開幕あと6日 ⚾️ Opening Day of NPB is less than a week away. Friday 28 March I will try my best to keep this thread updated with scores, highlights and stats. 2024 Central League Climax Series winners and Japan Series champions: Yokohama BayStars 2024 Pacific League pennant and Climax Series winners SoftBank Hawks 2024 Central League pennant winners: Yomiuri Giants
Link to post in 2024 thread about NPB differences compared to MLB. https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/2...al-baseball-npb-season.2129831/#post-42092725
Japan was in the baseball headlines this past week with the Tokyo Series as the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs played a two-game series at the Tokyo Dome on Tuesday and Wednesday to open the 2025 MLB regular season. Before those games, the Dodgers and Cubs each played two international exhibition games against the Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers last weekend. The Tigers created the biggest buzz for having defeated both MLB teams by identical 3-0 scores. The Giants lost both of their contests, 5-1 to Los Angeles and 4-2 to Chicago. A good time was had by all. Hanshin Tigers, Chicago Cubs Yomiuri Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers Hanshin Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers Yomiuri Giants, Chicago Cubs
The two wins by Hanshin helped kick off the team's 90th anniversary season. Japan's second professional team having been founded a year (1935) after the formation of the Tokyo Giants (1934), the Tigers unveiled an anniversary logo in December that will be used throughout the season in place of their regular circular logo.
Not a powerhouse but they are quite strong. The SoftBank Hawks are generally regarded as the best in recent years. I thought the Yomiuri Giants would have done better against the MLB teams. Won the Central League last season and my pick to repeat this season. The dark horse seems to be the Nippon-Ham Fighters. They’ve improved quite a bit since Tsuyoshi Shinjo took over as manager in 2022 and many feel they are prime to snag the Pacific League over SoftBank.
開幕あと5日 ⚾️ TRANSACTIONS By now, we should all be aware of the big loss the Lotte Marines suffered to their pitching staff. But Roki Sasaki leaving for MLB was not the only move of significance. By no means are these lists complete, but the next two posts are some of the more notable acquisitions and departures each team has made during the NPB off-season. There were three players of note who exercised their domestic free agent rights but ultimately re-signed with their club. C Takuya Kinoshita (Chunichi Dragons) IF Yusuke Ohyama (Hanshin Tigers) IF Fumihito Haraguchi (Hanshin Tigers) Aren Kuri (RHP, Hiroshima Carp), whose American father is said to have played in the Atlanta Braves organization (minor league), had gained international free agency and initially expressed his intention to seek a deal in MLB. But in December he accepted an offer to remain in NPB - albeit with a new team - before engaging in any talks with potential MLB suitors.
