Wednesday 1 April Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2026-04-01 Swallows-Carp postponed (rain)
Taiwanese right-hander Jo-Hsu Hsu struck out six batters in 6 shutout innings in his NPB to help lead the SoftBank Hawks to a 6-1wein over the Rakuten Eagles in Sendai. Hsu allowed just three hits with two walks with his fastball topping out at 155 kmh (94 mph). Yuki Yanagita and Kensuke Kondoh each slugged two-run home runs as the Hawks won their fifth in a row. For Yanagita it was his 269th career bomb. - Newly-named team captain Neftali Soto sent a three-run home run into the bleachers off Samurai Japan tea-whisking inventor Koki Kitayama as the Lotte Marines defeated the Nippon-Ham Fighters 4-2 in Kitahiroshima. Former Yokohama BayStar Andre Jackson earned Hero honors in his Marines debut by going 5 innings for the win. Chusei Mannami launched his second home run of the season, a two-run blast in the 6th inning.
Austin Cox fanned seven batters over 6 innings in his NPB debut as the DeNA BayStars defeated the Hanshin Tigers 4-1 in Osaka. The 29-year-old southpaw;s only damage was allowing a solo home run to Shota Morishita. Toshiro Miyazaki homered for Yokohama off Easton Lucas who was also making his first appearance in Japan. Shunsuke Sasaki had three RBIs including a solo home run as the Yomiuri Giants kept the Chunichi Dragons winless following their 6-5 win in Nagoya. Masahiro Tanaka picked up the win having gone 5-2/3 innings in his season debut. Chunichi's 1st Round draft pick Masaki Nakanishi fanned six batters in his professional debut.
A two-out dribbler from Ryui Ito in the bottom of the 9th inning was booted by third baseman Tai Sasaki allowing runners from second and third to race home and give the Yakult Swallows a dramatic come-from-behind 2-1 sayonara victory over the Hiroshima Carp at Meiji Jingu. Yakult starter Yasunobu Okugawa and reliever Kengo Matsumoto combined to strike out 9 batters over the 9 innings. The win increases the Swallows record to 5-0, the only unbeaten team in NPB. 16 year veteran southpaw Yudai Ohno tossed the 34th complete game of his career as the Chunichi Dragons finally picked up their first win of the season with a 2-1 victory over the Yomiuri Giants. Ohno allowed just four hits and no walks while recording 6 strikeouts. A 9th inning fielding error by Seiya Hosokawa in left field allowed the Giants to ruin the shutout. Miguel Sanó crushed a 2-run home run in the 5th inning to provide the necessary offense.
Itsuki Murabayashi went 4-for-4 including a clutch 2-RBI double in the 8th inning to give the Rakuten Eagles a 5-4 victory over the SoftBank Hawks in Sendai. Murabayashi also clobbered a solo home run in the 7th while Dominican starter Jose Urena earned the win in his NPB debut. Hotaka Yamakawa launched his third homer of the year for the Hawks who suffered their first loss in the new campaign. Eagles reliever Shoma Fujihira saw his consecutive scoreless streak end at 30 games after conceding a run in the 9th but still managed to earn the save. Keita Nakagawa went 3-for-4 including a 3-run home run to help the Orix Buffaloes to a 7-3 win over the Seibu Lions in Saitama. Hiroya Miyagi bounced back from a rough opening day start with 8 strikeouts over 6 innings to earn the win. Seiya Watanabe slugged his first home run of the year for the Lions.
A 2-RBI line drive to deep right field from Kyota Fujiwara capped a three run 9th inning to give the Lotte Marines a dramatic 3-2 sayonara win over the SoftBank Hawks at ZOZO Marine Stadium. All three runs came off closer Kazuki Sugiyama and negated an outstanding performance from Hawks starter Naoyuki Uwasawa who fanned 9 batters over 8 shutout innings. Ryoya Kurihara's two-run home run broke a scoreless deadlock in the 7th and looked to be the game winner for SoftBank until the 9th inning turnaround. Chusei Mannami slugged his fourth home run of the young campaign as the Nippon-Ham Fighters took it to the Orix Buffaloes 12-3 at EsCon Field Hokkaido. Mannami is tied with teammate Kotaro Kiyomiya atop the NPB home run leader board. As a team the Fighters have gone yard 18 times through 7 games. Sawamura Award winner Hiromi Itoh tossed 6 shutout innings to earn his first win of the year. Ryo Ohta hit his first homer of the season, a titanic blast into the second level bleachers in left field for the Buffaloes.
