Inspired by
and Joe Posnanski, I thought I’d take a look at the 12 teams as we come out of the All-Star break. Technically, the second half started Saturday, but hey—I was playing the new Donkey Kong. It’s bananas.Fighters (55-33-2)
Did you see manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo’s LED sunglasses at the All-Star game? Big Boss used them to signal for a squeeze bunt. Sadly, it was unsuccessful, but the fun factor was off the charts.
Shinjo calls for the squeeze bunt (スクイズ). Photo: Tokyo Sports Shinjo, however, does have this team firing on all cylinders. Nippon-Ham boasts the best run differential in the Pacific at +105. Franmil Reyes and Chusei Mannami sit atop the home run leaderboard, and the Fighters have hit 28 more home runs than the next closest team in the Pacific League. Kotaro Kiyomiya was runner-up in the Home Run Derby, and Shun Mizutani is having a breakout season. He’s only appeared in 40 games, but he’s been electric — with 10 home runs and a .288/.336/.476 slash line.
Nichi-Ham’s pitching staff, led by Hiromi Itoh, has also allowed the fewest runs in the league. First-round draft pick and two-way player Reo Shibata made his professional debut on Saturday. The 19-year-old threw three perfect innings against the hapless Marines before being pulled due to pitch count. The future is bright in Hokkaido.Tigers (55-35-2)
The Tigers have a 10-game lead over the Giants, the best run differential in NPB at +114, and a home run-hitting machine in Teruaki Sato. Sato leads the Central League in home runs and RBIs, and he’s just .003 behind Yuki Okabayashi for the batting title. He has a real chance to win the Triple Crown; the last winner in NPB was Munetaka Murakami in 2022.
But instead of talking about Sato, I’d rather highlight the fact that Hanshin signed relief pitcher Grant Hartwig on July 14, just a few weeks after the New York Mets released him. Hartwig has one of those names that just screams relief pitcher. Graeme Lloyd? Of course. Rod Beck? No question. Grant Hartwig? Absolutely.Hawks (53-34-4)
The Hawks won a league-best 91 games last year before falling in the Japan Series. They opened this season at home and got swept by the Marines. That was the high point for Lotte, and the low point for SoftBank. Battling injuries, the Hawks stumbled out to a 9-15-2 start. Since May, they’ve had the best record in the Pacific League. To the chagrin of every other fanbase, the franchise that’s dominated Japanese baseball since the turn of the century isn’t done yet. They’re currently on an 8-game winning streak and only 1 game behind the Fighters.
Ukyo Shuto (my wife’s favorite player not named Takashi Ogino) is third in the PL in batting average and leads the league with 26 stolen bases. Add in elite defense, and he’s one of the best all-around players in the Pacific League. Add in his elite smile, and he’s basically impossible to hate — even if he plays for the Evil Empire of Japan.
Kensuke Kondoh, last year’s MVP, missed all of April and most of May due to a back injury. He looked merely mortal during June but he’s back to his usual godly self in July - marked by smacking a grand slam for his 100th career home run. If the Hawks hope to repeat as pennant winners, they’ll need him healthy the rest of the way.
Even in these hideous alternate uniforms, the Hawks can't lose. (Photo: 栗木一考) Buffaloes (46-40-3)
Orix dropped the final three games before the All-Star break against Lotte. A tough pill to swallow for Buffaloes fans but at least their captain took home All-Star MVP honors in front of the hometown crowd.
They came out of the break with two more losses, this time to the Hawks in Fukuoka—where they’ve now lost ten straight at the Mizuho PayPay Dome Fukuoka*.
*Officially the Fukuoka Dome but naming rights have cursed us with that eyesore. And mouthful.
Pitching has been the Buffaloes’ biggest weakness. Their run differential sits at -13, and outside of staff ace Hiroya Miyagi and bullpen anchors Luis Perdomo and Andres Machado, every pitcher with more than 13 innings pitched has an ERA+ below 100 (that’s bad*). In fact, the entire team’s ERA+ is 80 (that’s really bad).
*ERA+ takes a pitcher's ERA and adjusts it for league and park factors. A score of 100 is league average; 150 is 50% better than average. An ERA+ of 80 means the team has been 20% worse than league average.
They might also be the worst defensive team in Japan.
Still, with the Lions fading, manager Mamoru Kishida should be able to get this team to the playoffs. Allen Kuri was an All-Star in his first year after coming over from the Carp and he’ll need to keep pitching like one if Orix hopes to get past the Fighters and Hawks.Giants (44-44-3)
Yomiuri has been playing below .500 since the start of June. That they’re still in 2nd place is a testament to how poorly every team not named Hanshin is playing this year.
The Giants signed former Yankees and Eagles star Masahiro Tanaka over the offseason. He battled injuries and age last season and made just one start for Rakuten. Sitting only three wins away from 200, the Giants must’ve figured they could help him find a little old magic, and sell some commemorative goods in the process.