CENTRAL LEAGUE CHUNICHI DRAGONS Arrivals RHP Mao Itoh (active player draft, Rakuten Golden Eagles) RHP Yunior Marte (free agent, Philadelphia Phillies - MLB) RHP Nash Walters (free agent, Washington Nationals - MiLB) LHP Yumeto Kanemaru (NPB draft 1st round) LHP Kyle Muller (free agent, Oakland Athletics - MLB) IF Jason Vosler (free agent, Seattle Mariners - MLB) Departures RHP Michael Feliz (free agent, Leones de Yucatán - LMB) RHP Kōji Fukutani (free agent, Nippon-Ham Fighters) RHP Raidel Martinez (free agent, Yomiuri Giants) LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara (posted, Washington Nationals - MLB) IF Masami Ishigaki (active player draft, Lotte Marines) IF Hiroyuki Nakajima (free agent) IF Dayan Viciedo (free agent) OF Alex Dickerson (free agent) HANSHIN TIGERS Arrivals RHP Jon Duplantier (free agent, Oklahoma City Comets [Los Angeles Dodgers] - Pacific Coast League) RHP Seishu Hatake (active player draft, Yomiuri Giants) RHP Nick Nelson (free agent, Lehigh Valley IronPigs [Philadelphia Philles] - International League) IF Ramon Hernandez (free agent, Acereros de Monclova- LMB) OF Taishi Kusumoto (free agent, Yokohama BayStars) Departures RHP Koyo Aoyagi (posted, Philadelphia Phillies minor league deal - MiLB) RHP Masumi Hamachi (active player draft, Yokohama BayStars) RHP Ren Kajiya (free agent, Rakuten Golden Eagles) OF Johan Mieses (free agent) OF Sheldon Neuse (free agent) HIROSHIMA CARP Arrivals RHP Johan Dominguez (free agent, Birmingham Barons [Chicago White Sox] - Southern League) RHP Kenya Suzuki (active player draft, Nippon-Ham Fighters) IF Elehuris Montero (free agency, Albuquerque Isotopes [Colorado Rockies] - Pacific Coast League) IF Tatsuya Yamaashi (active player draft, Orix Buffaloes) OF Sandro Fabian (free agent, Texas Rangers - MLB) Departures RHP Robert Corniel (free agent, Guerreros de Oaxaca - LMB) RHP Thomas Hatch (free agent, Kansas City Royals minor league deal - MiLB) RHP Aren Kuri (international free agent, Orix Buffaloes) RHP Yusuke Nomura (retired) RHP Takuya Yasaki (active player draft, Yakult Swallows) IF Jake Scheiner (free agent) YAKULT SWALLOWS Arrivals RHP Pedro Ávila (free agent, Cleveland Guardians - MLB) RHP Mike Baumann (free agent, Miami Marlins - MLB) RHP Peter Lambert (free agent, Colorado Rockies - MLB) RHP Yuto Nakamura (NPB draft 1st Round) RHP Takuya Yasaki (active player draft, Hiroshima Carp) IF Eigoro Mogi (free agent, Rakuten Golden Eagles) Departures RHP José Espada (free agent, San Diego Padres minor league deal - MiLB) RHP Elvin Rodríguez (free agent, Milwaukee Brewers - MLB) RHP Daichi Shibata (active player draft, Rakuten Golden Eagles) RHP Cy Sneed (free agent) RHP Miguel Yajure (free agent, Rakuten Golden Eagles) OF Norichika Aoki (retired) OF Kotaro Yamasaki (retied) YOKOHAMA BAYSTARS Arrivals RHP Trevor Bauer (free agent, Diablos Rojos del México - LMB) RHP Masumi Hamachi (active player draft, Hanshin Tigers) IF Masaki Mimori (traded from SoftBank Hawks) Departures RHP Taiga Kamichatani (active player draft, SoftBank Hawks) RHP J. B. Wendelken (free agent, San Diego Padres minor league deal - MiLB) LHP Haruhiro Hamaguchi (traded to SoftBank Hawks) LHP Tatsuya Ishikawa (free agent, Yomiuri Giants) IF Mike Ford (free agent, Minnesota Twins minor league deal - MiLB) IF Yamato Maeda (free agent) YOMIURI GIANTS Arrivals RHP Raidel Martinez (free agent, Chunichi Dragons) RHP Eito Tanaka (active player praft, Nippon-Ham Fighters) RHP Masahiro Tanaka (free agent, Rakuten Golden Eagles) LHP Tatsuya Ishikawa (free agent, Yokohama BayStars) C Takuya Kai (free agent, SoftBank Hawks) OF Trey Cabbage (free agent, Pittsburgh Pirates - MLB) Departures RHP Seishu Hatake (active player draft, Hanshin Tigers) RHP Tomoyuki Sugano (international free agent, Baltimore Orioles - MLB) LHP Yohander Méndez (free agent, Uni-President Lions - CPBL) IF Estamy Urena (free agent, Pericos de Puebla = LMB) OF Takayuki Kajitani (retired) OF Coco Montes (free agent, Tampa Bay Rays minor league deal - MiLB) OF Soichiro Tateoka (retired)
