One wrong NPB could right this year, with the stroke of a pen, is to give credit to closers who preserve ninth-inning ties.
The Marines’ Naoya Masuda did this on Tuesday, when he worked a 1-2-3 ninth to close out Lotte’s 3-3 tie with the Nippon Ham Fighters.
Live chat with former NPB star Leon Lee
Monday, Aug. 30, 11 am Japan; Sunday, Aug. 29, 7 pm Pacific Daylight Time.
Lee, who played 1,255 games over 10 years in Japan from 1978 to 1987 for the Lotte Orions, the Taiyo Whales, and Yakult Swallows. In addition to his accomplishments, Lee is a keen observer with a knack for explaining complicated things simply.
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Had Masuda done this in the eighth inning, he would have earned a hold. Had he done it with a lead of from one to three runs, he would have earned a save. But with this year’s pandemic rules limiting games to nine innings and ties going through the roofs, the closers who are preventing losses, are being ignored.
In the majors, this might not be a big deal, because MLB can change its rules as long as the players union goes along with it. But in Japan, it’s far more complicated. NPB cannot unitarily do things differently without its amateur partners on Japan’s rules committee at least signing off on it.
The different bodies don’t need to use the exact same rules — amateur baseball clarified catcher obstruction far earlier than NPB did — but the amateurs at least have to be heard.
So let’s go back and give the closers credit for their work retroactively.
With that in mind, here are the pitchers who most deserve extra credit:
| Team | Name | COVID holds | Hidden blown saves |
|---|---|---|---|
| BS | Kazuki Mishima | 11 | 0 |
| M | Naoya Masuda | 10 | 1 |
| C | Ryoji Kuribayashi | 8 | 0 |
| E | Yuki Matsui | 7 | 0 |
| D | Raidel Martinez | 6 | 1 |
| L | Kaima Taira | 5 | 0 |
| F | Toshihiro Sugiura | 5 | 3 |
| G | Thyago Vieira | 4 | 0 |
| S | Taichi Ishiyama | 4 | 1 |
| H | Sho Iwasaki | 4 | 1 |
| G | Kota Nakagawa | 3 | 0 |
| D | Daisuke Sobue | 3 | 0 |
| Bu | Yoshihisa Hirano | 3 | 0 |
| H | Livan Moinelo | 3 | 1 |
| L | Reed Garrett | 3 | 1 |
| S | Scott McGough | 3 | 1 |
