On the 29th, both the Central and Pacific Leagues will open at the same time for the first time in two years, and a pennant race will begin in which each team will play 143 games. All six opening games will be played at night.
We will look at each team this season along with the highlights of the opening card of the 6 games.
table of contents
《Opening card (scheduled start time)》
◇Giants x Hanshin
◆DeNA×Hiroshima
◇Yakult x Chunichi
◆Orix x Softbank
◇Lotte x Nippon Ham
◆Rakuten x Seibu
★ Efforts to shorten game time
Open table of contents
table of contents
table of contents
《Opening card (scheduled start time)》
◇Giants x Hanshin
◆DeNA×Hiroshima
◇Yakult x Chunichi
◆Orix x Softbank
◇Lotte x Nippon Ham
◆Rakuten x Seibu
★ Efforts to shorten game time
《Opening card (scheduled start time)》
[Central League]
▽Giants x Hanshin (Tokyo Dome, 18:15)
▽DeNA x Hiroshima (Yokohama, 18:30)
▽Yakult x Chunichi (Jingu, 18:00)
[Pacific League]
▽Orix x Softbank (Kyocera Dome Osaka, 18:00)
▽Lotte x Nippon Ham (ZOZO Marine, 18:30)
▽Rakuten x Seibu (Rakuten Mobile, 18:00)
==Central League opening card highlights==
[Central League] What are the movements of the 6 teams the day before the opening day?
◇Giants x Hanshin
Under manager Akifu Okada, who was in his first year in charge, Hanshin won the No. 1 title in Japan for the first time in 38 years, and in the year of the team's 90th anniversary, they faced the Giants, who are aiming to bounce back from 4th place for the second consecutive year, and the "tradition" at Tokyo Dome. The season will begin with a match.
[Hanshin]
Manager Okada of Hanshin entrusted ace pitcher Akihiro Aoyagi to take the mound for the opening game.
Last season, pitcher Aoyagi experienced a drop in the second-tier league and won only eight games, but he started three games in exhibition games and had a stable performance with an ERA of 1.29.
Among the fielders, 20-year-old Ukyo Maekawa is expected to make a strong showing with his unique batting skills and earn a starting spot in the opening game, and is expected to improve from last season.
However, the team has been slow to make adjustments, as players Koji Chikamoto and Yusuke Oyama, who contributed greatly to Japan's championship, were absent in the final stages of the opening game due to poor condition, and there are concerns about how this will affect the season. It will be interesting to see how he gets off to a good start.
[Giants]
Under new manager Shinnosuke Abe, the Giants are focusing on ``precision baseball,'' not relying on home runs, but base-running that actively aims for advancing bases and getting to the next base ahead.
Looking for fierce regular competition among young players and veterans alike, players such as Shunsuke Sasaki, a rookie outfielder ranked third in the draft and with a batting average of .400 in exhibition games, have joined the opening team.
On the pitching staff, pitcher Togo Togo, who led the team in wins for two years in a row, will serve as the opening pitcher.
Manager Abe is enthusiastic that he will face this ``traditional game'' with ``the intention of borrowing his heart'', and all eyes will be on whether he will be able to embody precise baseball against the best team in Japan.
◆DeNA×Hiroshima
DeNA, which is the furthest away from winning the league among the 12 teams, is aiming to win the league for the first time in 26 years and become number one in Japan. Under coach Takahiro Arai, they will face Hiroshima, who finished second in his first year in charge, at their home base, Yokohama Stadium. .
[DeNA]
DeNA will be led by Daisuke Miura, who is in his fourth year in charge and became the first veteran manager of the team to finish in 3rd place or higher for two consecutive years last season.
While we lost the left and right pillars of pitcher Shota Imanaga and pitcher Bauer who transferred to the major leagues, pitcher Katsuki Higashi, who won titles such as the most wins last season and is serving as the opening pitcher for the second time in two years, will be the main breadwinner. Expectations are high.
Among the fielders, Takateru Watarai, the rookie ranked first in the draft, achieved a batting average of .434 in exhibition games and became the ``leading batter'', and manager Miura has made it clear that he will be used as the No. 1 hitter in the opening game. .
