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 ...
Hawks ace Kodai Senga can't persuade club to post him, gets raise instead
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks ace Kodai Senga said Saturday his desire to move to the majors is unchanged, but he's no closer to going overseas via the posting system following a reported ¥100 million ($967,000) raise from the Pacific League club. The 27-year-old led the PL ...
Hawks cut Giants down to size in Game 1 of Japan Series
Dating back to 2018 against the Hiroshima Carp, the Hawks have now won nine straight Japan Series games as they attempt to win their fourth straight title.
Ryosuke Kikuchi joins list of players to hit wall in posting system
Musing about whether or not certain players will get posted is fairly commonplace in discussions about the top NPB players these days. So much so it's easy to forget being posted is only the first hurdle players under contract have to clear on the way ...
Hawks' Nobuhiro Matsuda receives seventh straight Golden Glove
It's awards season in Japanese baseball and just like at the end of the actual season, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks are front and center. Four players from the recently crowned three-time defending Japan Series champions, the most of any team, were recognized on Thursday when ...
Ace Kodai Senga stellar again for Hawks in Japan Series opener
Every team had a shot at Kodai Senga. Even the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, who ultimately ended up with him, passed on the right-hander a few times during the 2010 draft before taking him as a fourth-choice developmental player. Oh how he has developed. Fast-forward almost a decade ...
Kodai Senga, Yurisbel Gracial lead Hawks past Giants in Japan Series opener
Kodai Senga gave the Yomiuri Giants chances early on as he worked his way into Game 1 of this year's Japan Series. Once the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks ace finally got going, however, the Giants' hopes faded with each retired batter. Senga outdueled Shun Yamaguchi in a ...
Blockbuster matchup: Hawks' Kodai Senga vs. Giants' Shun Yamaguchi in Japan Series opener
Shortly before the end of the Japan Series managers' meeting the skippers of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and Yomiuri Giants were asked to name their starters for Game 1. Hawks manager Kimiyasu Kudo spoke first, grabbing a mic and stating simply with no hesitation, "For ...
Hawks close in on Japan Series berth with victory over Lions
Kodai Senga threw eight innings and Taisei Makihara had a hand in five runs as the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks beat the Seibu Lions 7-0 in Game 3 of the Pacific League Climax Series Final Stage on Friday. The win in the six-game stage leaves the ...
U.S. retailer seeks to shake up Japan's merchandise market
Kodai Senga's 12-strikeout no-hitter on the night of Sept. 6 was more than just a historic moment — it was the first of his career and the first since the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks franchise relocated to Kyushu from Osaka in 1988 — for the ...
Yurisbel Gracial delivered a solo home run, while Kodai Senga threw eight innings of one-run ball, as the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks held on for a 3-2 win over the Seibu Lions on Thursday. The result put the reigning Japan Series champions back on top of ...
Race for Sawamura Award going down to wire
With the NPB season nearly over — no team has more than 16 games left — it's almost time for the group of retired pitchers who vote on the Sawamura Award to sit down and have a chat. When they finish lamenting that none of ...