But they couldn’t find it. In three games with the first team, Tanaka is 1-1 with a 9.00 ERA. He’s still two wins shy of 200, but with the Giants’ playoff hopes hanging by a thread, it’s hard to see them giving him another shot.BayStars (41-44-5)
They’re the defending champs, so there’s probably not much panic in Yokohama. After all, they finished just two games over .500 last season and still ended up the best team in Japan.
Tyler Austin is still injured. To replace him, the BayStars re-signed Mike Ford. He played in just six regular-season games for Yokohama in 2024 but was a key part of their postseason run, hitting .333 with a .432 OBP over 12 games.
Yokohama Stadium’s a lovely place to watch a game, so here’s hoping Ford can recapture a little October magic.Lions (42-47-1)
The cats from Saitama finished with a league-worst 49-91-3 record. They fired manager and former Metropolitan disappointment Kaz Matsui after he went 15-30 to start the season. No matter what, it felt like anything would be better than last season.
To the surprise of everyone, the Lions were over .500 at the end of June, sitting in fourth place and within reach of the playoffs. Unfortunately, someone must’ve hung a picture of Matsui in the clubhouse, because they’ve been the worst in the Pacific in July: 4-14-1. They’re still in fourth, but the gap between them and the top three grows wider by the day.
Seibu has been the anti-Orix: pitching strong, bats weak. Newcomer Trey Wingenter is striking out 40% of the batters he faces out of the bullpen. That is mindbendingly absurd.
The Lions’ bats, on the other hand, have nothing. They have scored the fewest runs in all of Japan. Someone other than Phil Nevin’s son, Tyler, and rookie Seiya Watanabe will have to start swinging with purpose soon.Golden Eagles (41-46-2)
Rakuten seems like a lock to miss the playoffs for the 4th straight season. They can’t hit, they can’t pitch. They can, however, steal bases. Led by Hiroto Kobukata, they have the most swipes across both leagues.
What they can also do is play spoiler, and play to stay out of the basement. The Eagles took the first two games after the break against the Lions and are now tied for 4th place.
Last year’s first round pick Rui Muneyama hit his 3rd homer of the season in that game, his first since April. He also had two hits and drove in a run starting in Game 2 of the All-Star series. He gives Sendai fans a reason to tune in, even if they won’t make it to the Climax Series.Dragons (40-48-2)
The Dragons haven’t been to the playoffs since 2012 — the longest drought in NPB. They’ve also only had one winning season since then. They’ve played .500 or worse every month this season, yet somehow sit just 2.5 games out of the final playoff spot in the Central.
Can they pull it off? Sure. Will they? When your marquee foreign signing is Michael Chavis, let’s just say: don’t hold your breath.Carp (38-47-5)
The Carp are on a five-game skid and sitting fifth in the Central. Team owner Hajime Matsuda made a public visit to encore manager Takahiro Arai before Sunday’s game.
If public encouragement in Japan is anything like a vote of confidence in America, Arai’s days might be numbered.Marines (35-51-2)
After naming a new head coach (but keeping the same manager), Lotte went 11-11 in June, a marked improvement over May’s 6-17. Hope had returned for Marines fans. It looked like they might finally crawl out of the Pacific League basement.
Alas, that hope was short-lived. The Marines are back in early-season form, going 6-10-2 so far in July. Manager Masato Yoshii is almost certainly gone at the end of the year.
Still, it’s not a total loss. Lotte has been giving extended playing time to young hitters and pitchers, getting them some much-needed development time. They sent four players to the All-Star game and, aside from pitcher Shunsuke Nakamori who gave up two home runs, all performed well.
The Marines All-Stars doing Daito Yamamoto’s (back right) signature post. (Photo: Marines social media) Fan-favorite Gregory Polanco had surgery last week and is rehabbing in the United States. No word if he’ll be back this season (or ever) as he was struggling mightily before the injury. In his place, 22-year-old Stiven Acevedo was promoted from the development squad. Head coach Saburo has said he wants the team to rely less on foreign players. Still, it’s hard to believe that when he said that, he was thinking of Acevedo—not a 22-year-old rookie, but more likely an aging veteran, someone like Polanco (33) or Neftali Soto (36).
Swallows (30-50-5)
The worst team in baseball is on a 6-game winning streak. Can you imagine the worst team in another sport going on a similar run? It’s always said the baseball playoffs are a crapshoot because of the short series but, honestly, baseball in general is a crapshoot. An enigma. The worst teams are capable of sweeping the best. Light-hitting shortstops can hit game-winning home runs. Guys with legs like street signs can steal a base. Pot-bellied guys who look like your uncle can strike out the side.
But I digress. The good news for the Swallows is that Munetaka Murakami is playing baseball again and hitting home runs on the farm. He’ll be back with the first team on Tuesday. The bad news is that he still plans to head to MLB after the season. Oh, and Jingu Stadium is still scheduled for demolition.
Phew. Finished. I think that was a bit more than one thought per team. I’m gonna go look for more bananas.
This is the perfect mix of stats and personality. You can tell you love the game, but you’re also having fun with it. The Donkey Kong opener? Chef’s kiss.
On Saturday the Marines mascot wore スクイズ sunglasses. It was funny, and Shinjo applauded. 😄