Tag Archives: Orix Buffaloes

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Meneses on way out at Orix

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Orix Buffaloes said Thursday that it in the process of voiding its contract with first baseman Joey Meneses after he failed doping tests for the anabolic steroid  Stanozolol and now faces a one-year suspension. The 27-year-old Meneses said he was shocked by the results having never tested positive before but that he had to accept the results.

Sports Nippon reported on June 16 that Meneses was expected to be released by the Buffaloes.

Meneses made an impressive start to his time in Japan with a big series at Kyocera Dome, his future home park, while playing for Mexico against Japan’s national team. But in April he said he was disappointed that he had not been able to adjust to Japanese pitching more quickly, and was in and out of the lineup.

After leading the International League in home runs and RBIs last season, the 27-year-old was reportedly targeted by several NPB clubs before settling on the Pacific League’s Buffaloes.

He has played in 29 games this season, batting .206 with four home runs, but has been on the farm team since injuring his right hand in a game against the SoftBank Hawks.

The Buffaloes are expected to make an announcement in the coming days.

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He ain’t heavy, he’s my Buffalo

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Watch any Japanese game and it’s hard to miss the slap hitters. Just how many there are is hard to get a grasp of because they come in various shades, based on how often they try to pull or drive the ball.

They all have some speed, while most of them are left-handed hitters and nearly all are either center fielders or middle infielders. In April, while waiting to talk to So Taguchi, who now coaches Buffaloes hitters, I was watching them take BP at MetLife Dome and was struck by how many Buffaloes are little guys with little swings.

With the Buffaloes and Hanshin Tigers playing Japan’s only night game on Saturday, I got another look at Orix as the Buffaloes tried to come back from a 2-1 deficit. And I thought, are the Buffaloes the lightest team in NPB? If not, who is?

Below is a table with the average weight per plate appearance by every NPB lineup through June 14.

The weights

TeamWeight per PA in Kgs
Buffaloes82.5
Hawks82.8
Tigers83.6
Swallows83.7
Eagles84.6
Dragons85.8
BayStars86.3
Fighters86.48
Carp86.53
Lions86.6
Marines87.6
Giants87.9

The surprise, is the SoftBank Hawks weighing in as the second lightest, but part of that might be the team listing both Alfredo Despaigne and Yurisbel Gracial at 95 kilograms which seems laughable. But also, with their rash of injuries, the Hawks have been without Gracial and 91-kg center fielder Yuki Yanagita, and have filled gaps in their lineup with 67-kg Ukyo Shuto, 68-kg Tomoki Takata and 76-kg Taisei Makihara.