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  • The Incredible Roki Sasaki

    The Incredible Roki Sasaki

    On 10 April 2022 at Zozo Marine Stadium, 20 year old Lotte fireballer Roki Sasaki served up the best pitching performance in Japanese baseball history, if not the history of professional baseball, with the first perfect game in NPB in 28 years. I’ve fortunately lived a long enough life that I could be in attendance for this amazing game, and I am quite sure I will never witness another game pitched this well.

    Sasaki is just at the very beginning of his career to boot. Sometime in the second inning I turned to my friend sitting next to me and asked, you think Roki is going to have a perfect game some day? Seems likely, right? “Sure, seems likely”. Nobody really thought it would be that day. After all, Sunday’s game was just the 14th regular season start in his career. His first home win just came the previous week vs Seibu (in an 8 inning, 1 run, 13 K performance) and he had yet to have a career complete game. Without researching it more, I can’t imagine there are too many players whose first career CG is also a no hitter, let alone a perfect game.

    It’s hard not to drift into hyperbole when talking about Sasaki’s perfecto. Perfect games are somewhat more common in MLB than NPB but even so, it’s been 10 years since the last there. Roki’s the youngest perfect game pitcher in any major professional league in the world at 20 years and 5 months. It’s only the 4th perfect game in NPB in the last 50 years and the 16th in history. It’s difficult to compare stats across leagues, but his 106 game score is the highest for a 9 inning game anywhere (beating out Kerry Wood’s 20 K game and Max Scherzer’s near perfecto)

    From the Chiba Lotte official site

    In case you think this is “only” a perfect game, young Roki also obliterated a 64 year old record for consecutive strikeouts with 13 batters in a row sent down. The previous record was set in 1957 by Hankyu’s Takao Kajimoto and again in 1958 by Toei’s Masayuki Dobashi. The last player in NPB to throw even 8 consecutive strikeouts was Seibu’s Fumiya Nishiguchi over 25 years ago – and he bested that very old record by a whopping 13 punchouts. Even in MLB the record is “only” 10 consecutive strikeouts.

    Roki racked up these 13 consecutive Ks on just 55 pitches (43 strikes, 12 balls). The first 8 were all swinging strikeouts starting with arguably the best all-around hitter in Japan, Masataka Yoshida (who would strike out 3x on the day, something he hasn’t done in 4 years) and the final was on three pitches to left fielder Ryo Nishimura. Kotaro Kurebayashi ended the K streak with a somewhat well hit ball to center to start the 6th – basically the only decent contact Roki would give up on the day.

    One Stunning Record

    Lots of no hitters and perfect games hinge on big plays in the field or lucky bounces – this is not one of those games. I was asked by a Twitter friend, when did we start thinking about a perfect game? Honestly, around the 4th inning. Shunta Gotoh got to a 3-0 count to lead off the 7th, but two pitches later flied out very weakly to shallow right.

    By the start of the 9th inning, Roki had racked up 18 Ks in total on 95 pitches, only needing to finish up the bottom of the order to wrap up the game. For out 1, Keita Nakagawa grounded an 0-2 pitch to Adeiny Hechavarria at third for an easy out. Out 2, backup infielder Tatsuya Yamaashi grounded the first pitch to Yudai Fujioka at SS, who delivered a safe though a teeny bit offline throw to Toshiya Satoh at first. For the 27th and final out…. pinch hitter Yutaro Sugimoto. Raoh was last year’s home run king for the PL champs and feasted particularly mightily on Lotte pitching, OPS’ing 1.400+ with 13 HRs. Young Sasaki would need to face the Final Boss to make history. But this boss was no match for Roki, as Sugimoto went down swinging on 3 straight forkballs for the 19th K of the game. Those 19 Ks also tied a long standing NPB record, and bests Lotte Hall of Famer Choji Murata’s previous team record of 16.

    A Record Tying Strikeout Total

    News of Roki’s accomplishment spread quickly all over not just Japan but the global baseball loving public. News applis buzzed in with breaking news alerts – NHK, Yahoo, Line, but also ESPN. The news was broadcast on the signboards at JR Kaihin Makuhari station (local station for the team). A local Chiba newspaper went to press with a special edition. The game was top news on all the stations. Every sports newspaper splashed Roki’s feats all over the front pages.

    All Over the Front Pages

    Praise must also be given to Roki’s battery mate, 18 year old rookie Kou Matsukawa. Not only did Matsukawa call a steady game in just his 7th professional game out of high school, but he also provided 3 runs on a bases-loaded double that just went off the top of the center field fence. We all expect continued great things from this very young battery in the future.

    Of course it is extremely unlikely that Sasaki will ever approach quite this level of performance in a single game again (never say never, though), but his cool and composed demeanor coupled with his almost subdued reaction to the game makes me think mentally at least he’s ready to serve up his very best in his next start, and for many years to come.

    You can watch all 27 outs of this amazing game below thanks to the Chiba Lotte official YouTube channel.

  • Season Preview 2020 – Opening Day Pitching Staff

    Season Preview 2020 – Opening Day Pitching Staff

    The practice games are over and the regular season is getting started this Friday, June 19. Let’s take a look at how Our Marines will be facing this abbreviated, fan-less, 120 game 2020 season, starting with the pitchers.

    Opening Day Starting Rotation

    1. Ayumu Ishikawa – 8-5, 3.64 ERA, 1.32 WHIP in 2019 (32, 7th year)
    2. Atsushi Taneichi – – 8-2, 3.24 ERA, 1.41 WHIP (21, 4th year)
    3. Manabu Mima – 8-5, 4.01 ERA, 1.18 WHIP (33, 10th year – 1st on Lotte)
    4. Kota Futaki – 7-10, 4.41 ERA, 1.22 WHIP (24, 7th year)
    5. Kazuya Ojima – 3-5, 4.31 ERA, 1.38 WHIP (23, 2nd year)
    6. Daiki Iwashita – 5-3, 3.64 ERA, 1.32 WHIP (23, 6th year)

    Veteran Ayumu Ishikawa get the opening day nod for the second year in a row. Watchers of the first half of the season might find this surprising as he struggled mightily for months, getting hit hard even as his velocity was at a career high. He returned to form in the last 2 months of the season, and in the offseason announced his desire to pursue a position in MLB at season’s end. He will be interesting to watch in 2020.

