Lions need Imai to step up with Kikuchi gone
Yusei Kikuchi, as Japanese fans can easily see on news reports every night and also on the internet and in newspapers, is doing just fine so far in his first MLB spring training with the Seattle Mariners. But while everyone watches Kikuchi move on from ...
DH talk brings back memories of reverse experiment
One thing the current conversation about a possible universal DH in MLB is showing is that a lot of people have great disdain for the concept of pitchers hitting. Like, a lot. So it's sort of amusing to recall the time NPB flipped the DH rule ...
Giants go on offseason flurry in effort to revive glory days
The Yomiuri Giants are often referred to as Japan's answer to the New York Yankees — the "Evil Empire" version of the Bronx Bombers anyway — and the offseason they've had makes it easy to see why. After finishing a fourth straight season without winning ...
Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame showing little respect for former NPB great Tuffy Rhodes
It's one thing for another year to pass with Tuffy Rhodes not yet even within shouting distance of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. But there has to be something in the voters' water for the American slugger to be left in the dust ...
Yusei Kikuchi's move shows revised posting system not great for NPB clubs
Why would an NPB team post its best players now? If the going rate for someone like Yusei Kikuchi, one of the best pitchers in Japan, is only just over $10 million, how long before NPB clubs see the value in just keeping their top ...
Stars switching numbers, changing names becoming staple of NPB offseasons
Offseasons in NPB are about change, just not exactly the type that immediately springs to mind. Japanese baseball has seen some big-name players change teams this winter. Two-time reigning Central League MVP Yoshihiro Maru is suiting up for the Yomiuri Giants next season and All-Star ...
Giants experience downside of NPB free agency as Tetsuya Utsumi departs
The images late last week of lefty pitcher Tetsuya Utsumi posing for photos wearing a white Seibu Lions uniform over his dress shirt — he wore a blue tie for effect — might've been a bit jarring for Yomiuri Giants fans. Other fanbases, like those ...
Hawks' excellence in execution results in trip to Japan Series
The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks scripted a masterpiece in the final stage of the Pacific League Climax Series. The Seibu Lions entered the series having dethroned the Hawks as Pacific League champions and with an offense that had run roughshod to the tune 792 runs during ...
Lions counting on quality starting pitching to set the tone in playoffs
The pitching staff of the Seibu Lions has put up some scary numbers in 2018. Not scary-good numbers either. The recently crowned Pacific League champions entered Wednesday's games with a 4.23 team ERA that ranked 10th in NPB. They're eighth in Japan in fielding independent ...
Swallows' Buchanan remains positive during playoff push
David Buchanan's little slice of heaven is in the outfield. He might be a pitcher by trade, but there are few things the 29-year old enjoys more than running, jumping and sliding around the outfield shagging fly balls during batting practice before games. "You ask ...
Swallows in good position to solidify spot in standings
The Tokyo Yakult Swallows may have lost against the Hiroshima Carp on Sunday, but all in all it was still a good week to be a Swallows fan. The team went 4-1-1 last week, and put a few more games between themselves and the Yomiuri ...
Carp pitcher Daichi Osera in good position in race for Sawamura Award
The Central League-leading Hiroshima Carp only have one more game remaining against the last-place Chunichi Dragons, inexplicably the only CL team with a winning record against Hiroshima, this season. Which means the two-time defending champions can get back to the task of finishing off their ...
