Tag Archives: SoftBank Hawks

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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.

Baseball, News

Stewart hopeful others will follow

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Carter Stewart not only has high expectations for his next six years in Japan, but he hopes he is the first of many American baseball players to turn pro on this side of the Pacific. On Monday, just hours before Major League Baseball’s June draft that he skipped out in order to sign with the SoftBank Hawks, Stewart met the press in Fukuoka.

“There are a lot of reasons why I wanted to come over here, but a big thing is the atmosphere, the quality of baseball, the facilities,” said at a press conference. “Those are some of the key points, when I got here that showed me they were top notch, that they were high-class grade baseball. That’s the real reason I chose to play over here.”

The opportunity was made possible by the Atlanta Braves lowering their signing bonus offer to him last year and by the huge gap between what MLB teams are willing to pay amateurs up front and what Japanese teams can gain from those players’ services. Japan also offers the possibility that he could enter MLB as a free agent after the 2024 season, at least two years earlier than he could hope to reach that status in the majors.

Instead of watching minor league teammates struggle to exist and survive on sub-poverty wages, Stewart will be among people who are housed and paid relatively well in a structured, clean and safe environment.

“The way with the baseball is now in the States, more amateurs at least should give this a try… Anybody who plays baseball, they want a chance to play high-quality baseball,” he said.

“In the future, I would hope some more amateur players from the U.S. would want to come over here, just because. From what I’ve seen, I only have great things to say. I don’t know if more will follow, but I hope that someday more guys from the States will come.”

Meanwhile, according to Kyodo News, Hawks GM Sugihiko Mikasa denied reports from the United States that Stewart would be able to make use of the posting system to enter MLB prior to the conclusion of his six-year-contract.

Posting Stewart would pose a problem for the Hawks, who have denied the request of their best pitcher, Kodai Senga, to make use of the posting system.