    Third year fireballer Atsushi Taneichi is a clear future candidate for Lotte Staff Ace as in his second season – first as a full time starter – he proved both durable and dangerous, striking out a Senga-like 10.41 batters per 9. He tends to put too many guys on base which limits how deep he goes into outings, but as he is still just 21 I would expect this to improve under the tutelage of pitching coach Yoshii.

    Former Rakuten veteran Manabu Mima was the biggest acquisition of a very busy free agent season, bringing a reliable arm to the middle of the rotation. Last season Mima neared career bests in WHIP and K/9 rate, and as he is still in his prime years I would expect him to provide similar with the move to Makuhari.

    The back of the rotation is manned by the young trio of Kota Futaki, Kazuya Ojima, and Daiki Iwashita. Futaki should be in that front of the rotation as in his prime starts he pitches as well as anyone in the league but among those great starts are some utterly baffling garbage appearances, even resulting in a ni-gun demotion last season. Ojima makes the rotation as the only lefty, but even beyond that he’s shown he is worthy of a shot in this strange preseason. Iwashita was originally not slated to start in the rotation despite a rather nice 2019 in his first season as a starter, but a sudden injury to Yuji Nishino this month (possibly out for the season) opened up a spot.

    Should another starter be needed, we could see spot appearances from young lefty Kakeru Narita, ni-gun all star Keita Watanabe, injured in 2019 Yuki Ariyoshi, or should-be-a-top-line-starter-but-isn’t Chihaya Sasaki. Rookie first round pick Roki Sasaki is the top prospect in Japan but I don’t expect to see him except for possibly a late season appearance.

    Opening Day Bullpen

    Middle/Long Relief

    • Taiki Tojo – 52.1 IP, 16H, 3.78 ERA, 1.39 WHIP in 2019 (28, 5th year)
    • Tsuyoshi Ishizaki – Only 3.1 IP in 2019 (29, 6th year)
    • Fumiya Ono – 18.2 IP, 6.27 ERA, 1.66 WHIP (323, 6th year – 1st on Lotte)
    • Yasuhiro Tanaka – 39.2 IP, 2 H, 2.72 ERA, 1.36 WHIP (32, 15th year)
    • Toshiya Nakamura (L) – 25.0 IP, 3 H, 4.32 ERA, 1.24 WHIP (23, 2nd year)
    • Kuan-Yu Chen (L) – 57.0 IP, 5 H, 3.63 ERA, 1.42 WHIP (29, 10th year)

    Setup/Closer

    • Frank Herrmann – 47.1 IP, 21 H, 3.04 ERA, 0.99 WHIP (36, 4th year – 1st on Lotte)
    • Jay Jackson – 30.1 IP, 4.45 ERA, 1.319 ERA in MLB (32, 4th year – 1st on Lotte)
    • Naoya Masuda – 58.2 IP, 12 H, 27 S, 2.15 ERA, 0.99 WHIP (30, 9th year)

    The strength of this bullpen is in the back end. Naoya Masuda has been one of the most reliable relievers in his 9 years with Lotte, and he just signed a free agent deal that will keep in Chiba through his prime years. I’m a huge fan of both foreign FA signings in Frank Herrmann (from Rakuten) and Jay Jackson (from MLB’s Brewers, previously Carp). We’ve seen a lot of Herrmann in his previous three years in Japan and quite frankly I’ve hated to see him, because it seems he can rarely be hit. Jackson had a nice season on a playoff MLB team last season and had 2 solid seasons in Hiroshima before that. They’ll be setting up Masuda’s 9th inning. One thing I like about both signings is they are guys who know what they are getting into in NPB (always a big adjustment) and are proven performers in a Japanese baseball context.

    Taiki Tojo moves from a setup spot to more of a middle reliever role. MANY fans were shocked that he was apparently protected in the FA compensation for the Mima signing instead of Tomohito Sakai (whom Rakuten chose) as Sakai is more-or-less “Tojo with more upside”. But he’s a decent arm. Yashuhiro Tanaka and Kuan-Yu Chen have frequently taken on 2 and 3 inning relief challenges (Chen as the lone long lefty) and I would expect them to be effective again this season. Toshiya Nakamura had a solid rookie campaign in 2019 and is given a chance to perform this year as well. Fumiya Ono and Tsuyoshi Ishizaki are much more of a roll of the dice. Ono arrived as compensation from Rakuten for the Daichi signing – he is still quite young but did not perform well at all last season. Ishizaki came over from Hanshin in the Takano trade last year, but barely pitched on the top team. From what I have seen this Spring, his pitches were quite sharp, so hopefully that continues.

    Other guys you may/will see – Takahiro Matsunaga is THE reliable lefty out of the pen but he’s not on the opening day roster, and I am not sure why. Tatsuya Uchi is still nursing injuries and is throwing in ni-gun, but I am unsure when he will return to ichi-gun action. Masaki Minami is healthy again and available, Yuki Karakawa will see some action as a long reliever or spot starter, and the above mentioned Narita and Ariyoshi are also possibilities for ichi-gun bullpen action.

  • Season Preview – We Got Predictions!

    Season Preview – We Got Predictions!

    A group of us Lotte fans we call the Kamome Kyodan meet daily on Line to discuss baseball and all sorts of other things, so I’ve polled everyone to get a set of season predictions. Get it right for glory, get it wrong and you’ll get nothing but shame. I’m fully expecting to pick up the most shame for my picks – while nobody knows anything, I know less than most (^^;) Let’s see what we got from myself, Jennie, Gerome, and Craig!

