2025 Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) season

Samurai Japan have been conducting Autumn Camp in Miyazaki.since 6 November.

On Monday they played the Hiroshima Carp in a warm up towards the weekend series against Korea.
The game was played under WBSC rules that will be in force at the WBC, including the pitch clock which is not used in NPB.
Since extra innings at the WBC will begin with a runner at second.base - also unused in NPB - a 10th inning was played for experience.

 

2025 NPB Golden Glove Award winners


CENTRAL LEAGUE



P: Shoki Murakami (Hanshin Tigers) 1st time award winner
C: Seishirō Sakamoto (Hanshin Tigers) 2nd
1B: Yusuke Ohyama (Hanshin Tigers) 2nd
2B: Takumu Nakano (Hanshin Tigers) 2nd
3B: Teruaki Sato (Hanshin Tigers) 1st
SS: Yuta Izuguchi (Yomiuri Giants) 1st
OF: Yūki Okabayashi (Chunichi Dragons) 4th
OF: Koji Chikamoto (Hanshin Tigers) 5th
OF: Shota Morishita (Hanshin Tigers) 1st


PACIFIC LEAGUE



P: Hiromi Itoh (Nippon-Ham Fighters) 1st time award winner
C: Kenya Wakatsuki (Orix Buffaloes) 2nd
1B: Tyler Nevin (Seibu Lions) 1st
2B: Taisei Makihara (SoftBank Hawks) 1st
3B: Itsuki Murabayashi (Rakuten Golden Eagles) 1st
SS: Kotaro Kurebayashi (Orix Buffaloes) 1st
OF: Ukyo Shuto (SoftBank Hawks) 2nd
OF: Ryosuke Tatsumi (Rakuten Golden Eagles) 5th
OF: Manaya Nishikawa (Seibu Lions) 1st

 

Underwhelming?!
To be fair, you said that Passan said this during the All-Star break (mid-July).
At the time, Murakami was the only one that was all but confirmed to be posted.
Since then, more names surfaced.
Okamoto was a bit of a surprise given that the Tokyo Giants had only ever posted (two) pitchers. They had never posted a field player.
Imai's posting wasn't speculated on until late in the season when rumors surfaced that he might ask despite the Lions having already confirmed in early-September that they would post Kona Takahashi. So Seibu will be losing two pitchers next season from their starting rotation.


For a single off-season, I think the 2025 group of players (as a whole) crossing the Pacific ranks at least alongside the Class of '23.
But I'm saying this BEFORE the players eventually signed with MLB teams.
We now know what Yamamoto and Imanaga can do in MLB.
We only have bits of how Murakami and Okamoto could do based on the 2023 WBC.

I want to clarify that while MLB fans may view Japanese NPB players as international free agents, in Japan such players leaving NPB are classified into two groups:

"International free agents" gain that status after completing 9 years service in NPB, which is based on how many days a player is on gameday rosters each season.

"Postings" are players with less than 9 years service who ask their NPB clubs if they can be made available for MLB teams to draft.
If the team says no, then the player cannot leave and must remain with his NPB club.
But if the team allows it to happen, they receive a 15-20% fee from the MLB team that signs the player. The fee is based on the value of the MLB contract the player signs.
So, financially, posting a player can be very lucrative for the NPB club.
Example:
The Orix Buffaloes received a $50,625,000 million posting fee from the Los Angeles Dodgers for Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The fee was in addition to the $325 million contract the Dodgers gave to Yamamoto.

HOWEVER...

The player must be at least age 25 for his NPB club to receive the 15-20% posting fee.
Roki Sasaki was under 25 at the time of his signing so he was limited to only signing a minor league deal with a set signing bonus instead of the large MLB contract for Yamamoto.
The Marines received a posting fee of $1,625,000 from LA for Sasaki whose minor league deal came with a $6.5 million signing bonus.
Within Japan, Sasaki took a bit of flak from the media and fans for not waiting until he was 25 to be posted, thus denying the Marines of receiving a huge posting fee (while, granted, also leaving millions on the table for himself).