Yuya Yanagi pitched his tenth complete game in ten seasons as the Chunichi Dragons handed the Yakult Swallows their first loss of 2026 with a 1-0 victory at Meiji Jingu. The right-handed Yanagi, who turns 32 later this month and reached 1000 inning pitched for his career, allowed just 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out 6. In the 1st inning Seiya Hosokawa singled home Mikiya Tanaka from second base to produce the only score of the game. Shota Morishita had his third modasho of the season, going 3-for-4 with 3 RBIs and a run scored to lead the Hanshin Tigers to a 4-2 victory over the Hiroshima Carp at Mazda Stadium. Shoki Murakami struck out 6 batters over 7 frames to earn his first win of the year. In the 8th inning Elehuris Montero hit the first home run of the season for the Carp.
Saturday 4 April Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2026-04-04 Carp-Tigers went 10 innings
A 2-RBI triple from Hiroto Kobukata broke a scoreless 8th inning and the Rakuten Eagles held on for a 2-1 win over the Seibu Lions at the Belluna Dome. Lions starter Natsuki Takeuchi took a hard luck no decision having allowed just two hits and no walks with 10 strikeouts over 7 innings Third-year reliever Chiharu Tanaka allowed an unearned run in the 9th but managed to closeout the game for his first career save. Tatsuru Yanagimachi delivered a two-out bases loaded triple in the 7th inning and Takashi Umino hit a 2-run home run in the 8th to give the SoftBank Hawks a 5-2 win over the Lotte Marines. Hawks starter Haru Matsumoto fanned 6 batters over a strong 7 innings to earn his second win of the year while closer Kazuki Sugiyama, the victim of Friday's blown save, halted another potential loss to earn his third save this season. Marines starter Haruya Tanaka struck out 8 over 6 innings in a no-decision performance.
Takumu Nakano capped a 3-run 9th inning with a two-out 2-RBI single to tie the score at 5-5, then Seiya Kinami lined a home run over the corner fence in right field to give the Hanshin Tigers a 7-5 comeback win over the Hiroshima Carp in 10 innings. Tai Sasaki and Shogo Akiyama each homered while Minoru Omori and Naru Katsuda each had a three-hit modasho to help put the Carp up 5-2 before the Tigers mounted their third straight come-from-behind win. The game experienced two rain delays including before first pitch which pushed the start back one hour. Three home runs sparked the Yomiuri Giants to an 8-4 victory over the DeNA BayStars at the Tokyo Dome. Yuta Izuguchi, Riku Masuda and Trey Cabbage each went deep after the BayStars had batted around the order to take an early 3-0 lead in the 1st inning. For Izuguchi and Cabbage it was the second home runs of the year for each. The Kyojin knocked around 16 hits total including modasho performances from Shunsuke Sasaki who went 4-for-5 and Shunsuke Urata who finished 3-for-4.
I was pressed for time this morning and so I edited my last post to include Carp-Tigers highlights I don't follow much high school ball except maybe the Summer Koshien National Championship tournament which is a big deal in Japan. There's a player on the Chunichi Dragons that was touted as being a potential nitoryu player but I think he mainly plays outfield now. Can't recall his name but I don't give much thought to such players in high school. Until it happens (successfully) in the pros, I view Ohtani is the one-off unicorn.
Maybe Komoda will end up being a special talent who can play both ways as a pro. But in high school it's quite common to see pitchers who can swing the bat affectively This might be too easy but can anyone name these Japanese players who pitched in high school but made it to MLB as a batter/fielder? The one on the left is retired, the other two are currently active.