    Steve

    PL Predictions 1. Softbank 2. Lotte 3. Seibu 4. Orix  5. Rakuten 6. Ham

    I’m going to keep the Lotte portions of this light as I got a PAIR of whole-ass posts describing the team and the vast amount of changes this offseason. i do think the front office has assembled a nice group of veteran and younger talent, with the heavy lifting in the pitching staff done by the young’uns and the bulk of the contributions from the older players on the offense. I think the pitching will be quite solid, especially the pen, and several of the young starters (esp Taneichi and Iwashita) are future stars, but it’s a question of whether that rotation will hold up. I think it will.

    I have far more questions with the batting order. Aja, Shogo, and Laird have been erratic at the plate to say the least, Fujioka has been a black hole at the plate and not much better in the field (and it’s quite the indictment of Taiga that he cannot unseat him). Yasuda looks like a future star but doesn’t have a position (and do you really want to DH a 20 year old?)

    The outfield of Martin, T OGINO, and Shuhei Fukuda could be the best in the PL if a) Fukuda pans out like we expect and b) Ogino stays healthy all season. Kakunaka is the 4th outfielder but is clearly in decline, Kiyota is still on the roster for some reason, and Oka will probably see some spot starts to spell the other OFs. Behind the plate, Tamura is the starter but has genuine competition for that role from Kakinuma and rookie Satoh.

    The best days for this roster are in the future I think, and next year they should challenge for the PL crown. This year, I think they have enough to squeeze into second.

    As far as the rest of the league goes – only a fool picks against the Hawks to win it all, I think. Seibu‘s bats won’t be as good with the loss of Akiyama but they’ll still be the best in the league, though their pitching still has a long way to go. Nippon Ham is pretty clearly the last place team I think, as they have a severe lack of talent, thought that hasn’t stopped Kuriyama-kantoku from getting a lot out of them. Orix and Rakuten are pretty interchangeable, Rakuten because they have a mishmash of talent with no clear idea of where to play it, and Orix because while they have some top talent in Yamamoto and Yoshida, they have plenty of other gaps. And besides, they are Orix.

    Jennie

    PL Predictions 1. Softbank 2. Seibu 3. Rakuten 4. Lotte  5. Ham 6. Buffaloes

    Overall, I don’t have any strong feelings about the team this year, but I will say this…I think Rakuten got the better end of all the exchanges between them and Lotte. After watching Wakui several times in the practice games, I’m convinced he’s better than Mima, based on Mima’s showing in the practice games. I paid very close attention to Wakui in several games, especially when the Eagles played against the Baystars and he shut them down, even Austin, the new power hitter. I fully admit, I didn’t watch Mima as closely as Wakui, but when I did watch, both before the corona pause and after, I wasn’t impressed with what I saw. I hope it’s just him recovering from leg issues and he gets better from here. I have a gut feeling he won’t though. I think that the acquisitions Rakuten got will be a major part of why the Eagles finish ahead of the Marines this season. This is the only thing I’m sure of re: final standings.

    I think Toritani will turn out to be a good deal because his experience filling in at short is what we need. Of course, I’ll cheer for all the guys we put out in short, but I don’t think any of them are that great. This spot is a weakness defensively. I think Toritani’s better and will bring some confidence to the defense whenever he’s out there. Just as you can sense a confidence change in the defense depending on who’s standing on the mound, everyone seems more comfortable with him out there. Similarly, I’m bullish on Shuhei Fukuda, the pick-up from Softbank. He seems to fit in many different spots, and well. I think he’s just happy to get playing time, which he wasn’t getting as much of in Fukuoka of late. Plus, he hits well so I think he’ll offset some of the hitting loss with Daichi being gone. Hopefully he’ll be clutch just as Daichi was in many situations. Maybe the way forward is to rely on more player rotation at short and second between Fuj, Shogo, Toritani, Shuhei, and maybe even Taiga or Miki. If we’ve got a bunch of people, rotate them rather than get stuck in a rut. We’ve got absolutely nothing to lose, only something to gain. Same goes for Yasuda/Laird at third.

    As for the foreign hitters, I love them, but I don’t see either Laird or Martin bringing anything spectacular to the season. I see them both being consistently ordinary. I don’t think they’ll perform poorly, but I wouldn’t count on either of them being a particular powerhouse. Maybe Makuhari’s sushi isn’t inspiring enough? I know Makuhari’s sushi options and have difficulty believing they’re “saiko” compared to that of Hokkaido.

    As always, my love for Ogino tells me he’ll be great. I saw him get some good contact that went over the head of the infield as he did his usual liner to left field (always hits between the shortstop and 3rd). I’m hopeful that he keeps that up so the number of ground outs drops. He can run like the wind, but if it doesn’t get out of the infield, even the running god has no chance.

    Finally, catchers. The kyodan knows my love of catchers and it also knows that, for some reason, I just never fell as hard for Tamu-chan as I did for my Central League guy. Good news kyodan, I think Kakinuma may be worming his way in. He’s looked solid behind the plate in the practice games regardless of whose he’s catching and doesn’t seem afraid of moving things around the zone. I expect some solid mind games from him this season. 

    Uniforms/Towels I’ll wear at home to show support unconditionally: Ogino, Kawakara, Futaki (there are 2 trees!), Ariyoshi (via my All for Chiba towel…I agree with Gerome’s assessment)

    Uniforms/Towels I’ll dust off occasionally: Oka, Aja, Laird

    Uniforms/Towels I’ll be buying: Kakinuma, Ayumu, Wada, and if Gerome doesn’t buy it first, Chen

    Gerome

    PL Predictions 1. Softbank 2. Seibu 3. Marines 4. Rakuten  5. Ham 6. Buffaloes

    If this were a normal season

    The offseason began with the loss of franchise player Daichi Suzuki, who had put together arguably his best campaign in 2019.  To make up for it, we signed Fukuda Shuhei and Takashi Toritani.  These were not bad signings, but probably not good enough.

