TOKYO - Tadahito Iguchi, who previously managed the Lotte Marines, has been tapped as the next skipper of Japan's national baseball team, Nippon Professional Baseball said Saturday, becoming the first former major leaguer to take the helm.
The 51-year-old Iguchi will take over from Kazuhiro Ibata, who led Samurai Japan in the World Baseball Classic earlier this year and stepped down following his squad's defeat against Venezuela in the quarterfinals.
"I'm really honored to be given the opportunity to lead the top team that represents Japanese baseball but feel the weight of responsibility at the same time," Iguchi, a member of the 2005 World Series champion Chicago White Sox, said at a press conference.
"I aim to reach the pinnacle of the world by fusing Japan's traditions with its strengths," said Iguchi, who won three Japan Series titles during his playing career and knows firsthand what it takes to win short tournaments.
Iguchi will seek to guide Japan to a second consecutive Olympic title at the Los Angeles Games, where baseball will return in 2028 after being absent from the Paris Games.
The 2028 event could feature active major leaguers for the first time, and Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani has voiced a desire to play in the games after the frustrating loss at the WBC.
In addition to his on-field duties, the Samurai Japan manager plays a key general-manager-like role in roster construction, which includes traveling to the United States to negotiate directly with MLB clubs.
Ahead of the 2026 WBC, an inquiry submitted to tournament organizers about the availability of Japanese MLB players went unanswered for an extended period, leaving the national team on the back foot and delaying the selection of NPB-based players.
A second baseman and shortstop for most of his career in Japan and the United States, Iguchi turned pro in 1997 with the Daiei Hawks, now the SoftBank Hawks, and spent eight seasons with them before moving to Major League Baseball.
Starting in 2005, Iguchi played four seasons in MLB with the White Sox, the Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres before returning to Japan to play for the Marines.
The Tokyo native, who recorded a combined 2,254 hits, 295 home runs and 1,222 RBIs during his career in Japan and the United States, then went on to manage the Chiba-based club for five seasons starting in 2018.
During his tenure as Lotte's manager, Iguchi led a roster lacking depth to two second-place finishes while overseeing the development of Roki Sasaki, now with the Dodgers alongside Ohtani and Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the 2025 World Series MVP.
Renowned for his data-driven approach to player placement, Iguchi, a graduate of Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo, currently serves as a baseball analyst on MLB broadcasts.
He is expected to manage Samurai Japan from the Asia Professional Baseball Championship in November before leading them in the Premier12 international baseball tournament, with the top-finishing Asian team securing an Olympic berth.