Sunday 5 April Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2026-04-05 Lions-Eagles finished tied after 12 innings
Domingo Santana's 2-run home run capped a seven run 7th inning as the Yakult Swallows stormed to a 7-5 victory over the Chunichi Dragons in Tokyo. Dragons ace starter Hiroto Takahashi was cruising having fanned 8 batters after 6 innings, but in the 7th he was rocked for four consecutive hits and a bases loaded walk before getting pulled. Takahashi had earlier helped his cause at the plate with his RBI single contributing to a four run 6th that had put the visitors up 5-0. In his debut season in Japan Jose Quijada worked a quick 9th inning to claim his third NPB save. Elehuris Montero connected on a 2-2 pitch in the bottom of the 9th inning to give the Hiroshima Carp a 2-1 Sayonara win over the Hanshin Tigers. After a nearly perfect starting debut a week ago, Ryoji Kuribayashi had another stellar performance striking out 9 batters and hurling 7 innings of shutout ball before surrendering his first earned run off a sacrifice fly.
Chusei Mannami launched his fifth home run of the year to lead the Nippon-Ham Fighters to an 8-2 win over the Orix Buffaloes to complete the three game series sweep. Yua Tamiya also delivered a three-run homer in the 8th, the 22nd home run in 9 games for Nippon-Ham since opening night. Kohei Arihara pitched 7 innings to earn his first win since returning to the Fighters this season. Orix's Yuma Mune homered for the second night in a row. Kenta Imamiya went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs and a run scored as the SoftBank Hawks won the rubber game of the series 4-3 over the Lotte Marines in Chiba. Carter Stewart Jr. raised his record to 2-0 with a 6 inning effort. With runners at the corners and one out, the Marines threatened to tie it in the 9th but Atsuki Tomosugi's attempted safety squeeze resulted in a game ending double play. Kaima Taira of the Seibu Lions against the Rakuten Eagles: 8 innings, 1 earned run, 2 hits, 3 walks, 12 strikeouts.
BATTING *To qualify: 3.1 plate appearances per the number of games played by that player's club Average .344 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) .343 - Shota Morishita (Tigers) .333 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) .324 - Teruaki Sato (Tigers) .324 - Trey Cabbage (Giants) .318 - Ryūsei Takeoka (Swallows) .303 - Yuta Izuguchi (Giants) .297 - Keita Sano (BayStars) .296 - Kaito Muramatsu (Dragons) .294 - Hiroki Fukunaga (Dragons) .294 - Ryūki Watarai (BayStars) On-Base Percentage .450 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) .414 - Shogo Sakakura (Carp) .405 - Bobby Dalbec (Giants) .400 - Shota Morishita (Tigers) .400 - Ryūsei Takeoka (Swallows) .395 - Yuta Izuguchi (Giants) .394 - Ryui Ito (Swallows) .378 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) .375 - Kaito Muramatsu (Dragons) .359 - Teruaki Sato (Tigers) OPS .992 - Bobby Dalbec (Giants) .950 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) .943 - Shota Morishita (Tigers) .940 - Yuta Izuguchi (Giants) .905 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) .894 - Ryui Ito (Swallows) .865 - Trey Cabbage (Giants) .856 - Kaito Muramatsu (Dragons) .833 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) .818 - Teruaki Sato (Tigers) Home Runs 3 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) 2 - Elehuris Montero (Carp) 2 - Shota Morishita (Tigers) 2 - Trey Cabbage (Giants) 2 - Yuta Izuguchi (Giants) 2 - Ryui Ito (Swallows) 2 - Bobby Dalbec (Giants) 2 - Shu Masuda (Swallows) 2 - Miguel Sanó (Dragons) 1 - 14 players tied RBIs 8 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) 7 - Bobby Dalbec (Giants) 6 - Seiya Kinami (Tigers) 6 - Shota Morishita (Tigers) 6 - Ryui Ito (Swallows) 5 - Elehuris Montero (Carp) 5 - Seishirō Sakamoto (Tigers) 5 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) 5 - Keita Sano (BayStars) 5 - Hiroki Fukunaga (Dragons) 5 - Shogo Sakakura (Carp) 5 - Shu Masuda (Swallows) AVG with RISP .571 - Teruaki Sato (Tigers) .500 - Go Matsumoto (Giants) .429 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) .400 - Trey Cabbage (Giants) .400 - Hideki Nagaoka (Swallows) .400 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) .385 - Keita Sano (BayStars) .375 - Yuta Izuguchi (Giants) .333 - Cooper Hummel (BayStars) .333 - Shogo Sakakura (Carp) Stolen Bases 4 - Yukihiro Iwata (Swallows) 3 - Hiroki Fukunaga (Dragons) 3 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) 2 - Takumu Nakano (Tigers) 2 - Go Matsumoto (Giants) 2 - Konosuke Tatsumi (Carp) 1 - 15 players tied PITCHING *To qualify: Minimum innings equal to the number of games played by that pitcher's club. ERA 0.00 - Yudai Ohno (Dragons) 0.53 - Ryoji Kuribayashi (Carp) 0.60 - Yūya Yanagi (Dragons) 0.60 - Haruto Takahashi (Tigers) 1.50 - Freddy Tarnok (Carp) 1.64 - Kazuyuki Takemaru (Giants) 1.93 - Hiroto Takahashi (Dragons) 2.38 - Hirotoshi Takanashi (Swallows) 2.61 - Kojiro Yoshimura (Swallows) 2.77 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) 2.77 - Shoki Murakami (Tigers) WHIP 0.35 - Ryoji Kuribayashi (Carp) 0.44 - Yudai Ohno (Dragons) 0.73 - Yūya Yanagi (Dragons) 0.73 - Haruto Takahashi (Tigers) 0.92 - Shoki Murakami (Tigers) 1.00 - Freddy Tarnok (Carp) 1.00 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) 1.02 - Yutaro Ishida (BayStars) 1.23 - Taichi Yamano (Swallows) 1.26 - Kojiro Yoshimura (Swallows) Innings pitched 17.0 - Ryoji Kuribayashi (Carp) 15.0 - Yūya Yanagi (Dragons) 15.0 - Haruto Takahashi (Tigers) 14.0 - Hiroto Takahashi (Dragons) 13.2 - Yutaro Ishida (BayStars) 13.0 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) 13.0 - Shoki Murakami (Tigers) 13.0 - Taichi Yamano (Swallows) 12.0 - Freddy Tarnok (Carp) 11.1 - Hirotoshi Takanashi (Swallows) Strikeouts 18 - Ryoji Kuribayashi (Carp) 17 - Hiroto Takahashi (Dragons) 16 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) 14 - Hiroki Tokoda (Carp) 14 - Spencer Howard (Giants) 14 - Yutaro Ishida (IBayStars) 13 - Kojiro Yoshimura (Swallows) 13 - Shoki Murakami (Tigers) 11 - Yūya Yanagi (Dragons) 11 - Kazuyuki Takemaru (Giants) 11 - Hirotoshi Takanashi (Swallows) 11 - Taichi Yamano (Swallows) Wins 2 - Taichi Yamano (Swallows) 1 - 24 players tied Holds 3 - Dauri Moreta (Tigers) 3 - Elvis Luciano (Giants) 3 - Tomoya Hoshi (Swallows) 3 - Rafael Dolis (Tigers) 2 - 9 players tied Saves 3 - Suguru Iwazaki (Tigers) 3 - José Quijada (Swallows) 2 - Taisei Ota (Giants) 2 - Yasuaki Yamasaki (BayStars) 1 - Eito Tanaka (Giants) 1 - Tomoya Hoshi (Swallows) 1 - Rafael Dolis (Tigers) 1 - Daisuke Moriura (Carp) 1 - Raidel Martínez (Giants)