    We retained Leonys Martin, which was the right move.  We should get from him what we got last year.  His bat is competent enough to excuse his fielding.  

    I am afraid we may not see the same cost-performance from our other retained gaikokujin senshu, Brandon Laird.  Don’t get me wrong, I love me the Lairdo, but we didn’t sign him for his glove and his bat died after the all-star game last year.  He has the talent to be our MVP.  Maybe we should just suck it up and ship him some Hokkaido sushi.   

    Ogino will have his second season without major injury.  Aja will have a breakout season, and even if he doesn’t we will love him anyway -the big lug. 

    On the pitching front, Lotte’s got too much depth, not all of it good, and much of it poorly configured.  

    Let’s ride the sempatsu-coaster.  We still have Ishikawa who, while still having a credible claim to being our ace, is certainly on the back end of his career.

    Mima was a terrible free agent signing, not because he is a bad pitcher.  It is just that, unless he turns out to have a Shohei Otani “honban ni tsuyoi” thing going on, his practice game performance seems to indicate the presence of an injury.  

    Speaking of injury, as of the time of writing it seems Nishino’s elbow has conspired against his promotion to starter.  This is bad news that probably means we see Iwashita getting another shot.  I am a fan, but Iwashita is not consistent.  

    Then we have a bunch of other young arms that require more development in Taneichi, Ono, and Futaki (young-ish?).  

    I like our bullpen.  Chen is great.  Even when he’s not, he’s so happy to be there that I don’t care.  We signed Jay Jackson, and that’s all right.  Please keep Masuda at closer.  He’s better than Uchi*.  That’s right, I said it.  

    In summary, this is not the stuff of hopelessness, but exactly not a team of destiny.  Also, for reasons that pass understanding, our big bat off the bench is still Kiyota.  So… there’s that.

    *Steve’s note – this aggression cannot stand!

    This is not a normal season.

    All bets are off.  I’d ignore everything I just wrote.

    Oh and remember all that redundant and poorly configured pitching depth?  Get ready.  Arms are going to go down left and right due to the on-again off again nature of this season.  It’s already happening.

    Also, we will see more of Wada.  He will be awesome.  It will be awesome.  I will buy his jersey.

    The Part about Ariyoshi

    There’s a pitcher in 2 gun whose name rhymes with fariyoshi.  

    Maybe Iguchi will remember that he was basically the staff ace between June and August of 2018 and give him another look before he’s traded for prospects.

    Yes, he booted his and only two first two starts last year.  That’s because his elbow was a maraca that had to be literally vacuumed out. 

    He pitched two perfect innings in the post-quarantine kohaku game.  He pitched better than Ishikawa in his second practice game appearance.  Stick him in the bullpen and let him work middle relief.  Or trade for prospects him to a team that’s willing to use him. 

    My Bucket List

    Aja has to do two things so I can die a happy man.  He must win a gold glove.  He must hit an inside the park homerun.  I decree that these things will happen this season, just in case.

    More Pa League Predictions

    *Steves’s note – don’t take this too seriously, we are just having fun here folks

    Nippon Ham home games will have more energy this year, thanks to the lack of fans.

    Hawks broadcasts will be watchable this year, thanks to the lack of fans. 

    The Metlife dome (aka the Seiburero) will remain an unbearable place to watch a game, despite the lack of fans.

    The End of the Season

    Assuming the Pa League’s “try not to cough on the guy sitting next to you in the dugout” policy of social distancing doesn’t prematurely end our season; I predict the following standings.

    1. Hawks
    2. Lions
    3. Marines
    4. Eagles
    5. Fighters
    6. Buffaloes

    There is a caveat.  With the injuries, illnesses, twists, and turns don’t be surprised if the Buffalos somehow end up on top of this list.  Don’t jump up and call Shota Ohmine’s bookie to place that bet, at least not right now.  But don’t be surprised.  Sky!

    Craig

    PL Predictions 1. Rakuten 2. Lotte 3. SoftBank 4. Ham 5. Seibu 6. Orix

    “I’m just happy there’s baseball.”

    -Craig, when asked to defend his selections in the Kamome Kyodan

    Well said.

  • Looks Like We Are Getting A Season After All

    Looks Like We Are Getting A Season After All

    Unless you’ve been living in a remote cave*, you know that there hasn’t been much in the way of sporting activity around the world these last few months. Japan’s B-League pro basketball league was forced to cancel the remainder of its season due to the novel coronavirus, MLB has been shut down indefinitely (and may lose the entire 2020 season eventually). The news in Japan is gradually improving, though – number of new cases are down, the state of emergency is over for now, and as of Monday NPB will actually have a season, albeit an abbreviated 120 game one. Well, I’ll take it.

    *Actually not a bad survival strategy in 2020

    The exact form of this new season is as of this writing still quite unclear. What we know is that the Central League has cancelled the Climax Series for this year (something some teams *ahem* Kyojin *ahem* wanted to do for some time. Pacific League Climax Series still looks to be on, the Nippon Series will be sometime in late November, farm league schedules are going to roughly follow the top team schedules.

    Some big changes, too –

    1. In principle, the Pacific League is planning on playing 6-game series to minimize travel. This makes a lot more sense for the PL teams than the CL teams as with the exception of Seibu and Lotte, none of the teams are close to each other at all.
    2. No fans – at least for now. Not a surprise, but I do wonder what sort of effect the lack of fans will have on the game given that the raucous crowd cheering is such a huge part of an NPB game. Of course both the CPBL and KBO have re-opened their seasons without fans (CPBL has limited fans in the stands now, though) but attendance is much lower in those leagues and the cheering style is different enough that I think it’s less of a factor for them than it will be for NPB.

