Corporate league outfielder Ryuki Watarai and college pitcher Natsuki Takeuchi were the most sought-after players in Nippon Professional Baseball's new-player entry draft on Thursday, when both players were named by three teams each as their top choice.

Pitcher Natsuki Takeuchi is tossed into the air in celebration by his Kokugakuin University teammates in Yokohama after he was taken in the first round of Japanese pro baseball's new-player entry draft on Thursday.
Pitcher Natsuki Takeuchi is tossed into the air in celebration by his Kokugakuin University teammates in Yokohama after he was taken in the first round of Japanese pro baseball's new-player entry draft on Thursday. | Kyodo

After winning the respective lotteries for the two stars between the clubs that named them at the start of the first round, the DeNA BayStars won the rights to sign Watarai, while the Seibu Lions get to negotiate with Takeuchi.

The negotiating rights for two other college pitchers went in two-way lotteries, with the Yomiuri Giants snapping up Yuhi Nishidate and the Hiroshima Carp getting Hayato Tsunehiro.

Unlike in MLB, teams' draft orders do not apply to the first round for domestic amateurs and Japanese nationals. Instead, the rights to players selected by more than one team are decided by lottery. From the second round, teams simply pick in order.

The six teams that lost in the first set of first-round lotteries then named first-round alternates. In this phase, the rights to high school lefty Yugo Maeda, who contributed to Japan winning its first under-18 World Cup this year, went to the SoftBank Hawks in a three-way lottery.