BATTING *To qualify: 3.1 plate appearances per the number of games played by that player's club Average .406 - Ryo Ohta (Buffaloes) .370 - Ryosuke Tatsumi (Eagles) .367 - Yua Tamiya (Fighters) .353 - Misho Nishikawa (Marines) .344 - Ryoya Kurihara (Hawks) .333 - Kotaro Kiyomiya (Fighters) .310 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) .310 - Taiga Kojima (Lions) .303 - Taisei Makihara (Hawks) .294 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) On-Base Percentage .500 - Ryo Ohta (Buffaloes) .474 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) .469 - Ryosuke Tatsumi (Eagles) .436 - Ryoya Kurihara (Hawks) .419 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .389 - Misho Nishikawa (Marines) .387 - Yua Tamiya (Fighters) .385 - Masayuki Kuwahara (Lions) .381 - Yuma Mune (Buffaloes) .378 - Kyota Fujiwara (Marines) OPS 1.301 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) 1.125 - Ryo Ohta (Buffaloes) 1.061 - Ryoya Kurihara (Hawks) 1.007 - Kotaro Kiyomiya (Fighters) .977 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .954 - Yua Tamiya (Fighters) .914 - Hotaka Yamakawa (Hawks) .913 - Ryosuke Tatsumi (Eagles) .888 - Keita Nakagawa (Buffaloes) .869 - Masayuki Kuwahara (Lions) Home Runs 5 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) 4 - Kotaro Kiyomiya (Fighters) 3 - Yuki Nomura (Fighters) 3 - Hotaka Yamakawa (Hawks) 2 - Franmil Reyes (Fighters) 2 - Ryoya Kurihara (Hawks) 2 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) 2 - Keita Nakagawa (Buffaloes) 2 - Yūya Gunji (Fighters) 2 - Neftalí Soto (Marines) 2 - Yuma Mune (Buffaloes) RBIs 10 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) 10 - Keita Nakagawa (Buffaloes) 8 - Kotaro Kiyomiya (Fighters) 7 - Yuki Nomura (Fighters) 7 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) 7 - Kyota Fujiwara (Marines) 6 - Ryoya Kurihara (Hawks) 6 - Tatsuru Yanagimachi (Hawks) 5 - 6 players tied AVG with RISP .600 - Ryo Ohta (Buffaloes) .571 - Kyota Fujiwara (Marines) .500 - Fumiya Kurokawa (Eagles) .500 - Yua Tamiya (Fighters) .444 - Misho Nishikawa (Marines) .429 - Neftalí Soto (Marines) .429 - Itsuki Murabayashi (Eagles) .385 - Keita Nakagawa (Buffaloes) .375 - Tatsuru Yanagimachi (Hawks) .333 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) .333 - Yuma Mune (Buffaloes) Stolen Bases 2 - Misho Nishikawa (Marines) 2 - Akito Takabe (Marines) 2 - Hiromi Oka (Marines) 2 - Ukyo Shuto (Hawks) 2 - Kota Yazawa (Fighters) 1 - 16 players tied PITCHING *To qualify: Minimum innings equal to the number of games played by that pitcher's club. ERA 0.00 - Kaima Taira (Lions) 0.00 - Haruya Tanaka (Marines) 0.00 - Haruki Hosono (Fighters) 0.00 - Anderson Espinoza (Buffaloes) 1.38 - Naoyuki Uwasawa (Hawks) 1.50 - Kaito Mori (Marines) 1.80 - Kosei Shoji (Eagles) 1.80 - Allen Kuri (Buffaloes) 1.86 - Ryōta Takinaka (Eagles) 2.08 - Haru Matsumoto (Hawks) WHIP 0.11 - Haruki Hosono (Fighters) 0.67 - Anderson Espinoza (Buffaloes) 0.67 - Allen Kuri (Buffaloes) 0.71 - Kaima Taira (Lions) 0.75 - Natsuki Takeuchi (Lions) 0.83 - Haruya Tanaka (Marines) 0.87 - Kosei Shoji (Eagles) 0.92 - Kaito Mori (Marines) 1.00 - Naoyuki Uwasawa (Hawks) 1.09 - Carter Stewart Jr. (Hawks) Innings pitched 17.0 - Kaima Taira (Lions) 15.0 - Kosei