    I may be way too heavily biased on the last part – but I know from players’ comments after the few pre-season games played without fans this year that some of them didn’t much like playing without an audience, and of course it means that I won’t be able to go to the 80-90% of the games that I normally do, but it’s what needs to happen now.

    The important point to keep in mind, though – baseball is almost back.

  • On Long Gaps in Blogging

    On Long Gaps in Blogging

    I started this by saying ‘This is not one of those “Oh it’s been a long time since I’ve posted but I hope to post more regularly now!” posts”, but lo and behold, it is one of those posts – shōganai. This site has been live since 2009, we went through long periods of not updating before, and this time we haven’t updated since middle of the 2018 season. I’m a realistic man, I can’t guarantee anything. Between work and going to live games (I’ve been to around 150-160 in the last two seasons..!) it’s sometimes hard to find motivation to write. Even in our most active days, Craig and I would post on a schedule, and yeah, it is a bit of work to blog a few times a week over the course over a long season so setting a schedule helped give us structure.

    Much like with any other activity, getting out of the habit of writing regularly turns into a self-perpetuating cycle of continuing to not write. When this blog started, the media landscape was quite different, there was very little available on NPB in English and nothing at all on Lotte, so I felt sharing my thoughts was good for the small English-speaking fan community. Now there are very active communities on a variety of social media platforms especially Twitter and Reddit, so in recent years it’s seemed like much less of a necessity to keep people updated with news and good things. Hell, I’ve been averaging 5000 tweets a year the past year myself, getting plenty of interaction with other fans throughout the season so the gap in blogging hasn’t really felt like a gap much of the time.

    What is the point of sports blogging in 2020, then? I’m not going to pretend to answer the question in a general sense but for me, I’ve noticed that I really miss discussing Lotte in a more expansive way than what social media provides. Tweets and Line messages are ephemeral, but I can still look at articles we wrote here 10+ years ago and remember so much about the teams and environment of those days. I miss having that record. I’m also optimistic (as always!) about this 2020 Lotte team and quite honestly I want to chat about that at length.

    So I’ve got a few things in mind to talk about over the next few weeks. 　Let’s see where it goes from there.

  • Introducing Your 2018 Lotte All-Stars

    Introducing Your 2018 Lotte All-Stars

    ASG2018

    On Monday, NPB released the final rosters for the All-Star games next week in Kyocera Dome (7/13) and Kumamoto (7/14). As I have mentioned over the past few weeks, many players are putting up strong numbers in the first half. However, no members of Our Marines made the cut in either the fan voting (for the 5th year in a row) or in the player voting (which can and usually does overlap with the fan voting), so it was up to Hawks manager Kimiyasu Kudo to select players for the remaining slots. Fortunately, 5 Lotte players made the final roster.

    (All statistics as of 4 July 2018)

    SP – Ayumu Ishikawa

    ayumu-18

    Second ASG Appearance
    14 Games, 9 Wins (T2 in PL), 12 QS (1st), 2.17 ERA (2nd), 1.05 WHIP (4th)
    No doubt on this selection. I’m actually surprised he didn’t finish higher in the fan voting, given his past success (former ROY and ERA title holder). No mind, Ayu is pitching at an ace level and fully deserves his spot on the squad.

    SP – Mike Bolsinger

    bolsinger-18

    First ASG Appearance
    12 Games, 10 Wins (1st in PL), 3 QC (T3), 2.20 ERA (3rd), 1.13 WHIP (7th)
    Mike Bolsinger has been the breakout story of the season in the PL, and his selection to the ASG in his first season in Japan was assured. It’ll be nice for the rest of the fans in Japan to see what we in Chiba have all season.

    RP – Tatsuya Uchi

    uchi-18

    First ASG Appearance
    36 games, 19 Saves (2nd in PL), 0.97 WHIP
    Well color me shocked – pleasantly! It took 15 years, but Lotte’s #1 draft pick in 2003 Tatsuya Uchi finally made his first All-Star Game. Uchi’s long been a talented pitcher – one could argue his relief work in 2010 was the key performance to that Nippon Series Championship – but his career has been ruined by injuries. Since last year he’s been healthy for the first time in his career, and his solid pitching in the closer role is finally recognized.

    I honestly thought either Masuda or Matsunaga had a better shot at getting picked, which is why I was shocked.

    2B – Shogo Nakamura

    shogo-18

    First ASG Appearance
    73 Games, .307 BA (4th in PL), .806 OPS, 3 HR, 22 SB (3rd)
    A year ago I wouldn’t believe I am saying this but the selection of infielder Shogo Nakamura is a… no brainer? Shogo’s been Mr Consistent with both the bat and the glove since the middle of last summer, and with the exception of power he’s clearly the equal of Seibu’s Asamura at second in the PL. He gets on base at a near .400 clip, swipes a ton of bases, and has played at a Gold Glove level in the field all season. At just 26, he’s not just the infielder of the now, but the future.

    CF – T OGINO

    shogo-18

    First ASG Appearance
    73 Games, .297 BA (6th in PL), 19 SB (6th)
    I squealed like a small child given his favorite choco bunny rabbit when they announced this pick. T OGINO has long been the Official Favorite Player of We Love Marines – ever since his rookie debut in 2010, in fact – though my love for his play as never reached a wide audience as he hasn’t come close to the neighborhood of playing a complete season in his career. (103 games is his career max to this point, always due to injury) For the first time he;s been healthy, playing every game in CF, and he’s produced consistently. How lovely that Kudo-kantoku recognized his performance and hard work and awarded him his first ASG spot.

    Fresh All-Star Game

    The Fresh All-Star Game can basically be seen as a minor league All-Star Game. Of course NPB doesn’t really have minor leagues per se, and there are restrictions on which players can actually participate in the game, but it functions as a showcase for promising young players. This year, three Lotte players were selected to participate.

