Nippon Professional Baseball is back! The one-month hiatus felt a little too long for my liking, and surely we are all ready for the pennant races to heat up as the summer chugs along. Japan has, in fact, had unusually rainy weather over the past week (and more is expected in the week to come), which resulted in multiple rainouts. In fact, the annual national high school summer tournament that takes place at Koshien Stadium had three straight days without games due to the inclement weather. Anyhow, before we recap the weekend of NPB action, here is some big news from the past two weeks. |
|
The Chunichi Dragons announced on August 6 that 27-year-old pitcher Yusuke Kinoshita died suddenly on August 3. At the request of his wife and family, the cause of his death has not been made public. Kinoshita was a hard-working, long-suffering, beloved teammate who will be missed by all in the baseball world. To show their condolences, every NPB player, coach, manager and umpire wore a black ribbon on his left shoulder during games played on August 16.
NPB single-season home run record holder Wladimir “Coco” Balentien appeared to announce his retirement on Twitter on August 6. The SoftBank Hawks’ outfielder/DH has not received much playing time the past two seasons due to injuries and a major decline in his numbers. The longtime member of the Yakult Swallows slugged 60 home runs in 2013, breaking the 49-year-old record of 55 set by Sadaharu Oh in 1964. Balentien recently hit his 300th career home run, which was also his 1000th career NPB hit. His tweet earned him a fair bit of backlash from fans, as he expressed a longing to play at Jingu Stadium (home of the Swallows) again, despite still being under contract with the Hawks until season’s end.
|
|
On August 11, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters first baseman Sho Nakata was found guilty of violence against a teammate before the Fighters’ exhibition game on August 4, and was suspended indefinitely by the team. The 32-year-old has 261 career home runs and came off a career-high 31 home runs and a league-high 108 RBIs in 2020, but struggled at the start of this season before being deactivated with lower back pains in June. He and his wife also just had their fourth child on July 30.
Finally, some lighter news. The NPB trade is still two weeks away, but the Fighters sent infielder Shota Hiranuma (23) and pitcher Katsuhiko Kumon (29) to the Saitama Seibu Lions in exchange for infielder Ryusei Satoh (24) and outfielder Fumikazu Kimura (32) on August 12. None of these players was getting significant playing time on their old teams, so this gives them all a fresh start with a team that sees value in acquiring them. It remains to be seen if this will propel the fifth-place Lions back into the playoff picture, but it is likely that the Fighters will remain in the cellar the rest of the way.
|
|
Friday: Sluggers Yutaro Sugimoto and Masataka Yoshida hit two-run home runs, and teen sensation Hiroya Miyagi picked up his 10th win of the season to keep the Orix Buffaloes’ miracle season going. They beat the Chiba Lotte Marines 6-3 and currently lead the Pacific by 1.5 games over the Rakuten Eagles. The Eagles kept pace by one-hitting the Lions and winning handily 5-0 in Saitama.
Saturday: Needing a win to keep their spot atop the Central League standings, the Hanshin Tigers got a pair of home runs each from Jerry Sands and Yusuke Ohyama, trouncing the Hiroshima Carp 9-3 at Kyocera Dome Osaka. The second-place Yomiuri Giants won their entire weekend series against the Chunichi Dragons, and are just a game behind the Tigers. Giants’ reliever Thyago Vieira set a new NPB record in their 4-2 victory, hitting 166 km/h (103 mph) on the radar gun. The previous record of 165 was set by Shohei Ohtani (Fighters) in 2016 and matched earlier this season by Robert Corniel of the Carp. Vieira has also gone 25 straight mounds without giving up a run.
Sunday: Former major-league prospect Carter Stewart Jr made the most of his first career start for the Hawks. He threw five innings of no-hit ball, striking out nine and recording 15 straight outs after hitting the first batter of the game with a pitch. The rest of the Hawks’ relievers finished off the job, no-hitting the Fighters the rest of the way. It was the first-ever no-hitter in NPB history that used more than three pitchers. Unfortunately, the bats were unable to produce, either, and the game ended in a scoreless draw. There are no extra innings in NPB this season due to restrictions to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. For the record, the Hawks are tied for third with the Marines, just 3.5 games back of the Buffaloes.
|
|
Good weekend: Giants (3-0), Hawks (2-0-1)
Bad weekend: Dragons (0-3), Fighters (0-2-1)
|
|
Trevor Raichura
JapanBall - Japan Office (Michael Westbay)
13-27 Otsutomo-cho
Yokohama 236-0024
Phone: +81-90-9974-8156
|
|
While our South Korea and Japan tours haven't been officially canceled, it is unlikely that we will be able to travel to those countries in 2021. However, we are full steam ahead with our Dominican Republic tour in late October, with some spots remaining! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
