If a high school boy can do it…

On Aug. 20, 1998, Yokohama High School’s Daisuke Matsuzaka threw a 250-pitch, 17-inning complete game victory over powerhouse PL Gakuen High School in the quarterfinals of the national high school championships.

Ten days later, 24-year-old Chunichi Dragons left-hander Shigeki Noguchi gave his best shot at matching Matsuzaka, whose heroics at Koshien Stadium made him a household name in Japan.

Pitching against the defending CL champion Yakult Swallows at Nagoya Dome, Noguchi allowed 10 hits and issued six walks and ended up the losing pitcher in a 5-3, 12-inning complete-game defeat. Eric Anthony, who played in the majors with five different big league clubs, singled in the tie-breaking runs in the top of the 12th.

Asked the next day about his 203-pitch count, Noguchi said, “I was inspired by Daisuke Matsuzaka. If he can do it, so can I.”

Noguchi, in his fifth pro season, would go 2-3 the remainder of the year to finish with a 14-9 record and posted a Central League-leading 2.34 ERA. However, over 34 innings in his remaining five starts,
he allowed 18 runs, 12 earned. The Dragons finished runner-up in the CL pennant race, four games back of the Yokohama BayStars.

2019 NPB win shares leaders

I’m sorry this took so long, but I just emerged from a park home run and run adjustment rabbit hole yesterday, and with that out of the way, I was able to get this year’s win shares up and running.

The CL top 10

2019 CL Win Shares Leaders

NameTeamRaw WSBatting WSDef WSPitching WS
Seiya SuzukiCarp30.727.43.3
Tetsuto YamadaSwallows28.924.34.6
Hayato SakamotoGiants28.122.16.0
Neftali SotoBayStars25.122.32.8
Yoshihiro MaruGiants23.818.55.3
Yohei OshimaDragons23.418.44.9
Yoshitomo TsutsugoBayStars22.319.92.4
Tsubasa AizawaCarp21.214.96.3
Dayan ViciedoDragons20.918.62.3
Yusuke OyamaTigers17.112.94.2
The top 10 Bill James win shares from NPB's 2019 Central League

The CL’s top 10 pitchers

Win Shares CL pitchers

NameTeamRaw WSBatting WSPitching WS
Shun YamaguchiGiants14.6014.6
Shota ImanagaBayStars13.4013.4
Yudai OnoDragons13.0013.0
Kris JohnsonCarp12.8012.8
Yuki NishiTigers12.2012.2
Yasuaki YamasakiBayStars12.0012.0
Kota NakagawaGiants11.7011.7
Rafael DolisTigers11.5011.5
Kyuji FujikawaTigers11.3011.3
Daichi OseraCarp10.5010.5
2019 CL pitching win shares leaders

The PL top 10

2019 PL Win Shares Leaders

NameTeamRaw WSBatting WSDef WSPitching WS
Tomoya MoriLions33.230.03.2
Masataka YoshidaBuffaloes28.627.01.6
Shuta TonosakiLions25.919.26.7
Takeya NakamuraLions25.322.03.3
Hotaka YamakawaLions25.323.32.0
Hideto AsamuraEagles24.720.14.6
Jabari BlashEagles23.622.61.0
Haruki NishikawaFighters23.118.24.9
Shogo AkiyamaLions22.520.32.2
Eigoro MogiEagles21.215.35.9
Takashi OginoMarines21.218.72.5
The top 10 Bill James win shares from NPB's 2019 Pacific League

The PL’s top 10 pitchers

Win Shares PL pitchers

NameTeamRaw WSBatting WSPitching WS
Kodai SengaHawks16.0016.0
Kohei AriharaFighters14.7014.7
Yoshinobu YamamotoBuffaloes14.4014.4
Tatsushi MasudaLions13.9013.9
Yuki MatsuiEagles12.7012.7
Yuito MoriHawks11.6011.6
Rei TakahashiHawks11.2011.2
Naoya MasudaMarines11.0011.0
Taisuke YamaokaBuffaloes10.7010.7
Livan MoineloHawks10.1010.1
2019 PL pitching win shares leaders