The Fukuoka Softbank Hawks were scheduled to play their 48th game of the season on Monday night at Nagoya Dome, placing the Kyushu club beyond the quarter-pole of the season but with a lot of games still between them and the halfway mark.
Softbank (28-18-1) entered Monday's interleague tilt against the Chunichi Dragons in second place in the Pacific League and 10 games above .500, two more than they were at any point last season.
A few things are different when compared to the 2013 season, which has to be pretty much the way Softbank wants it. Last season's team was an inexplicable mess, chocked to the brim with talent on offense, but saddled with a rotation so inefficient it dragged the team down to a fourth-place finish in the PL.