PACIFIC LEAGUE CHIBA LOTTE MARINES Arrivals RHP Shuta Ishikawa (free agent, SoftBank Hawks) RHP Tayron Guerrero (free agent, Salt Lake Bees [Los Angeles Angels] - Pacific Coast League) RHP Austin Voth (free agent, Seattle Mariners - MLB) LHP Bryan Sammons (free agent, Detroit Tigers - MLB) IF Masami Ishigaki (active player draft, Chunichi Dragons) Departures RHP Jimmy Cordero (free agent, Toros de Tijuana - LMB) RHP Roki Sasaki (posted, Los Angeles Dodgers - MLB) LHP Dallas Keuchel (free agent) LHP C.C. Mercedes (free agent, Uni-President Lions - CPBL) OF Taiga Hirasawa (active player draft, Seibu Lions) NIPPON-HAM FIGHTERS Arrivals RHP Gu Lin Ruei-yang (posted, Uni-President Lions - CPBL) RHP Kōji Fukutani (free agent, Chunichi Dragons) C Kengo Yoshida (active player draft, SoftBank Hawks) IF Micah Yonamine (free agent, Boise Hawks - Pioneer League) Departures RHP Patrick Murphy (free agent, Texas Rangers minor league deal - MiLB) RHP Bryan Rodriguez (free agent, Toros de Tijuana - LMB) RHP Kenya Suzuki (active player draft, Hiroshima Carp) RHP Eito Tanaka (active player draft, Yomiuri Giants) OF Gosuke Katoh (retired) ORIX BUFFALOES Arrivals RHP Keisuke Honda (active player draft, Seibu Lions) RHP Aren Kuri (international free agent, Hiroshima Carp) IF Jordan Díaz (free agent, Las Vegas Aviators [Oakland Athletics] - Pacific Coast League) OF Edward Olivares (free agent, New York Mets organization - MiLB) Departures RHP Luis Castillo (free agent, Seattle Mariners minor league deal - MiLB) IF Leandro Cedeño (free agent, Seibu Lions) IF Marwin Gonzalez (retired) IF Tatsuya Yamaashi (active player draft, Hiroshima Carp) OF Takahiro Okada (retired) OF Cody Thomas (free agent, Texas Rangers minor league deal - MiLB) RAKUTEN GOLDEN EAGLES Arrivals RHP Chi Hsiao (free agent, Ku-Pao Vocational High School, Taiwan) RHP Spencer Howard (free agent, Sacramento River Cats [San Francisco Giants] - Pacific Coast League) RHP Ren Kajiya (free agent, Hanshin Tigers) RHP Daichi Shibata (active player draft, Yakult Swallows) RHP Miguel Yajure (free agent, Yakult Swallows) Departures RHP Mao Itoh (active player draft, Chunichi Dragons) RHP Cody Ponce (free agent, Hanwha Eagles - KBO) RHP Masahiro Tanaka (free agent, Yomiuri Giants) IF Eigoro Mogi (free agent, Yakult Swallows) SEIBU LIONS Arrivals RHP Emmanuel Ramírez (free agent, Buffalo Bisons [Toronto Blue Jays] - International League) RHP Trey Wingenter (free agent, Chicago Cubs - MLB) IF Leandro Cedeño (free agent, Orix Buffaloes) IF Tyler Nevin (free agent, Oakland Athletics - MLB) OF Taiga Hirasawa (active player draft, Lotte Marines) OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (free agent, Florida Complex League Twins - MiLB) Departures RHP Albert Abreu (free agent, Cincinnati Reds minor league deal - MiLB) RHP Keisuke Honda (active player draft, Orix Buffaloes) LHP Jefry Yan (free agent, Colorado Rockies minor league deal - MiLB) iF Jesus Aguilar (free agent) OF Franchy Cordero (free agent, Washington Nationals minor league deal - MiLB) OF Yuji Kaneko (retired) SOFTBANK HAWKS Arrivals RHP Taiga Kamichatani (active player draft, Yokohama BayStars) RHP Naoyuki Uwasawa (free agent, Worcester Red Sox [Boston Red Sox] - Independent League) RHP Zhang Jun-Wei (free agent, Ku Pao Home Economics and Commercial High School, Taiwan) LHP Haruhiro Hamaguchi (traded from Yokohama BayStars) Departures RHP Shuta Ishikawa (free agent, Lotte Marines) LHP Tsuyoshi Wada (retired) C Takuya Kai (free agent, Yomiuri Giants) C Kengo Yoshida (active player draft, Nippon-Ham Fighters) IF Masaki Mimori (traded to Yokohama BayStars) OF Adam Walker (free agent)
