From the Field: Sean Yamaguchi, if, St. Louis High School (Hawaii)
This past weekend was the Hawaii Baseball Association 2023 Fall Showcase, which is easily one of the coolest baseball events on the island. It’s a chance for all the best high school talent to showcase their talents for a collection of MLB and college scouts, which is valuable considering Hawaii is in the middle of the Pacific and players don’t always get the exposure they deserve, which is a shame, considering the amount of talent we have on the island. This is also a great chance for me to get autographs of these players before they move onto the next stage of their careers–which for many will be D1 schools and eventually professional baseball.
Infielder Sean Yamaguchi ( Instagram @ biigseexy_ ) was high on my list of players to get. Part of the 2024 Class, Yamaguchi is one of the top five players coming out of Hawaii in 2024, as well as one of the top 500 High School prospects in the country. This past July he committed to the University of Nevada, which is a quality D1 program, and speaks to how talented he is. The Wolfpack is known to grab talent from the islands and have two Hawaii players on their 2024 roster: catcher Kawana Soares (Kailua Kona) and infielder Mason Hirata (Hilo).
Assuming that Sean Yamaguchi goes on to get drafted, he would be the fourth University of Nevada player to get taken in the draft. Who are the others? 1B Kewby Meyer (2015, 37th round), Jordan Dunatov (2014, 12th round), John Barton (1988, 23rd round).