It’s a Monday, so there were no major league games in Japan, but things were happening beyond the normal rants about what baseball should and shouldn’t be.
The Orix Buffaloes have lost seven straight games, but got more bad news, while NPB on Monday attempted to put an end to talk about umpires’ behavior, and Tuesday’s starting pitchers were announced.
We also had an explanation for Akira Neo ascending into a world that much of Japanese baseball pretends doesn’t exist.
Shall we get started?
The Orix Buffa-woes
The Buffaloes on Monday announced that they will be without two-time defending batting champion Masataka Yoshida, who has tested positive for COVID-19, along with infielders Seiichiro Oshita and Ryoichi Adachi.
Adachi ran a fever on Sunday, and Yoshida and Oshita tested positive following the mandatory screening although both were asymptomatic.
Umps told to mind their Ps and Qs
The other umpiring shoe dropped Monday. After two weeks of dealing with the fallout from umpire Kazuyuki Shirai giving Roki Sasaki a lecture on his behavior on April 24, Nippon Professional Baseball said the panels of its top team executives were informed that umpires have had the riot act read to them.
This follows the unprecedented uproar over Shirai’s behavior regarding the 20-year-old fire-baller. Shirai has had a number of run-ins with players in the past and former Marines manager Tsutomu Ito has basically referred to Shirai as a whack job, whom his players needed to be warned about.
According to NPB secretary general Atsushi Ihara, all the umps were required to attend a meeting on May 2 and ordered to re-read NPB’s Official Rules of Umpire Conduct to ensure that games operate in an orderly and speedy fashion.
This is the second time NPB has tried to put this thing to rest. On April 25, Ihara took the unprecedented step of saying that Shirai had received official guidance following the game from NPB’s umpire in chief on the other ways he could have dealt with his anger constructively.
“The umpires have all carefully re-read it (the rules of conduct), and we have confirmed their understanding so we can sure orderly operation,” Daily Sports reported.
Tuesday’s starting pitchers
After two weeks of Rakuten beating one team’s brains in after another but rarely scoring for Masahiro Tanaka.
In their 39 innings when Tanaka is in the game and runs affect whether or not he gets a decision this season, the Eagles have scored 11 runs or 2.54 per nine innings. In their other 219-1/3 innings or so, they’ve scored 4.80 per nine.
On Tuesday, the Marines will send Kazuya Ojima to the mound to see if the lefty can keep the Eagles’ left-handed-heavy lineup from giving Tanaka something to shout about in Sendai.
Fighters vs Buffaloes: Sapporo Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Takayuki Kato (2-2, 2.25) vs Taisuke Yamaoka (2-1, 0.83)
Eagles vs Marines: Miyagi Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Masahiro Tanaka (3-1, 1.46) vs Kazuya Ojima (0-3, 2.81)
Hawks vs Lions: Sun Marine Miyazaki Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Shuta Ishikawa (2-0, 0.71) vs Chihiro Sumida (1-3, 2.65)
Swallows vs Dragons: Jingu Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Yasuhiro Ogawa (1-2, 3.86) vs Shinnosuke Ogasawara (1-1, 4.26)
BayStars vs Giants: Hard Off Eco Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Fernando Romero (2-3, 5.60) vs Iori Yamasaki (1-0, 2.55)
Tigers vs Carp: Koshien Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Yuki Nishi (2-2, 1.98) vs Hiroki Tokoda (3-1, 2.84)
Active roster moves 5/9/2022
Deactivated players can be re-activated from 5/19
Central League
Dectivated
| Tigers | OF | 97 | Dan Onodera |
| Giants | IF | 66 | Kazuya Katsuki |
| Dragons | C | 35 | Takuya Kinoshita |
| BayStars | OF | 0 | Taishi Ota |
Pacific League
Dectivated
| Buffaloes | P | 21 | Daichi Takeyasu |
| Buffaloes | IF | 40 | Seiichiro Oshita |
| Buffaloes | OF | 7 | Masataka Yoshida |
| Marines | P | 48 | Toshiya Nakamura |
| Eagles | P | 62 | Naoto Nishiguchi |
| Lions | P | 34 | Yasuo Sano |