開幕あと4日 ⚾️ Sunday marked the end of Spring Training games. With only games between NPB teams taken into consideration, the Nippon-Ham Fighters finished with the best record. Of course, take it for what it's worth. The Seibu Lions finished ahead of the SoftBank Hawks which is unlikely to happen in the regular season. All 12 teams will remain idle (only practice sessions) until Opening Night, Friday 28 March. NPB teams were also involved in a few international exhibitions against teams from other leagues/countries. This is a list of games involving ichi-gun (first team) squads I was able to find. Sat 15 Feb - Lotte Marines RAIN OUT Rakuten Monkeys (CPBL) in Itoman Sat 22 Feb - Hiroshima Carp 10-3 Kia Tigers (KBO) in Okinawa Koza Shinkin Stadium Sun 23 Feb - Lotte Marines 4-2 Hanwha Eagles (KBO) in Itoman Wed 26 Feb - Seibu Lions 3-1 Doosan Bears (KBO) in Miyazaki, Sun Marine Stadium Wed 26 Feb - SoftBank Hawks 1-6 Lotte Giants (KBO) in Miyazaki, Ivy Stadium Thu 27 Feb - SoftBank Hawks 9-0 Doosan Bears (KBO) in Miyazaki, Ivy Stadium Fri 28 Feb - Lotte Marines 4-2 Lotte Giants (KBO) in Miyakonojo Sat 1 Mar - Nippon-Ham Fighters 3-0 Uni-President Lions (CPBL) in Taipei Dome Sun 2 Mar - Nippon-Ham Fighters 8-0 CTBC Brothers (CPBL) in Taipei Dome Sat 15 Mar - Hanshin Tigers 3-0 Chicago Cobs (MLB) In Tokyo Dome Sat 15 Mar - Yomiuri Giants 1-5 Los Angeles Dodgers (MLB) in Tokyo Dome Sun 16 Mar - Hanshin Tigers 3-0 Los Angeles Dodgers (MLB) in Tokyo Dome Sun 16 Mar - Yomiuri Giants 2-4 Chicago Cubs (MLB) in Tokyo Dome
開幕あと1日 ⚾️ One of the intriguing aspects of NPB are games played at 'countryside venues', ballparks located throughout regional rural areas in order to give every part of country the experience of attending big-league baseball and allowing players to connect with fanbases across the nation. The stadiums range in capacities from 10,000-30,000, many have grass field bleachers and nearly all of them have all-dirt infields. 24 NPB games are scheduled to be played at 'countryside' stadiums in 2025 including one at the 8,300 capacity York Kaiseizan Stadium in Kōriyama, Fukushima, the first time the park will host an NPB game since 1989. Tue 8 Apr - Gifu ................. Dragons vs Carp Wed 9 Apr - Omiya ........... Lions vs Marines Tue 15 Apr- Matsuyama ... Swallows vs Tigers Fri 9 May - Omiya .............. Lions vs Marines Tue 13 May- Niigata .......... BayStars vs Tigers Tue 13 May- Toyohashi ..... Dragons vs Swallows Tue 20 May- Morioka ......... Eagles vs Lions Sat 24 May- Kumamoto ..... Hawks vs Buffaloes Sun 25 May- Kagoshima .... Hawks vs Buffaloes Tue 27 May- Kurashiki ....... Tigers vs BayStars Tue 27 May- Toyama .......... Giants vs Carp Tue 27 May- Maebashi ....... Lions vs Eagles Wed 28 May- Kanazawa ..... Giants vs Carp Thu 5 Jun - Koriyama .......... Eagles vs BayStars (Interleague) Tue 10 Jun- Yamagata City... Eagles vs Dragons (Interleague) Tue 1 Jul - Naha .................. Lions vs Buffaloes Wed 2 Jul - Naha ................. Lions vs Buffaloes Tue 8 Jul - Yamagata ........... Giants vs Dragons Wed 9 Jul - Fukushima ........ Giants vs Dragons Tue 15 Jul- Shizuoka ........... Swallows vs Giants Thu 17 Jul- Kitakyushu ........ Hawks vs Marines Tue 26 Aug- Hirosaki ........... Eagles vs Hawks Wed 27 Aug- Akita ............... Eagles vs Hawks Thu 4 Sep - Gifu ................... Giants vs Swallows