Shoji (Eagles) 15.0 - Allen Kuri (Buffaloes) 13.0 - Naoyuki Uwasawa (Hawks) 13.0 - Haru Matsumoto (Hawks) 13.0 - Kohei Arihara (Fighters) 13.0 - Yutaro Watanabe (Lions) 12.0 - Haruya Tanaka (Marines) 12.0 - Kaito Mori (Marines) 12.0 - Natsuki Takeuchi (Lions) Strikeouts 18 - Allen Kuri (Buffaloes) 17 - Kaima Taira (Lions) 15 - Kosei Shoji (Eagles) 14 - Naoyuki Uwasawa (Hawks) 14 - Haru Matsumoto (Hawks) 13 - Haruya Tanaka (Marines) 12 - Haruki Hosono (Fighters) 12 - Natsuki Takeuchi (Lions) 12 - Kota Tatsu (Fighters) 11 - Carter Stewart Jr. (Hawks) Wins 2 - Kosei Shoji (Eagles) 2 - Haru Matsumoto (Hawks) 2 - Carter Stewart Jr. (Hawks) 1 - 20 players tied Holds 3 - Sora Suzuki (Eagles) 2 - 12 players tied Saves 3 - Kazuki Sugiyama (Hawks) 2 - Rikuto Yokoyama (Marines) 2 - Shoma Fujihira (Eagles) 1 - Hakua Iwaki (Lions) 1 - Taisei Yanagawa (Fighters) 1 - Andrés Machado (Buffaloes) 1 - Chiharu Tanaka (Eagles) 1 - Yuki Matsumoto (Hawks)
Hiroto Saiki became the ninth player in Central League history to register 16 strikeouts in a single outing as the Hanshin Tigers won their season opener at Koshien Stadium 9-3 over the Yakult Swallows. Saiki pitched 8 innings allowing 2 runs off 5 hits and no walks to up his record to 2-0. Teruaki Sato continued his impressive start to the 2026 campaign by going 4-for-5 with 4 RBIs including his first home run of the year. Kazuya Maruyama hit just his second home run in 5 seasons with the Swallows. Perhaps the most anticipated moment of the evening happened in the middle of the 7th inning (Lucky 7) with the return of the jet balloons that had been banned in Hyogo Prefecture since the 2020 covid pandemic.
14 years ago on a TV program, pitching ace of the Hiroshima Carp Kenta Maeda faced off against an 8th grade Little League superstar named Kotaro Kiyomiya. Kiyomiya would go to set the Japanese high school record for home runs with 111 over three seasons at Waseda Jitsugyo High School and was drafted by 7 clubs in the 1st Round of the 2017 NPB Draft. Tuesday at Miyagi Park, Maeda - now with the Rakuten Eagles - and Kiyomiya - a key player in the Nippon-Ham Fighters quest at the Pacific League title - faced off for the first time at the professional level. Each gained some measure of bragging rights as Kiyomiya walked in the 1st inning and struck out in the 3rd. Maeda, pitching in short sleeves amid 9°C (48°F) temperatures and strong winds, left the game in the 4th inning with what appeared to be a right calf injury as the Eagles went on to shutout the Fighters 3-0. Fumiya Kurokawa's 2-RBI double in the 4th proved to be the game winning hit. Sora Suzuki, possibly one of the most underrated relievers in NPB, struck out the side in his one inning of relief. In 33 career starts where Chihiro Sumida had allowed at least 3 runs, his record was 0-30. On Tuesday he finally received lots of run support as the Seibu Lions defeated the SoftBank Hawks 8-6 at the Mizuho/PayPay Dome. The Samurai Japan southpaw tossed 7 innings allowing 3 runs over 95 pitches to break his duck and earn his first win of the season. Yuta Nakamigawa connected for his first career home run which put Seibu up 5-3 in the 5th. Notable suspects Hotaka Yamakawa and Kensuke Kondoh went deep for the Hawks. For Yamakawa it was his fourth bomb of the season.