Despite the large money on offer from posting fees, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks have never posted any of its players.
Owned by SoftBank Group, company founder and CEO Masayoshi Son says he has no need for MLB money and flatly rejects the idea of posting any of the team's valuable players.
For the last 3-4 years that he played for the Hawks Kodai Senga often asked to be posted but was always denied. He had to wait until he gained his 9-year international free agency at age 31 before he was finally able to be available for MLB teams.


RECENT JAPANESE DEPARTURES FROM NPB TO MLB

2021:
Seiya Suzuki (posted by Hiroshima Carp)

2022:
Masataka Yoshida (posted by Orix Buffaloes)
Kodai Senga (international free agent, SoftBank Hawks)
Shintaro Fujinami (posted by Hanshin Tigers) returned to NPB in 2025

2023:
Yoshinobu Yamamoto (posted by Orix Buffaloes)
Yuki Matsui (international free agent, Rakuten Eagles)
Shota Imanaga (posted by Yokohama BayStars)
Naoyuki Uwasawa (posted by Nippon-Ham Fighters) returned to NPB in 2025

2024:
Koyo Aoyagi (posted by Hanshin Tigers) returned to NPB in 2025
Roki Sasaki (posted by Lotte Marines)
Tomoyuki Sugano (international free agent, Yomiuri Giants)
Shinnosuke Ogasawara (posted by Chunichi Dragons)
Allen Kuri (international free agent, Hiroshima Carp... stayed in NPB with Orix Buffaloes)

2025
Obviously, each MLB team has their own needs.
For me, Imai is the one I would probably go after the most. He's 27 and has only become better the past 2-3 years.
And although at 29 Okamoto is four years older than Murakami I feel he's the safer bet to sign. Higher upside offensively and much better defensively with the glove.
Murakami is the bigger risk (higher strikeout percentage) but has the higher ceiling (incredible power). He'll definitely be fun to watch.
With Kona Takahashi, the feeling is he will only be offered a minor league deal. He had a great 2023 season and asked Seibu to post him then. But the team declined his request and he's struggled a bit since. Still a good pitcher.

Okamoto and Imai - who are both represented by agent Scott Boras - are expected to officially be posted on November 19.

Reminder of the teams who were able to hold a presentation for Yamamoto two years ago:

- Yankees
- Mets
- Phillies
- Red Sox
- Giants
- Blue Jays*

* - Blue Jays were involved with Yamamoto but i'm unsure if they got to the presentation phase like the others. Same for the Cubs.

— Wilfred Bergqvist (@WilfredBergqvi1) November 13, 2025

 

Last year I talked about the friendship between Murakami and Seiya Suzuki.
Strictly based of this, I predicted Murakami would end up with the Cubs. It's looking more unlikely to happen but I'm still holding to that prediction.
https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/2...ball-npb-season.2129831/page-14#post-42415494

 

Boxscore:
https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/japan/game/2021038488/stats

After falling behind 3-0 in the 3rd inning, Samurai Japan tied it 3-3 in the 4th before Yukinori Kishida highlighted a 6-run 5th with a three-run home run en route to a comfortable 11-4 victory over Korea in the first of two exhibition games this weekend.

The night began during pre-game player introductions when Kazuma Okamoto, who will be leaving the hometown Yomiuri Giants for Major League Baseball next month, received a warm ovation from the Tokyo Dome crowd. Many MLB scouts were on hand to watch and gauge the 29 year old slugger

17 year veteran Sho Nakata threw out the first pitch. Nakata, who spent 13 seasons with the Nippon-Ham Fighters, was a member of Japan's WBC teams in 2013 and 2017 and retired after the 2025 NPB campaign following stints with the Giants and Chunichi Dragons.

Left-hander Ryuhei Sotani started on the mound and tossed 3 perfect innings on 44 pitches.