    Hisanori Yasuda was one of the “Big Three” High School bats in the 2017 NPB Draft, and fortunately Lotte were able to select him with the first pick. The 188 cm (6’2″), 95 Kg (210 lb) Yasuda has slashed .250/.312/.358 with 4 HRs at Urawa as of this writing – not bad for someone just out of High School. In a recent ni-gun game at Zozo Marine, he even showed good opposite-field power with a homer to left center. We won’t see him at ichi-gun this year but he’ll probably get a sniff at ichi-gun camp next spring.

    21-year-old Daiki Iwashita was selected in the 3rd round of the 2014 draft out of Seiryo HS in Ishikawa, but missed about a year of action at the end of his rookie season after Tommy John surgery. His stats this year aren’t great – heavily skewed by one truly awful outing on the farm – but from what I have seen of him live I have liked.

    Atsuki Taneichi is a 19-year-old righty taken in the 6th round in 2016. Originally he worked out of the pen but as of late the team has been converting him to a starter role with reasonable success so far. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him with a late season call up to ichi-gun.

    Congrats to all three guys!

  • A Sweep, Plus Bits and Pieces

    A Sweep, Plus Bits and Pieces

    Our Marines continued their run of strong play in June this week, taking both sides of a 2-game set at the ‘Zo with the last place Rakuten Eagles1. Those results guarantee a winning record for the month – the team is currently at 13-7 with just two games to play this weekend.

    Here’s a few notes about players and recent goings-on around the team:

    • Eternal Ace Ayumu Ishikawa looks to have solidified his campaign for the Pacific League Pitcher of the Month after his masterful start on Tuesday. On pace for a Maddux (CG shutout with less than 100 pitches) after 7, 15 pitches in the 8th took that out of play and a run allowed in the 9th ended the shutout, but finally he got the win to cap a perfect 4-0 month. In June, Ayu only allowed 3 runs in 27 innings (1.00 ERA) combined with a 1.07 WHIP. He’s won his last 6 starts.
    • Yuki Ariyoshi allowed a pair of earned runs on Wednesday – both on solo shots by Rakuten’s Carlos Peguero – but otherwise pitched well enough to win his third start in a row. He’s not striking out a ton of guys but also is not allowing that many baserunners (1.23 WHIP as a starter) and has emerged as a good option in the middle of the rotation.
    • The 13-7 record in June is much more a function of great pitching than of simply outslugging opponents. 11 of those 13 wins have come in the starts of Ishikawa, Ariyoshi, and Mike Bolsinger, who are a combined 11-0 in 11 starts for the month. Doesn’t get any better than that.
    • In addition to that starting trio, the back end of the bullpen has been rock solid all month. Naoya Masuda (10G, 1.00 ERA, 10 K/9 IP, 0.89 WHIP in June), Takahiro Matsunaga (11 G, 1.13 ERA, 8 K/8 IP, 1.00 WHIP), and Tatsuya Uchi (12 G, 1.64 ERA, 10 K/11 IP, 0.64 WHIP) are as solid as it gets this month. All three stood on the stage for the Hero Interview after last night’s win.
    • Speaking of Mike, he and his wife Lauren welcomed their first baby to the world yesterday. Congrats to the Bolsinger family!
    • In sad Lotte news, Shota Ohmine ‘retired’ from baseball this week due to personal issues. The official reason given is that he had accumulated debts starting from 2.5 years ago and he had difficulties paying these back. Obviously there is more to the story than just that – he was actually requested to retire by the team – and I won’t speculate as to what sorts of reasons that might have happened. Shota was the 3rd pick in the 2009 draft and was clearly a part of the team’s plans as a utility player going forward. His older brother Yuta is a favorite of mine and remains on the team.

    1 This development is the surest sign I don’t know anything. Last year I predicted Lotte would finish in second and Rakuten in the cellar, instead the Eagles made it to the Climax Series Final Stage. This year I learned my lesson and picked them as my dark horse to win the PL – they’ve been the worst team in the league by far from the get go. I know nothing.

  • Aja Comes Alive

    Aja Comes Alive

    aja-marine-festa-sm

    We were talking in this space last week about the performance of the infield so far in 2018, and I pretty much glossed over the contributions by first baseman Seiya “Aja” Inoue to the team’s success so far. Perhaps that is a bit unfair – he does lead the team in RBIs and as I mentioned is (was) tied with Matt Dominguez for the team lead in HRs on the season. As Craig has pointed out to me many times, he’s been batting really well with RISP so maybe I should be promoting him a bit more?

    Aja was removed from the ichi-gun roster two weeks ago due to illness. Last Thursday, in his second game as an active player in ni-gun, he went on an absolute tear at Yomiuri’s ni-gun stadium, lighting up Giants pitching for 8 RBI on 4-4 batting with a grand slam. He was not eligible to return to ichi-gun until Saturday’s game at the ‘Zo vs Seibu, but boy was the wait worth it.

    Saturday’s game 2 of a 3 game set vs Lions probably shouldn’t have been played as a constant rain turned all the base pits and the mound into mud holes. Lotte starter Mike Bolsinger struggled with his footing all day, which contributed to a no-out, first inning 3-run dinger by Seibu’s Asamura. The game was delayed 4 times as field crews tried to make the ground playable, and to be honest I thought there was little chance it would happen. After the second delay in the third inning, Seibu starter Imai walked the bases loaded, clearly struggling with the conditions as well. Aja stepped into the box with two outs, quickly took a pair of strikes but worked the count to 2-2. Then, his moment:

    [vimeo 276577887 w=640 h=360]

    A come-from-behind Grand Slam! Those runs would prove to be the game winners as the rain forced a cancellation after Seibu batted in the 5th. What a wonderful return to ichi-gun for Aja.

