Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters ace Shohei Otani was not among those named to play against Taiwan in March, Samurai Japan manager Hiroki Kokubo said Monday.
At a press conference in Okinawa, Kokubo named a squad in which Otani was conspicuously absent for the second straight spring, as the skipper declined to select pitchers likely to be on the mound when the regular season starts on March 25.
"As we look ahead a year from now (to the 2017 World Baseball Classic), these are the best players at the moment," said Kokubo, whose team finished third at November's Premier 12.