Manager Miura hasn't had a win in the opening game in 10 innings, including the 7 innings he served as the opening pitcher during his active career and the 3 innings since taking over as manager, so will he be able to get a victory this year? It gets noticed.
[Hiroshima]
In Arai's first year as coach, Hiroshima jumped from 4th or lower to 2nd place for the fourth consecutive year, and is aiming for their first league title since 2018, when they won their third consecutive league title.
Pitcher Aren Kuri, who has been in the rotation since the start of last season and achieved stable results, pitching the most innings for 12 teams, will serve as the opening pitcher for the first time in his 11th year as a professional.
As for fielders, mainstay player Ryoma Nishikawa transferred to Orix, but young players such as 23-year-old Kaito Kozono and 20-year-old Shunsuke Tamura, who was selected by the Japanese national team for his powerful batting ability, are emerging. The key point will likely be whether the attack, which takes advantage of the young players and their unique mobility, will work.
◇Yakult x Chunichi
Yakult, who aimed for their third consecutive league title last season but finished in 5th place, will face Chunichi, who have been at the bottom for the second consecutive year, at Jingu Stadium, a meeting between teams aiming to make a comeback to the top.
[Yakult]
Munetaka Murakami, who became the youngest Triple Crown winner in Yakult's history last season, hit 31 home runs, batted .256, and had 84 RBIs last year, all of which were lower than the previous year. Captain Tetsuto Yamada, who has hit the triple three three times, was also sidelined twice due to poor lower body condition, so the recovery of the two main players will be the key to the batting lineup.
The pitching staff is in a difficult situation due to a series of injuries, including pitchers Yasuhiro Ogawa and pitcher Yasunobu Okugawa, who were expected to be part of the starting lineup, but Pitcher Saisneed, who is in his fourth year in Japan and will be the opening pitcher for the first time, won two shutouts last season. It will be interesting to see if they can rouse themselves and give the team momentum against a team that is facing a difficult situation, Chunichi.
[Chunichi]
While Chunichi has a rich pitching staff, the key will be whether they can resolve their serious lack of scoring ability. The
opening
pitcher was Yuya Yanagi, an eighth-year pitcher who showed stable pitching with an ERA of 2.44, although he lost significantly last season with 4 wins and 11 losses due to poor batting support.
, pitcher Shinnosuke Ogasawara
, pitcher Hiroto Takahashi, who had 145 strikeouts last year, second in the league, pitcher
Hideaki Wakui, who is in his 20th year as a pro, and other pitchers such as pitcher Hideaki Wakui
, and Martinez, the closer pitcher who has made 123 saves in total. The relievers are also in perfect condition.
In order to resolve the lack of scoring ability among fielders, three-time RBI leader Sho Nakata has joined the team, and players with long-hitting abilities such as Seiya Hosokawa, who hit a team-leading 24 home runs last season, are playing an active role. The key to rising to the top is likely to be how you show it.
==Pacific League opening card highlights==
[Pacific League] What are the movements of the 6 teams the day before the opening day?
◆Orix x Softbank
Orix, aiming for their fourth straight league title, will play their opening game at Kyocera Dome Osaka against Softbank, led by newly appointed manager Yuki Kokubo.
[ORIX]
Orix pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who won 15 games last season, and left-handed pitcher Fukuya Yamazaki, who won 11 wins next to Yamamoto, have been transferred, and pitcher Daiya Miyagi has been designated as the opening pitcher.
Pitcher Miyagi, who has won double digits for three consecutive years, is expected to play an active role as the center of the starting lineup this season.
As for the fielders, Ryoma Nishikawa, who transferred from Hiroshima as a free agent, has joined the team, and it will be interesting to see if this promising new talent, who posted the second-best batting average in the league last season, will add further depth to the batting lineup.
[Softbank]
Softbank is aiming for its first championship in four years, and pitcher Kohei Arihara, who returned from the Major Leagues last season and won a team-leading 10 games, will win for the third time, including when he was with Nippon-Ham. He will serve as the opening pitcher.
It will be interesting to see if he can show off his characteristic pitching, skillfully using cut balls and two-seam pitches, against the Orix batting lineup that had the top batting average in the league last season.
