Yearly Archives: 2019

Commentary

NPB games, news of Sept. 10. 2019

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Giants solve mystery

After listening to this week’s Japan Baseball Weekly podcast, in which John Gibson argued that the Giants had a magic number despite Japan’s insistence they didn’t, the team’s magic number “reappeared” on Tuesday.

Of course, if one throws out the Japanese condition that none of your needed wins can come against the second-place team, the Giants entered play with a number of 11. But by getting one of those wins against the BayStars on Tuesday, their Japanese number became nine.

This was enough for my company to issue a news alert on its Japanese news wire.

Central League

Giants 4, BayStars 2

At Yokohama Stadium, Kazuma Okamoto belted a pair of home runs to bring Yomiuri back from a 1-0 deficit against tough DeNA lefty Shota Imanaga (13-6).

Imanaga struck out 10, while allowing two runs on two hits and four walks. Right fielder Takayuki Kajitani made a run-saving catch in the fourth, when he snagged a one-out liner just before it hit off the wall for an RBI double.

Okamoto hit his 27th home run of the season in the sixth, after Yoshihiro Maru drew a two-out walk. Maru made it a 3-1 game in the eighth with a sacrifice fly off lefty Edwin Escobar, and Okamoto followed with a solo homer.

Ryan Cook, brought in this season as the Giants’ newest closer, got his first career top-flight start — having previously only started in the U.S. minors and in Japan’s Eastern League (three games in August). He walked three, and allowed four hits, but gave up just one run over three-plus innings, on a third-inning solo home run by Jose Lopez.

Rubby De La Rosa surrendered a ninth-inning pinch-hit home run to light-hitting utility infielder Tatsuhiro Shibata, but held on for his sixth save.

Carp 3, Dragons 0

At Mazda Stadium, Chunichi’s offense misfired for the first time in over a week, wasting four leadoff runners against Daichi Osera (11-8) in a loss to Hiroshima.

Ryoma Nishikawa and rookie Kaito Kozono drove in all of the Carp runs with a pair of home runs. Geronimo Franzua, who had pitched in two of the Carp’s last three games, was brought in with a three-run lead and recorded his 12th save.

The win left the Carp third behind DeNA on winning percentage points.

Swallows 5, Tigers 4, 10 innings

At Koshien Stadium, rookie defensive replacement Yasutaka Shiomi singled in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning to lift Yakult past Hanshin. Scott McGough struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth to record his ninth save.

Game highlights are HERE.

Pacific League

Marines 10, Fighters 2

At Tokyo Dome, Ayumu Ishikawa (6-5) won his third-straight decision since being reinstated to the starting rotation, allowing two runs in six innings as Lotte crushed Nippon Ham.

Leonys Martin opened the scoring with a two-run homer, his 12th, off Bryan Rodriguez (6-6), who gave up five runs in 3-2/3 innings.

Game highlights are HERE.

News

Ogawa, Miyamoto officially out at Yakult

The Central League’s Yakult Swallows’ owner, Takashi Negishi, on Tuesday accepted the resignations of manager Junji Ogawa (62) and head coach Shinya Miyamoto (48) effective at the conclusion of the season. The club appears to be pushing toward promoting farm manager Shingo Takatsu (50). Takatsu, whose 598 saves are second most in NPB history, also saved 27 in two major league seasons with the Chicago White Sox and New York Mets.

Tigers void Solarte’s contract

The Central League’s Hanshin Tigers voided Yangervis Solarte’s contract on Monday, when he returned to the United States. On Friday, the utility man had declined to rejoin the first team, and did not report to the farm team the following day.

It has been a peculiar winding down to a season in which the team still has a chance to reach the postseason. Last month, the club requested that veteran infielder Takashi Toritani retire. Since then the team’s Senior Executive Advisor Masayuki Kakefu has also announced his departure.

Baseball, Commentary, Free, News

NPB games, news of Sept. 9, 2019

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There were two makeup games on Monday in the Pacific League, the league that is serious about finishing its schedule in a timely fashion.

Pacific League

Marines 11, Hawks 5

At Yafuoku Dome, Lotte completed its season series against SoftBank with its 17th win of the year against the Hawks behind six innings from an effectively wild Kota Futaki (7-9).

The right-hander had good movement on his slider and splitter and worked quickly. Futaki, whose average four-seamer velocity this season ranks 33rd out of 39 NPB pitchers with 90 or more innings, only touched 140 kph. He threw first-pitch strikes to 14 of the first 19 batters he faced and 11 of those were taken.

When he did miss, and he missed a fair amount, the Hawks miss-hit the ball or lined out. Futaki allowed four hits without a walk, while striking out five. Against a bullpen day led off by Ryoma Matsuda (2-2), the Marines led 5-0 after the top of the third inning.

Hiromi Oka doubled in the first and scored on a sacrifice fly, and hit a two-run homer to open the scoring in the third.

Marines manager Tadahito Iguchi was ejected in the fourth inning after going out to ask if the Hawks’ Yurisbel Gracial had swung on a pitch that home plate umpire Tetsuya Shimata ruled had hit the Cuban.

Although NPB managers have long had maximum leeway in discussing balls, strikes, balks and whatnot, Shimata gave Iguchi no time at all.

“You’re not allowed to leave the bench to dispute a checked swing. I just applied the rules,” said Shimata, who explained to the crowd that Iguchi’s first ejection as a manager was for a “forbidden act.”

Game highlights are HERE.

Eagles 6, Buffaloes 4

At Rakuten Seimei Park, Hideto Asamura homered, tripled, singled, scored two runs and drove in three as Rakuten handed last-place Orix its eighth-straight loss.

Game highlights are HERE.

News

Tateyama, Hatakeyama join Jingu exodus

Over the weekend, news broke that Yakult Swallows veterans Shohei Tateyama and Kazuhiro Hatakeyama would make this their last season. The club announced both players’ decisions on Monday. The announcements come in the week the Swallows were eliminated from postseason contention. Since then, both manager Junji Ogawa and head coach Shinya Miyamoto said they will step down.

Tateyama a 38-year-old side-armer who led the Central League in wins in 2009, is also a veteran of three Tommy John surgeries. He pitched once this season, allowing three runs in three innings on June 12. In 278 career games, Tateyama has an 85-68 record with 10 saves and a 3.32 ERA — fairly impressive for a guy who spent his career in one of Japan’s best hitters’ parks.

Shohei Tatetyama’s July 11, 2015 highlights after one of his comebacks from surgery.

Hatakeyama, a 36-year-old first baseman led the CL in RBIs in 2015, when Yakult won its first pennant in 14 years, has not played this season due to fitness issues.

Hatakeyama’s sayonara grand slam in May 2013 against Lotte

There goes your Spiderman

Hiroshima Carp outfielder Masato Akamatsu, who has been unable to earn first-team playing time since coming back from cancer surgery, announced this past week he is retiring.

Akamatsu was the last active player from a group of solid outfielders who were marooned for several years on the Hanshin Tigers farm team. The group included Osamu Hamanaka, Lin Wei-chu and Go Kida.

After Kida was traded to Hiroshima in May 2007, Akamatsu said he was so envious because he knew there was no future for him with the Tigers.

Akamatsu, however, got his wish, however, six months later. When Takahiro Arai moved to the Tigers as a free agent in 2008, the Carp selected Akamatsu as part of their compensation package. The speedy outfielder had his 15 minutes of fame when the catch below went viral and it became known as the “Spiderman catch.”

Masato Akamtsu