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 ...
Hawks' Kodai Senga tosses no-hitter, fans 12 in triumph over Marines
Kodai Senga threw the 91st regular season no-hitter in NPB history on Friday in the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks' 2-0 victory over the Chiba Lotte Marines. The 26-year-old right-hander struck out 12, while walking three and hitting another to win a pitchers' duel against Lotte's Mike ...
Tomoya Mori belted a tiebreaking two-run homer in the seventh inning to lead the second-place Seibu Lions to a 4-2 win over the Pacific League-leading Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks on Friday. Mori's second homer in two days propelled the Lions to within one game of the ...
Kodai Senga battled through seven innings for the win Saturday as the Pacific League-leading Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks came from behind for an 8-4 victory over the error-prone Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. The Hawks ace improved to 11-4 after striking out 10, while allowing four runs ...