Daisuke Moriura took over in the 4th and was greeted with back-to-back home runs from the visitors; The first was an impressive two-run blast to center field by Ahn Hyun Min, then Song Sun-ming followed with a solo shot that landed just inside the right field pole.

An RBI single from Shugo Maki and two-run double by Rookie of the Year favorite Misho Nishikawa leveled the score in the 4th before the floodgates opened in the 5th.
Kishida's three-run bomb was his submission to be the team's starting catcher come March.
Timely RBI hits with the bases loaded from Seishiro Sakamoto and Tai Sasaki extended the lead to 9-3 to end the 5th.

RBI's from Kenya Wakatsuki and Sasaki in the 8th completed the scoring for Japan.

Koki Kitayama threw 2 scoreless innings in relief while Kaima Taira closed it out in the 9th.

MLB umpire Jen Pawol was the home plate umpire and at times the Korean players, especially, the pitchers, were frustrated by her calls on borderline pitches.
It must be noted that for the past two seasons KBO has used the Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS). And with most of Korea's all-KBO roster made up of players born on or after 2000, nearly all of them seem accustomed to ABS, which will NOT be in use during the WBC. So relying on human umpires is something the Koreans will need to overcome over the next three months.

 

Boxscore:
https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/japan/game/2021038489/stats



A solo home run from Kim Ju-won off Taisei Ota with two outs in the bottom of the 9th inning salvaged an exciting 7-7 tie between Korea and Samurai Japan on Sunday.

The drawn contest ended a ten game winning streak that Japan had over their rivals since 2017.

19 year old Jeong Woo-joo was Korea's starting pitcher and impressed by throwing 3 hitless innings.

Song Sung-mun lined a 2-run single off Japan starting pitcher Yumeto Kanemaru with the bases loaded as Korea led 3-0 in the 3rd inning.

Japan leveled the score in the top of the 4th. Tai Sasaki singled in a run with the bases loaded, then Kōta Ishibashi and Ryota Isobata each drew walks to tie it at 3-3.

A timely single from Shin Min-jae off Naoto Nishiguchi put Korea back into the lead in the bottom half of the 4th.

Japan took their first lead of the night with a three-run 5th inning. Sasaki drew another bases loaded walk and a two-RBI single from Taiki Ishikami gave Japan a 6-4 lead.

Korea cut the lead down to one on Park Dong-won's sacrifice fly in the 7th, but their attempt to tie the game was thwarted when Isobata gunned down Moon Hyun-bin at the plate following a single to center field.

Another bases loaded walk, this time to Shota Morishita, made it 7-5 Japan.

But Ahn Hyun-min homered for the second night in a row, this one off Hiroto Takahashi, to reduce the deficit to 7-6 before Kim Ju-won's heroics in the final inning saw the night end in a stalemate.

After flying out to center field in his lone at bat on Saturday, Kazuma Okamoto drew a pinch-hit walk in the 8th on Sunday.
Japanese media reported that MLB scouts from the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Angels, Toronto Blue Jays and Chicago White Sox had made the trip to the Tokyo Dome to watch Okamoto.

Tai Sasaki, who was a late roster replacement, ended up going 3-for-8 with 4 RBIs over the two games.

Japan drew 12 walks in Game 2, 23 walks total over the weekend series.

Manager Hirokazu Ibata will now have to pour over what he saw and wait to see which players will be available as he and his coaching staff look to finalize the 30-player roster that will defend Samurai Japan's 2023 WBC title.

 

Hiroshima Carp fans singing the ouenka (cheer song) of Kaito Kozono earlier this season in Yokohama during an at-bat.




Tokyo Dome over the weekend when Kozono was at the plate for Samurai Japan.

 

Over the weekend teams held their annual Fan Fests/Fan Appreciation days.

For the four players that will be making the move to MLB next season, it was the chance for fans to say goodbye and wish them the best of luck in their new adventures.


