almost no one had reason to expect Chiba Lotte Marines left-hander Yoshihisa Naruse would be one of the top players in Japanese baseball for 2007. After all, the 21-year-old pitcher had turned in a mediocre 5-5 record the previous season.

However, the guy seemingly came out of nowhere to post an unbelievable 16-1 mark with a 1.82 ERA that helped take his team to within one game of the Japan Series.

With a new season about to begin, you have to wonder which Japanese player will be this year's Naruse.

Trust me; there is one man — or maybe two or three — whose name is virtually unknown to us now, but he'll be in the headlines by mid-summer, playing in the All-Star Games and possibly providing a key ingredient in the Central or Pacific League pennant races.

In 2006, "Mr. Surprise" was first baseman-outfielder Yuuki Yoshimura of the Yokohama BayStars.

The previous year, Yoshimura posted stats of 10 home runs, 44 RBIs and a so-so .252 batting average in 62 games with Yokohama's Eastern League farm team, the Shonan Searex.

He was wallowing in Yokosuka, the home base of the Searex, in April two years ago, seemingly unnoticed by his own manager and coaches. But injuries to key varsity players, including veteran first sacker Takahiro Saeki, forced the 'Stars to call up players from Shonan, not necessarily for their talent, but for bodies to fill in the first-team roster until the regulars returned.

Lo and behold, Yoshimura, apparently inspired by his promotion and not wanting to go back to the minors, began hitting and never stopped.

When Saeki came back, center fielder Hitoshi Tamura coincidentally went down with an injury, and Yoshimura took his place in the outfield — and the hits kept right on coming.

The 23-year-old Yoshimura ended that 2006 season with 26 homers and 66 RBIs in only 111 games, batted .311 and found himself playing against major league All-Stars in November of that year on the last MLB postseason tour.

He continued to show ability as a regular in 2007, driving in 85 runs while belting 24 homers, hitting .273 and playing in 141 of the 144 regular season games. Yoshimura will likely be one of the top hitters in the CL in 2008 as well, and he won't be seeing Yokosuka again.

So, who will be the Naruse or Yoshimura of 2008?

My bet is on Hiroshima Carp rookie outfielder Ryuhei Matsuyama. I saw him swing the bat at the Carp spring training camp in Nichinan, Miyazaki Prefecture, and I like him.

So does his manager, Marty Brown.

Matsuyama is 22, from Kagoshima and a graduate of Kyushu Kokusai University. He's a left-handed hitting outfielder, who wears No. 37 was the No. 4 choice by Hiroshima in last November's draft of college and industrial league players.

He looked more like a No. 1, and he seems to have a lot more poise and confidence than your typical first-year player. Brown thinks the kid has a chance to win a regular position in the field and a spot among starters in the batting order.

"Either that, or he'll be a reliable pinch hitter," predicted the manager, whose club has lost some of its power due to the departure of cleanup hitter Takahiro Arai to the Hanshin Tigers.

Brown, by the way, is going into his third season as the Hiroshima skipper and admitted in Nichinan he will most likely not be the team's skipper in 2009 if he doesn't win in 2008.

He's finished fifth twice and at least needs to lead the Red Helmets into the Central League Climax Series in October.

'We've lost our best hitter (Arai) and best pitcher (Hiroki Kuroda, gone to the Los Angeles Dodgers), and we won't have as much power, but we've got more speed, and we're younger," said Brown, expressing hope he can get the Carp into the top three of the CL standings.

Among Hiroshima's new foreign players, righty pitcher Colby Lewis is being touted as a possible starter on Opening Day when the Carp visit the defending Japan Series champion Chunichi Dragons at Nagoya Dome on March 28.

Normally, honors for throwing the lid-lifters go to the previous year's ace, but Kuroda (12-8 in 2007) is gone, and southpaw Ken Takahashi (5-4) is the only other Hiroshima hurler to post a winning mark last season.

Right-hander Kan Otake, who went 9-10 last season is the top returning victory man.

If Lewis (8-3 with a 1.88 ERA in 15 games at Triple-A Sacramento last season) looks good in exhibition play, Brown may give him the ball when the bell rings later this month.

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Finally this week, you read about the four-woman umpiring crew that worked an exhibition game between the New York Mets and the University of Michigan team last week in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

Home plate ump Perry Lee Barber gathered the all-female unit that included Mona Osborne at first base, Theresa Fairlady at second and Ila Valcarcel at third.

"Wayne, this was one of my proudest moments in baseball," wrote Barber in an e-mail. "Putting together a crew of four women for a spring training game is a dream come true for me. It may have been the first time such a thing ever happened, but let's hope it's not the last."

Perry worked a couple of Pacific League preseason games in Japan in 1989.

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Contact Wayne Graczyk at:[email protected]