Baseball / Japanese Baseball | The week in NPB Apr 19, 2021

Carter Stewart Jr. takes important first step in NPB

Stewart’s day wasn’t groundbreaking, but his career path might be.

Baseball / Japanese Baseball Apr 18, 2021

Masahiro Tanaka has plenty to contemplate after rough NPB return

The former Yankees ace, who rejoined Rakuten over the winter after seven seasons in the majors, was tagged for two home runs in Saturday's loss to the Fighters.

Baseball / Japanese Baseball Apr 17, 2021

Fighters find enough power to spoil Masahiro Tanaka's return to Japan

Sho Nakata hit a two-run homer in the first inning, Kazunari Ishii went deep in the second and the Fighters spoiled Tanaka's season debut.

Olympics / Summer Olympics Apr 15, 2021

Samurai Japan manager Atsunori Inaba feels excitement building as Tokyo Olympics draw near

With the countdown to the Summer Games now below 100 days, the spotlight on one of the world’s premier baseball powers will only grow brighter by the day.

Baseball / Japanese Baseball Apr 14, 2021

Seishu Hatake nearly tosses shutout to lead Giants past Dragons

Seishu Hatake lamented the fact he couldn't pitch until the end of the Yomiuri Giants' game against the Chunichi Dragons. While he didn't the shutout he was looking for, a win isn't a bad consolation prize. Hatake held the Dragons scoreless into the ninth and got ...

Baseball / Japanese Baseball | The week in NPB Apr 12, 2021

Tigers hit ground running as Teruaki Sato continues to excite

Let’s all stand back for a minute and marvel at Teruaki Sato. The Hanshin Tigers rookie is just 15 games into his career and already among the players generating the most buzz in NPB. Sato produced one of the early highlights of the season on Friday ...

Baseball / Japanese Baseball Apr 10, 2021

Leonys Martin, Manabu Mima help Marines tame Lions

Martin homered in his first two at-bats and the Marines avoided a three-game losing streak.

Baseball / Japanese Baseball | Sac Bunts Apr 10, 2021

NPB strikes out with move to eliminate extra innings

Just before the Yomiuri Giants and Yokohama BayStars went into the bottom of the ninth tied 7-7 on March 26, the first night of the season, there was an announcement over the PA system at Tokyo Dome. It was a reminder there would not be ...

Baseball / Japanese Baseball | The week in NPB Apr 5, 2021

BayStars' Daisuke Miura learns wins do not come easily in NPB

On Sunday, he finally won his first game as the team’s manager after coming up short eight times.

Baseball / Japanese Baseball Mar 31, 2021

Yasuaki Yamasaki's struggles in focus again for winless BayStars

The fan-favorite reliever, who gave up a two-run lead in Tuesday's loss to the Swallows, is aiming for a comeback season after a dismal 2020 campaign.