After Yasutaka Shiomi addressed the crowd, to the surprise of everyone he called for the team to give Munetaka Murakami a doage.




Kazuma Okamoto was cheered during his lap of honor around the Tokyo Dome. Masahiro Tanaka, among others, posed for photos with the (former) Yomiuri star slugger.




And as the Seibu Lions thanked the crowd at the Belluna Dome, Kona Takahashi and an emotional Tatsuya Imai stood alone and waved goodbye to the adoring supporters.

 

There was one other sayonara in Yokohama.
Aki anchored her final Hamasta Battle with Misa and Shizuku.
They took on BayStars players Masaki Mimori, Kouki Kajiwara and Ryūki Watarai who refused to go easy on them... on the first go. Aki called for a rematch and the players relented.

 

On Tuesday (Japan time) Shohei Ohtani confirmed on Instagram his participation in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DRdecV_Evzw/?img_index=6

 

It's the quote heard all around the baseball world.

On Monday, former pitcher and now TV/newspaper commentator Daisuke Matsuzaka interviewed Tatsuya Imai on the TV Asahi program "Hōdō (News) Station".

This is a basic translation of how their conversation went.

(Imai walks into the studio)

Matsuzaka: "It's been a while."

Imai: "Sorry"

Matsuzaka: "Thank you for joining us today."

Imai: "Well, here we go."

Matsuzaka: "Please talk a lot."

Imai: "Yes. Yes. Thank you."

Matsuzaka: "Oh, no, talk a lot!"

(Laughter followed by similar profiles of the two men)

Daisuke Matsuzaka (age 45)
1998: Led his school (Yokohama High School) to victory in the prestigious Koshien High School National Championship.
1998: At age 18, selected in the 1st Round of the NPB draft by the Seibu Lions.
2016: Posted by the Lions to MLB (age 26).

Tatsuya Imai (27)
2016: Led his school (Sakushin Gakuin High School) to victory at the Koshien High School National Championship.
2016: At age 18, selected in the 1st Round of the NPB draft by the Seibu Lions.
2025: Posted by the Lions to MLB (27).



[The conversation began with potential teams Imai would like to play for]

Matsuzaka: "Do you want to join a team that can aim to win the World Series like the Dodgers, or one that will try to beat them? What do you think?"

Imai: "I want to take them down. (laughter) I may as well. Of course, it would be fun to play with Ohtani, Yamamoto, and Sasaki, but I think beating teams like that and becoming World Series champions would be one of the most valuable thing in my life."

[Off-camera, a staff member asks Dice-K if there is a team he envisions Imai playing for]

Matsuzaka: "Which team? Personally?... (thinking)... "The Red Sox." (laughter)
"I agree. For me, I'd also rather pitch against them (Japanese players). I wanted to play alongside Ichiro-san with the Mariners. But in the end my feelings of wanting to play against him were even stronger."

Imai: "As a player, I agree the feeling of wanting to compete is stronger."

[On preferring a team with or without other Japanese players]

Imai: "Since they went to the U.S. before me, I can ask them questions like 'What did you do in this situation?' But actually, I don't really want them to tell me what they did. In a way, I want to experience the feeling of survival on my own. One of the things I'm looking forward to is how I will overcome the obstacles and cultural differences I'll be faced with."

[Ohtani, Judge, Schwarber, Raleigh... The world's best hitters are waiting for Imai across the ocean]

Matsuzaka: "Which of your pitches do you think is the most effective?"

Imai: "I think it's the fastball. I don't aim for the lower part of the plate. I always aim high. About the height of the catcher's mask."
[video comparison of Yamamoto and Imai]
"I'm short in height and my release is also low, so the average height of players in the majors is probably higher than the average height of Japanese players. I throw a fastball with a low release that's always high, and then I pitch it with a line that pushes up from below (shows vertical approach angle with his arm). You don’t want to throw straight down from a higher angle."

