JUNE 2015

 

CENTRAL LEAGUE UPDATE

At the end of June, and the halfway point of the season, the central league could not be any closer. As of June 29^th only 3.5 games separate first to fifth place with the Dragons not that much further back at 6 from 1^st. Five CL teams are below .500 and the race for the three CL playoff spots is wide open. The Hanshin Tigers (36-33-1) have claimed top spot for now, going 6-1-3 in their last 10, and 14-0-1 in their last 15 at home. The Tigers moved from 4^th to 1^st in the month on the back of solid starting pitching and an offense, in the form of Gomez, Murton, and Fukudome, that has come to life all of a sudden. The Yomiuri Giants (36-37) fell into second in June and will be happy to say goodbye to inter-league for the season – the Giants were swept by both the Chiba Lotte Marines and The Softbank Hawks in June. Yakult (34-37-1) recovered a little from their May-blues to move into third, while the Yokohama Baystars (34-37-1) managed to lose 12 games in a row during June (a win just 4 of their last 20) to fall to fourth. The Hiroshima Carp (32-36-1)have played better since the return of slugger Brad Eldred, and moved out of last place for the first time this season, while the Chunichi Dragons (32-41-1) have started to separate themselves from the pack, at the wrong end of the table.

 

Noteworthy

·         Kazuhiro Hatakeyama (YAK) has taken the HR lead in the CL with 18. He is hitting .282 with 18HRs and 54RBIs (also 1^st in the CL). Hatakeyama’s teammate, and 2014 sensation Tetsuto Yamada (YAK) trails him in second with 14HRs, and Jose Lopez (YOK) sits in 3^rd with 13.

·         Hector Luna (Chunichi) leads the CL in batting average, hitting .339 4 35 in 236Abs so far this year. Luna, in his 3^rd year in Japan, hit .317 17 73 in 127 games in 2014, and .350 9 51 in 85 games in 2013.

·         Hiroki Kuroda was voted onto the Central League All-Star team though the fans ballot. Kuroda has pitched well this season, after returning from the majors, going 6-2 with an ERA of 2.62.

·         Yudai Ohno (CHU) and Kris Johnson (HIR) share the joint lead in wins in the CL with 7 each so far. Johnson is 7-3 eith a 2.23 ERA and has won his last three starts in a row, while Ohno is 7-3 with an ERA of 2.08.

·         The Hanshin Tigers signed independent league outfield star Nelson Perez in mid-June to try and bolster the line-up and provide more pop in left. Incumbent left fielder Matt Murton has struggled thus far this season hitting: Perez , who had previously bounced around the Mexican league and minors for a number of teams, was hitting .324 with 7HRs at the Ishikawa Millions Stars.