With the NPB season set to open in a few hours, yakyu has been going on elsewhere in Japan. Specifically at Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture where the National High School Invitational Tournament has been going on for nearly two weeks. Commonly referred to as Senbatsu, or Spring Koshien, the competition is now at the semi-final stage with both games set for Friday. 11:00am Japan (Thursday, 10pm Eastern U.S. / 7:00pm Pacific): Kendai Takasaki (Gunma) -vs- Yokohama (Kanagawa) 13:30pm or 30 minutes after the first game ends: Chiben Wakayama (Wakayama) -vs- Urawa Jitsugyo (Saitama) The Final is et for Sunday 30 March at 12:30pm (Japan.time) The one player who has garnered the most attention leading up to and during the tournament has been Shoki Oda, a right-handed pitcher with Yokohama Junior and Senior High School. A second year sophomore, the 16 year old's fastball routinely clocks in the upper 140s kmh (low 90s mph) and has topped out at an incredible 158 kmh (98 mph). And he still has two years until he graduates. Streams https://sportsbull.jp/senbatsu/ https://sports.yahoo.co.jp/livestream/senbatsulive/hsb/games/live
PREDICTIONS Nikkan Sports writers (consensus of 25) CENTRAL 1 - Giants 2 - Tigers 3 - BayStars 4 - Carp 5 - Swallows 6 - Dragons PACIFIC 1 - Hawks 2 - Fighters 3 - Marines 4 - Buffaloes 5 - (tie) Lions, Eagles 1903965193677549941 is not a valid tweet id My predictions: CENTRAL 1 - Giants 2 - Tigers 3 - BayStars 4 - Dragons 5 - Carp 6 - Swallows PACIFIC 1 - Hawks 2 - Fighters 3 - Buffaloes 4 - Marines 5 - Lions 6 - Eagles
Opening Night probables: Giants (Shosei Togo) -vs- Swallows (Yasunobu Okugawa) BayStars (Katsuki Azuma) -vs- Dragons (Hiroto Takahashi) Carp (Masato Morishita) -vs- Tigers (Shoki Murakami) Lions (Tatsuya Imai) -vs- Fighters (Shoma Kanemura) Buffaloes (Hiroya Miyagi) -vs- Egles (Takahisa Hayakawa) Hawks (Kohei Arihara) -vs- Marines (Kazuya Ojima) How to watch NPB https://japanball.com/articles-feat...how-to-watch-npb-televsion-streaming-overseas
Friday 28 March Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2025-03-28 Giants-Swallows went 10 innings
Gakuto Wakabayashi went 4-for-4 including a walk off single to left field that scored Daiki Masuda from second base as the Yomiuri Giants came back from a 5 run deficit in the 8th inning to run away 6-5 winners over the Yakult Swallows in 10 innings. Foreign signing Trey Cabbage went 3-for-3 with 2 doubles and a home run in his NPB debut. Domingo Santana homered for the visitors. Kenya Wakatsuki lined a double to centerfield scoring pinch runner Yūsuke Mugitani to give the Orix Buffaloes and 3-2 sayonara win over the Rakutne Eagles at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka. Buffaloes starter Hiroya Miyagi, who has taken over Orix's #18 jersey that was last worn by Yoshinobu Yamamoto two seasons ago, tossed 7 perfect innings before allowing an earned run on two hits in the 8th. he finished with 7 strikeouts and no walks but did not figure in the decision. Eagles cleanup batter Ryosuke Tatsumi broke up Miyagi's perfect game bid with an infield single leading off the 8th and later scored on Yukiya Ito's sacrifice fly.