Matsuzaka: "When I went to MLB, I had to literally look up to my rotation-mates because I was so short. I think throwing from a low angle like you will be successful because they’re not as used to it."

[video comparison of 6'6" Nate Pearson and 5'11" Imai]
[In 2025 Imai had struck out 12 foreign batters on high fastballs]

Matsuzaka: "I think that major league pitcher's trajectory is basically at this (high) angle. Since we've only seen fastballs, I think people aren't used to seeing the trajectory of those short Japanese pitchers, which seems to rise up from below."

Imai: "Yes."

Matsuzaka: "Is there a batter you'd like to face?"

Imai: "It has to be Ohtani."

Matsuzaka: "Yes, of course."

Imai: "I'm definitely going to go all out to beat him. (laughter) I would really like to try pitching to Ohtani to see how far my fastball will go, you know? He would be the greatest test for me to see how good my fastball actually is.


Profile from Yakyu Cosmopolitan.

 

On Tuesday the annual NPB Awards Gala was held in Tokyo.




Golden Glove award winners were announced on 12 November.
https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/2...ball-npb-season.2134612/page-31#post-43326033

 

2025 Eiji Sawamura Award (announced 27 October)



RHP Hiromi Itoh - Nippon Ham-Fighters (1st time award winner)
27 starts
14 wins
8 losses
6 complete games
1 complete game shutout
196.2 innings pitched
195 strikeouts
60 runs allowed
55 earned runs allowed
2.52 ERA

 

2025 NPB Best Nine

CENTRAL LEAGUE



P : Shoki Murakami (Tigers) 1st time winner
C : Seishirō Sakamoto (Tigers) 1st
1B: Yusuke Ohyama (Tigers) 2nd
2B: Takumu Nakano (Tigers) 1st + 1x SS
3B: Teruaki Sato (Tigers) 1st
SS: Yuta Izuguchi (Giants) 1st
OF: Shota Morishita (Tigers) 1st
OF: Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) 5th
OF: Yūki Okabayashi (Dragons) 3rd




PACIFIC LEAGUE



P : Liván Moinelo (Hawks) 1st time winner
C : Kenya Wakatsuki (Buffaloes) 1st
1B: Tyler Nevin (Lions) 1st
2B: Taisei Makihara (Hawks) 1st
3B: Itsuki Murabayashi (Eagles) 1st
SS: Rui Muneyama (Eagles) 1st
OF: Tatsuru Yanagimachi (Hawks) 1st
OF: Keita Nakagawa (Buffaloes) 1st
OF: Ukyo Shuto (Hawks) 2nd
DH：Franmil Reyes (Fighters) 2nd

 

2025 NPB Rookie of the Year

CENTRAL LEAGUE



LHP Kota Shoji - Yakult Swallows
45 appearances
2 wins
1 losses
.667 winning percentage
42.2 innings pitched
53 strikeouts
5 runs allowed
5 earned runs allowed
1.05 ERA


PACIFIC LEAGUE



OF Misho Nishikawa - Lotte Marines
108 games
417 official at-bats
117 hits
.288 batting average
3 home runs
37 runs batted in
.381 slugging percentage
.318 on base percentage

 

2025 Most Valuable Player


CENTRAL LEAGUE



IF Teruaki Sato - Hanshin Tigers (1st time winner)
139 games
537 official at-bats
149 hits
.277 batting average
40 home runs
102 runs batted in
.579 slugging percentage
.345 on base percentage

"I owe this achievement to everyone involved with the team, including the staff, manager, coaches, teammates, and, above all, the fans who always give us such enthusiastic support. I'd also like to express my gratitude to my family. I'm grateful for their constant contact and support. I'd also like to express my gratitude to my grandfather, who passed away last year. When I was little, we would often visit our home in Miyagi and play baseball together, and I have fond memories of that time. I believe that's the roots of my baseball career. To be honest, I wish I could have shown him what I did today, but I believe he's watching over me from heaven."
"Now that I've won this award, I want to lead the team to victory again next year, and with our league championship on the line, I'll do my best to regain the No. 1 spot."