    In game 3, Aja almost etched his name into the Lotte record books. I’ll spare you the gory details of how Our Marines, er, did not win this one but suffice it to say it was not for lack of effort by one “A.” Inoue. A second inning single by Aja did not lead to a run, but in the fourth inning he left a ball juuust to the left of the LF foul pole before putting a ball off the top of the fence. It took a weird bounce off the wall, and soon the heaviest Japanese player in the league crashed into third with his first career triple.

    In the bottom of the 6th, Aja led off with a monster hit to right center, easily 135m+. Check it out:

    [vimeo 276695932 w=640 h=360]

    If you are counting at home, that left him just a double short of the cycle, which would be the first Lotte cycle since Julio Zuleta in 2007. For sure he would have another chance to get that double, and in the bottom of the 7th he came up again:

    [vimeo 276698982 w=640 h=360]

    Look at that! I was almost disappointed at that lovely 3-run homer! 10 feet shorter and it’s a double for sure, but instead it crossed over for his 10th of the year. The sad part is Inoue had one more potential chance for the double and to keep the game alive as he stood in the on-deck circle in bottom 9, but Kakunaka grounded out and the chance never came.

    We at We Love Marines have been fans of Aja for some time, but he’s certainly not lived up to what we had hoped he could be – until now? If he continues on this upward trend, both his and the team’s fortunes could brighten considerably.

  • 2018 Season: State of the Seagull

    2018 Season: State of the Seagull

    ph_slogan02
    The 2018 Chiba Lotte Marines season is in full swing. New skipper Tadahito Iguchi‘s squad looks much different from 2017’s team, who finished with arguably the worst season in the 67 years of franchise history. At this point last season, Itoh’s Marines couldn’t hit, couldn’t pitch, and certainly couldn’t get many W’s but this year? Lotte finished the Interleague series at a very respectable third in the standings, is sitting just over .500 for the season, and a mere 5 games out of first with well over half the season to go. In short, the Seagull is pretty healthy.

    I completely refuse to dwell any more on last year, but the big question is – what’s changed? Strangely enough, not all that much vs 2017’s team, or even 2016, in terms of personnel. American pitcher Mike Bolsinger has been far and away the newcomer with the greatest impact, as he is tied for the league lead in wins (8), is second in ERA (2.06), and leads in Quality Start % (9/10 starts). He’s been quick to credit his teammates for his success, saying in hero interviews how his team always gives him tons of run support and how much support his catcher Tamura gives him. In short, he’s been a great pickup for Lotte.

    The other newcomer with a big impact is rookie second round draft pick Yudai Fujioka, who arrives via Toyota in the industrial leagues and Asia University. He’s been the starting SS since opening day, has started every game, and posted a .259/.330/.356 line along with 6 SBs. SS has been a big hole for a while – Daichi made the All-Star team several times at the position but his arm strength is not well-suited to the position – and a rotating cast of characters filled the role last season. Fujioka’s been far from perfect – he leads the league in errors, which is not all that surprising for a rookie SS I suppose – but he demonstrates real skill both at the plate and in the field, and looks to be the team’s SS for many years to come.

    Management
    Surely the biggest difference is right at the top – the leadership of Iguchi-kantoku. From the start, runners had the green light any time they saw fit. The result was a lot of stolen bases early on – and a lot of runners thrown out as well. On balance the effect has been way more positive than negative – runners take extra bases, stretch long singles to doubles, take chances with steals – all at a pace much higher than before.

    Iguchi has also kept the starting lineup more or less fixed for the entire season, something that was a big problem even in the playoff years under Itoh. 1-2-3 in the order has been T OGINO-Fujioka-Shogo basically all season. Daichi moved to third and started every game, “Aja” Inoue started the lion’s share of games at first before heading to ni-gun due to illness, Tamura has played every game (and most of the innings), while Kiyota has played almost every game in right. This lineup has produced consistently all season – every player’s batting statistics are improved if not greatly improved over the same time period as last year.

    Fielders
    Notice some of those names – T OGINO has always been talented but has never come close to playing a full season, he’s been a rock in CF and is 5th in batting in the PL right now. I didn’t list Kakunaka before – he missed the first month of a season with a compression fracture in his neck, but since his return he’s been better than ever, recently completing Interleague play as the overall leading hitter at .412 BA. Daichi moved from SS to 2B last season, and it turns out the arm that was too weak at SS is just lovely at 3B, perhaps from having time to plant then throw? But both to the eyes and to the fielding statistics, he’s been been great at the hot corner.

    Probably the biggest revelation has been 4th year infielder Shogo Nakamura. Shogo started 2017 even more horrifically than the rest of the team (which is saying a lot), going completely hitless until his exile to Urawa in May. He returned in the summer a changed batter: patient, successful. For the rest of the season, Shogo batted near .300 (.275 for the season, counting his hitless ABs early) with a near – .800 OPS along with 11 steals. This season he’s been flirting with the top-5 in BA all season (currently at .299) and is 4th in the league in steals with 17. He’s a sure-fire All-Star selection if not a Golden Glove choice, something early last year we Lotte fans would have found unlikely.

    The only bad spot so far on offense has been the total lack of power – less than 30 HRs as a team at this point. The leaders so far in HRs are Aja with 7 – not so many, but he has paired that with a large number of RBIs and a good BA with RISP – and newcomer Matt Dominguez. Dominguez has 7 HRs on the year as well, 6 of them coming the same week and basically nothing since. Matt plays a nice 1B and obviously has a lot of power, but the very low BA has kept him on the bench. This lack of HR power is probably the only reason Our Marines are not sitting in 2nd place or so right now, so hopefully a solution can be found.