In addition to new fielders such as Hotaka Yamakawa, who transferred from Seibu, and Walker, who joined from the Giants, the key will be whether the strong batting lineup, which includes players such as Yuki Yanagita and Kensuke Kondo, can demonstrate their true potential. .
◇Lotte x Nippon Ham
Lotte, which was in second place last season, is aiming for its first league championship in 19 years since 2005 under coach Rito Yoshii, who is in his second year in charge, and has been at the bottom for the second consecutive year under coach Tsuyoshi Shinjo, who is in his third year in office. They will play against Nippon-Ham, who are aiming to make a comeback.
[Lotte]
Pitcher Kazuya Kojima, who pitched the team's only regular innings last season and maintained the rotation and recorded 10 wins, will serve as the opening pitcher for Lotte for the second consecutive year.
The opening rotation includes
pitchers Aki Sasaki, a fifth-year pitcher who is expected to play an active role throughout the season, and
pitcher Atsuki Taneichi, who has even made the Japan national team
. Aim for victory with pitching that skillfully handles a variety of breaking balls.
On the other hand, the key is to revitalize the batting lineup, which ranked fourth in the league in both batting average and slugging percentage last season, and tied for fourth in home runs.
Polanco, who won the home run title last season, and new player Soto, who has won the home run title twice so far, are the centerpiece, as well as fielders such as Koki Yamaguchi and Naonori Yasuda, who are known for their long-hitting ability, are filling the center field. I'll keep an eye out for this.
[Nippon-Ham]
Nippon-Ham's fourth-year pitcher Taikai Ito, who has reached the standard pitching innings three years in a row since his rookie year, will serve as the opening pitcher for the first time.
Although pitcher Naoyuki Uezawa, who was a key player in the starting lineup, has left the team, they still have some of the pieces in place, including pitcher Fukuya Yamazaki who joined the team from Orix and pitcher Takayuki Kato, who has been pitching consistently every year.
On the other hand, attention will be paid to whether their unique batting line-up will function as a fielder, with Nakamasa Manami, who hit 25 home runs last season, and Martinez, who scored 12 RBIs, the most for 12 teams, in the open game.
◆Rakuten x Seibu
On the 20th anniversary of the team's founding, Rakuten, who aim to become number one in Japan for the first time in 11 years, will face Seibu at their home base, who are aiming to win the league for the first time in five years and become number one in Japan for the first time in 16 years.
[Rakuten]
Rakuten is aiming to make a comeback from fourth place under new manager Toshiaki Imae, who was appointed at the age of 40 and is the youngest of the 12 teams, and pitcher Takahisa Hayakawa, who is in his fourth year as a professional, will serve as the opening pitcher for the first time.
Pitcher Hayakawa worked on learning the forkball as a new deciding ball during the camp, and he also achieved stable results in open games.
The key to the batting lineup will be whether players with proven records such as Hideto Asamura and Hiroaki Shimauchi can lead the attack.
[Seibu]
Seibu finished 5th in manager Kazuo Matsui's first year in charge. Pitcher Tatsuya Imai, who has the fastest fastball of 159km/h and a sharp slider, will serve as the opening pitcher for the first time in his 8th year as a professional.
▽Ace pitcher Mitsunari Takahashi
▽Pitcher Kaiba Taira, who is in his second year as a starter
▽Tomoichiro Sumida, a 3rd year pitcher who was also selected for the Japan national team
▽Natsuki Takeuchi, a left-handed rookie who is ranked first in the draft and maintains a high reputation With
a pitcher and
a strong starting lineup, how will pitcher Imai, who won double digits for the first time last season and has been doing well since the exhibition game, fare against Rakuten, who had a good match with 6 wins in 7 games and an ERA of 0.87 last season? It will be interesting to see if he shows any pitching.
On the other hand, the fielders had the worst number of points in the league last season, and new foreign players such as Aguilar and Cordero, who have been acquired in the major leagues and have a proven track record in the major leagues, are expected to perform as expected. That is the key.
★ Efforts to shorten game time
In order to shorten the length of games in professional baseball this season
, the time from the previous batter's turn at bat to the next batter's stance will be kept within 30 seconds, and
managers and coaches will be heading to the mound. At the same time, he is expected to return to the bench within 30 seconds, so it will be interesting to see how effective he is.