Japanese Baseball Update, June 2010 by Glenn Davies
Japanese
Baseball Update, July 2010
Glenn Davies, Tokyo Japan
Central
League
The heat of summer is upon us in Japan, and
the race for the Central League title is promising us an equally scorching
time. The Giants 5-9 so far in July have stumbled a little as of late, allowing
the Tigers to make a race of it and close the gap to half a game. They continue
to hit the ball well but pitching has been the major issue, losing games
6-7, 10-8 , and being swept by the Dragons mid-month allowing them to further
entrench themselves in third. At the other end of the scale the Baystars
have gone 10-25 to sink like a stone to the cellar of the CL. The Baystars
have tried to add a much needed bat in their line up by signing Brian Harper
(4-5 in his debut this week) from Triple A Sacremento, but even his 5 HRs
in 51 Abs looks unlikely to see them out of the race for the playoffs by
Mid August. The Swallows new manager Shigeru Takada has been a minor miracle
for Yakult, brining them back from the dead to fourth place and 8.5 back
of the playoffs. The late addition of Josh Whitesell has sparked the offense
into life with 4HRs in 15 games with the club.
Matt Murton continues to be the surprise star package of
the season, hitting .356 with 10HRs and 56 RBIs at the top of the Tigers
order.
|
|
Games
back |
Winning Pct. |
|
1 |
Giants |
49-36 |
- |
.576 |
2 |
Tigers |
47-35-1 |
0.5 |
.573 |
3 |
Dragons |
46-41-1 |
3.5 |
.529 |
4 |
Swallows |
35-47-2 |
8.5 |
.357 |
5 |
Carp |
33-49-2 |
2 |
.402 |
6 |
Bay
Stars |
30-54 |
4 |
.427 |
Pacific
League
The battle for the top three places intensified
over the past month with early season frontrunners the Softbank Hawks hitting
a strong rein of form to reclaim second place from Chiba. The Lions have
been cruising as of late, 8-8 so far this season and the upcoming three game
series with the Hawks and then Chiba will be telling. The Fighters have finally
been matching pre-season form and predictions with a 7-3 run earlier this
month. Change of Manager and change of direction? Unfortunately the direction
is down and Mart Browns Eagles have not shown any of the form that saw them
finish 3rd last season under legendary manager Nomura. A sixth
place finish for the Eagles, although probably a fair indictment of the skill
level and experience of the club, will probably spell the end of Brown. Third
year infielder Jose Ortiz of the Softbank Hawks leads the PL homerun race
with 21 round trippers so far, his previous stop at Chiba in 2008 saw 11
as a career high here in Japan. The pitcher to watch? Yu Darvish has slowly
been turning his season around and showing some of the MVP form he is capable
of, but the star present is Hideaki Wakui of the Lions. Wakui, successor
to Matsuzaka in the staff ace role is 11-5 in 18 starts this season with
an ERA of 2.80.
|
|
Games
back |
Winning Pct. |
|
1 |
Lions |
53-39 |
- |
.576 |
2 |
Hawks |
49-40-3 |
2.5 |
.551 |
3 |
Marines |
47-39-2 |
0.5 |
.547 |
4 |
Fighters |
45-45-2 |
4 |
.500 |
5 |
Buffaloes |
43-45-2 |
1.5 |
.483 |
6 |
Eagles |
40-46-2 |
1.5 |
.465 |
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