Pro Yakyu News with highlights and analysts of all six games from Opening Night. . - Katsuki Azuma pitched 7 shutout frames while Keito Mori and Toshiro Miyazaki each went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored to lead the BayStars past the Dragons. - Teruaki Sato slugged the first home run of the NPB season while Shoki Murakami allowed just four hits as the Tigers defeated the Carp. - Shoma Kanemura outdueled Tatsuya Imai with a complete game shutout to lead the Fighters over the Lions. - Kyōta Fujiwara, Toshiya Satoh and Ryūsei Ogawa each had two RBIs as the Marines steamrolled past the Hawks. Presenter: Sayaka Isoyama Co-host: *Motonobu Tanishige Analyst: *Yutaka Takagi Analyst: *Masaki Saito Game highlights introduced by Akira Koide, Jun Umeda and Shoi Kurose *former NPB players
Saturday 29 March Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2025-03-29 Lions-Fighters went 10 innings Buffaloes-Eagles went 10 innings Hawks-Marines went 10 innings
Hiromi Oka drove in Kōshirō Wada from second base with the winning run to give the Lotte Marines a 5-4 sayonara victory over the SoftBank Hawks at the Mizuho PayPay Dome in Fukuoka. The game winning hit capped a 3-for-5, 4 RBI afternoon for the Marines leadoff batter Neftali Soto also homered for the visitors while another 36 year old, SoftBank's Yuki Yanagita, slugged his first bomb of the season, the 265th of his career. Takahiro Matsuba allowed just two hits with no walks and five strikeouts in 7 innings to lead the Chunichi Dragons to a slim 1-0 shutout win over the Yokohama BayStars at Hamasta. Matsuba outperformed Trevor Bauer who made his first NPB start on his return to Yokohama after spending 2024 in Mexico. Bauer, perhaps let down with some poor fielding by his teammates, allowed 1 earned run off six hits and two walks while recording 8 strikeouts over 6 innings before being lifted for a pinch hitter. He threw 98 pitches total. Takuya Kinoshita's single to left field in the 2nd inning brought home Orlando Calixte for the game's lone run.
A couple of LIVE baseball streams tonight. The championship final of the Senbatsu High School Invitational at Koshien Stadium is scheduled for Sunday at 12:30pm. Saturday, 11:30pm Eastern U.S. / 8:30pm Pacific Yokohama (Kanagawa) -vs- Chiben Wakayama (Wakayama) Links https://sportsbull.jp/senbatsu/ https://sports.yahoo.co.jp/livestream/senbatsulive/hsb/games/live The English youtube channel of Pacific League TV will again be live streaming a game once a month this season. Their first broadcast is scheduled for Sunday. Sunday 30 March, 13:00 Japan Midnight ET, 9:00pm PT Seibu Lions -vs- Nippon-Ham Fighters Probables: Lions: Kona Takahashi (0-11 , 3.87 in 2024) Fighters: Drew VerHagen (2-2 , 3.12 in 2024)