    Pitchers
    Expected ace Hideaki Wakui started the season strong but got demolished in 3 of his last 4 starts. Despite that, and despite a back end of the rotation that has been a cast of rotating characters, the starting pitching has been surprisingly great. A lot of credit there is due to the aforementioned Bolsinger, but also the return of 2016’s ERA champ Ayumu Ishikawa to the form that made him one of the best pitchers in the league for years. This year Ayu went 4-0 in interleague with a 1.01 ERA in 26 IP, has had a QS in 10 of his 12 starts, and has posted a 1.08 WHIP and a 2.28 ERA on the season. He’s unquestionably the ace of the staff. The surprise contributor is second year pitcher from Togane, Chiba – Yuki Ariyoshi. Ariyoshi was one of the few bright spots last year as a middle reliever, and last month he was converted to a starter. In those starts he’s been great, only allowing 2 runs total in his 3 interleague starts (0.98 ERA!). It’s still early days as a starter for him but I expect he will continue to be effective through the summer months.

    Out of the pen, Naoya Masuda, Takahiro Matsunaga, and Tatsuya Uchi have been extremely effective all year, with Masuda in a middle relief/setup role, Matsunaga as a LOOGY/setupper, and Uchi as the closer. Masaki Minami and Yasuhiro Tanaka have also provided many quality innings in middle relief. To my eyes Matsunaga has been the key man out of the pen so far, and should surely be an All-Star this season as well.

    Prognosis
    As I see it, the main variable going forward is the starting rotation. While the top has been as good as any in the league (if not better), 12 different arms have started games this season with wildly varying results. Given the low-power offensive environment, some rotation stability will be the key to a successful summer and hopefully a climb up the PL ladder. It’s an enjoyable team to watch, win or lose, but we of course want to see much more winning in the Makuhari summer breeze.

  • Lotte vs Seibu, 14-16 April 2017

    Lotte vs Seibu, 14-16 April 2017

    logo_allforchiba-sm The weekend series vs cross-Kanto rivals Seibu represented a chance for Our Marines to get back to .500, as well as a taste of the only Pacific League team we’ve yet to see. Ultimately, what we learned is much the same as what the previous four series taught us – when the pitching is good, Chiba has a good opportunity to win, but right now scoring runs is so difficult that poor pitching means the team is doomed.

    Game 1

    Seibu 3, Lotte 2
    WP: Ohishi   LP: Masuda

    Game 2

    Seibu 0, Lotte 1
    WP: Wakui   LP: Nogami

    Game 3

    Seibu 10, Lotte 2
    WP: Wolfe   LP: Karakawa

    If I were a Seibu fan I would say that Friday’s Game 1 was an amazingly entertaining game, and even as a fan who sat through that vicious uppercut to the jaw of a loss, I must admit the same. Official Favorite Young Pitcher of This Fan Site Kota Futaki got the call for his first start of the year vs nominal Seibu ace Yusei Kikuchi. Young Futaki (still just 21) turned in probably the best start of his career and certainly the strongest start by a Lotte arm this year* – 7 innings, 9 punchouts vs 0 walks and 4 hits, the only run scoring on an Okawari-kun homer in the 7th. Electric stuff, plenty good enough to win, but. But.

    *Yes, I realize I just said the same re: Nishino in the previous game – Futaki was even better.

    Alas, Mejia happened. Shota Ishimine put Our Marines ahead in the 7th inning with a one-out timely single. Uchi took over for Futaki in the 8th and delivered a quick 15-pitch hold through the bottom of the order, leaving the closing to Masuda. Masuda yielded a leadoff single to Asamura before punching out Okawari-kun (swinging) and Saitoh (looking), getting to 2 strikes vs Ernesto Mejia before Mejia launched a huge homer to left center. Oh my.

    That 3-2 Seibu lead was a real back-breaker, but Chiba had a huge chance in bottom 9 – bases loaded, 1 out for pinch hitter FUKUURA with Captain Daichi on deck, but unfortunately the Narashino legend grounded into a game ending double play, a crushing loss for so early in the season.

    Itoh-kantoku sent Hideaki Wakui to the hill in terribly windy conditions (even by Makuhari standards) for Saturday’s game 2, and The Dour Faced Ace delivered the third straight stellar start, going a strong 7 on 4 hits with 8 strikeouts and no runs. Yet again the bats would struggle, mustering but three hits vs the not-exactly-imposing Nogami, who went the distance on just 92 pitches. But with such strong pitching, those three hits were all that were needed – namely, a 2-out AJA double in the fourth, scoring on a shallow Hosoya (KEI!) single to left. Seeing the rather immense Inoue motor his bulk full tilt home on a shallow single was a rather amazing sight to see in person, I must say, but the run was both exceptional and necessary, providing the margin of victory. Masuda had a chance for redemption just 18 hours after blowing the previous game, and the crowd roared as he secured a 1-0 Lotte win.

    The Baby-Faced Killer got the call for Sunday’s Game 3, and, well, um.

    A terrible start from the very beginning for Karakawa – he was pulled in the middle of the third after getting beat up for 5 runs, 11 baserunners, and one massive Yamakawa jack. With the way Our Marines are scoring right now, a 5 run deficit seems a pretty deep hole to climb out of. In fact, though, there were some chances – 2 on for Aja in the first (ground out) and bases loaded again for Aja in the 8th (line out) – but we can’t expect to win many games subsisting on only Aja and Daichi heroics. Ultimately, not only were those chances not converted into more runs, but in the 9th inning Takano + Matsunaga got knocked around for 4 more runs, confirming this one’s stinker status.

    Notes
    • How bad has the start to the season been? Among all NPB teams, Chiba’s statistical rankings are: BA .195 (12th), HR 5 (12th), Steals 1 (12th), Runs Scored 38 (10th!), Runs Allowed 66 (12th), ERA 4.43 (12th). It’s rather amazing the record is as good as 5-9 (9th overall).
    • It was revealed that Kakunaka’s injury to his right flank will take 4-6 weeks to heal.
    • As of this writing, Karakawa is indeed still on the ichi-gun roster, but Kiyota is not, having been sent to Urawa today after a terrible start to the season.
    • Next series is a three game set at Zozomarine vs the hated Hawks of Daiei.

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