PACIFIC LEAGUE



LHP Liván Moinelo - SoftBank Hawks (1st time award winner)
24 starts
12 wins
3 losses
3 complete games
2 complete game shutouts
167 innings pitched
172 strikeouts
29 runs allowed
27 earned runs allowed
1.46 ERA

Moinelo spoke by video from his native Cuba.
"I'm sure there were other players who played well, so I'm honored to have been selected among them. I'm also very happy because I think I had a good season. (The most memorable game) was the last game of the Japan Series, which is the most recent game I played, if you don't mind my considering outside of the season. I was very impressed with the pitching that led the team to the Japan Series."
"I think the best thing about my performance is that my stamina has improved. Last year, I dropped off quite a bit in the summer, and I think all pitchers drop off in the summer. But this year I was able to maintain my strengths, so I feel like my stamina has really improved. I think it's important for both the team and myself to start the season in good condition, so first of all, I'll focus on staying in good condition for next season and do my best to surpass my results from this year in every aspect."

 

Latest episode of Pacific Swings sees co-hosts David MacKinnon and Jasper Spanjaart talking about Seibu Lions teammates who are making the jump to MLB: pitchers Kona Takahashi and Tatsuya Imai.
MacKinnon played with Seibu in 2023.
Journalist Spanjaart is a passionate follower of the Lions, his favorite team.

 

'Sayonara' of the Year - 2025
Sponsored by SKY PerfecTV!, "Awarded each month to the players who hit the most impactful walk-off hits."
Each winner will receive an original award and a monetary prize of ¥2 million ($6,500)
.

CENTRAL LEAGUE




IF Yoshihiro Akahane - Yakult Swallows (1st time award winner)
• Monday 21 July
• Meiji Jingu Stadium, Tokyo
The Swallows were down 6-4 to the Hiroshima Carp and facing reliever Taylor Hearn in the bottom of the 9th inning.
Yudai Koga and Shu Masuda singled to set up a two-out first-and-third situation.
Akahane then sent a first pitch curveball high and deep down the left field line. The ball bounced back into play, but did hit hit the wall or go into the stands and jump back out? Carp left fielder Sandro Fabian appeared to give up on the play but third baseman Shoichi Futamata ran out to retrieve the ball.
Koga and Masuda raced around the bases to score and tie the game at 6-6 but Akahane stopped at third base and signaled to the dugout to appeal the play.
Following video replay, it was determined that the ball had rebounded off the very bottom of the left field pole and was ruled a home run, the first Sayonara home run of Akahane's career..


PACIFIC LEAGUE




C Yūya Gunji - Nipponham Fighters (1st time award winner)
• Friday 11 April
• Es Con Field Hokkaido, Kitahiroshima
Gunji hit a dramatic walk-off two-run home run off Hiroshi Kaino into the right field bleachers in the bottom of the 12th inning to give the Fighters a 2-0 win over the Seibu Lions.
Tatsuya Imai took a no-hitter into the 7th, finishing with 3 hits allowed over 8 innings with 4 strikeouts and walking 4 batters over 106 pitches.

 

おはようロバーツ

On Wednesday the Japanese streaming service ABEMA screened a recent interview they conducted with Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
I basically edited out half of the video to focus on his comments on a recent visit to Japan (his mother is Japanese), his opinions on Dodgers players Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki playing in the WBC and his thoughts on how Munetaka Murakami and Kazuma Okamoto may fair in MLB.
He also skims over Tatsuya Imai's comment of wanting to "take down the Dodgers".

 

おはようロバーツ

Part 2 sees Dave Roberts scouting the two pitchers being posted this winter: Tatsuya Imai and Kona Takahashi.
He also makes bold predictions over the next 4 years, and imagines himself possibly managing Samurai Japan one day.