It’s Monday and the big deal today was the draft, also today I’ve got projections for the remainder of the pennant race, roster moves and starting pitchers for Tuesday’s games, so let’s get to it.
The news in what was considered a kind of weak draft year was that four teams bid on university lefty Chihiro Sumida before the Seibu Lions snagged his negotiating rights, while the SoftBank Hawks, who expanded their third-team development squad picked a record 14 players in the developmental draft.
The projections have the Carp finishing 7-1/2 games out of third–the same distance the Giants finish behind Hanshin, with Yakult, after going 5-1 against the Tigers and Giants projected to win by 4-1/2 games.
In the PL, the Hawks look they will finish 4-1/2 out of the playoffs, also the same distance the Eagles are expected to finish behind the second-place Marines.
CL projected finishes
| p W | p L | T | p Win Pct | p GB | |
| S | 77 | 50 | 16 | .6063 | |
| T | 77 | 59 | 7 | .5662 | 4.5 |
| G | 64 | 61 | 18 | .5120 | 12.0 |
| C | 60 | 72 | 11 | .4545 | 19.5 |
| D | 55 | 72 | 16 | .4331 | 22.0 |
| BS | 55 | 73 | 15 | .4297 | 22.5 |
PL projected finishes
| p W | p L | T | p Win Pct | p GB | |
| Bu | 72 | 55 | 16 | .5669 | |
| M | 68 | 57 | 18 | .5440 | 3.0 |
| E | 67 | 61 | 15 | .5234 | 5.5 |
| H | 60 | 63 | 20 | .4878 | 10.0 |
| L | 55 | 70 | 18 | .4400 | 16.0 |
| F | 54 | 71 | 18 | .4320 | 17.0 |
Tuesday’s starting pitchers
We have one A; big showdown on Tuesday, when the impressive Kazuya Ojima will take the mound for Lotte with a chance to put the brakes on the Buffaloes.
The Tigers have no concern about missing the playoffs but still have a shot at winning the pennant, while Yomiuri, which is almost but not completely safe, will task C.C. Mercedes with snapping the team’s six-game skid, while Hanshin’s Koyo Aoyagi has a shot at his 12th win, as does Allen Kuri of the Carp.
Fighters vs Hawks: Sapporo Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Ryusei Kawano (3-5, 2.85) vs Nao Higashihama (3-3, 4.09)
Buffaloes vs Marines: Kyocera Dome (Osaka) 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Daiki Tajima (7-8, 3.66) vs Kazuya Ojima (10-3, 3.85)
Giants vs Tigers: Tokyo Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT
C.C. Mercedes (7-4, 3.58) vs Koyo Aoyagi (11-5, 2.69)
Dragons vs Swallows: Vantelin Dome (Nagoya) 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Yuya Yanagi (10-5, 2.17) vs Yasuhiro Ogawa (9-5, 4.03)
Carp vs BayStars: Mazda Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Allen Kuri (11-7, 4.22) vs Katsuki Azuma (0-1, 7.71)
Active roster moves 10/11/2021
Deactivated players can be re-activated from 10/21
Central League
Dectivated
| Giants | IF | 52 | Takumi Kitamura |
| Tigers | IF | 4 | Takahiro Kumagai |
| Dragons | OF | 9 | Kosuke Fukudome |
