The Saitama Seibu Lions season begins near the end of this month. However, this 2021 season has more concerns than optimism on what lies ahead for both the team and manager Hatsuhiko Tsuji himself.
Here are some story lines to notice and pay attention to for the upcoming year:
Could this be the end of Tsuji?
Last year, the Lions finished at .500 and nearly made the postseason with a late push, but they were eliminated in a de facto deciding game against the Chiba Lotte Marines and lost to the Rakuten Eagles right before it all. By the end of the year, the Lions were starting an unproven "Aito" Takeda and offensively inept Nien Ting Wu in the midst of the most important games of the year with hopes of finding lightning in a bottle. Did he lose his touch with finding the right personnel for the best situation?
While the Lions were an A-class team by the end of the season, it wasn't anywhere close to deserving due to several factors. Having the wrong kind of record could lead to a forced resignation at the end of the year.
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Can the offense return to form prior to 2020?
When Takumi Kuriyama overachieves and is carrying your offense, it's not a good thing from a Lions standpoint when there are other core players to focus on. Hotaka Yamakawa and Takeya "Okawari-kun" Nakamura battled injuries while Shuta Tonosaki and Tomoya Mori were hard to watch. With several players having a down offensive year, they can only go up right?
It's easy to mention how Shogo Akiyama leaving for the Cincinnati Reds made a difference, but it's not an excuse when four players didn't contribute as much last year when they were expected to fill any holes he left. The outfield is also uncertain with a continuous revolving door at one position and it's uncertain if Cory Spangenberg will be available by Opening Day.
In response, the Lions drafted five position players in the regular draft with three of them being out of college. The last time they took at least four position players was in 2000, while the previous time they selected five was in 1987, featuring Ken Suzuki. Kuriyama and Nakamura weren't even on the team yet in 2000, as it was the draft Hiroyuki Nakajima was part of.
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Can Kona Takahashi sustain his success from the end of 2020?
The Lions rotation as a whole was messy. However, Kona Takahashi was the lone bright spot among the starting pitchers and understandably, he was announced as the Opening Day starter. There have been flashes from an ichi-gun shutout in his first year (2015). However, he hasn't been as consistent as he was in the second half of 2020. When drafted, the Lions thought he could be the future ace of the rotation. This will be a proving season for Takahashi, who went through significant time away from the ichi-gun as a healthy ni-gun player.
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Will someone in the 2020 draft class make significant contributions?
The Lions took only two high school players in the main portion of the 2020 NPB Draft with four college position players and one shakaijin pitcher. Gakuto Wakabayashi and "Brandon" Tysinger are getting ichi-gun camp looks and Takeru Sasaki has a chance to be a reliever or starter if necessary. It wouldn't hurt to have someone help the team sooner than later.
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Who is starting?
The Lions have a handful of clear cut starters for their rotation, but the roster as a whole is based on depth and playing the matchup. They can spot start several veterans for the preferred opponent when necessary. Zach Neal may not be there for Opening Day, but it's expected to have Tatsuya Imai and Wataru Matsumoto among rotation starters after Takahashi.
From there, it's very uncertain with Ken Togame, Daiki Enokida, Tetsu Miyagawa, Syota Hamaya, as well as veterans Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tetsuya Utsumi and new addition Mitsuo Yoshikawa ready to go. There's plenty of options, but no one appears to be a guaranteed rotation starter every week.
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Can anyone unknown step it up?
Several high school draft picks over the last few years should be old enough to help at the ichi-gun level. Whether it's Manaya Nishikawa, Shohei Suzuki, Aito, Ryusei Tsunashima, or even Hiroki Inoue, it is vital for someone to make sure the Lions aren't as status quo from 2020.
Fumikazu Kimura is on pace to earn domestic free agent rights after 2021 and it wouldn't hurt to have someone ready to go in transition for the outfield, a hole this team suffered from last year. The Lions also have Ryusei Sato returning from his 2020 suspension, thought to be infield depth.
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The uphill battle for foreigners could be difficult
Some teams were able to plan around COVID-19 and fly their imports to Japan as early as January so they could quarantine and join by camp. The Lions have majority of their imports training from home, including new signing Matt Dermody. Only Reed Garrett is currently with the Lions as he quarantined and joined in the middle of camp. Veterans like Ernesto Mejia and Zach Neal shouldn't be affected by this, but for Dermody, he'll have a tough learning curve where things can't be figured out virtually.
Cory Spangenberg is also at home, but it's uncertain when he'll be able to join the Lions. The team has already prepared for not having any imports by Opening Day on March 26 and with the pace of players not coming needing to quarantine on arrival, there's a huge question mark on when they're ready. The 3B position could be a void with an aging Okawari-kun and unproven depth behind him in the event Spangenberg isn't there.
For Neal, he enters a contract year hoping to earn another deal and keep his career abroad going. It wasn't a fun 2020, where it felt like the league adjusted to his success from 2019. Can he readjust to Pacific League hitters in his third season?
Even if a player comes before Opening Day, Dermody has the toughest battle by not physically being there at camp and only communicating virtually.
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How will the Lions Break it?
Break It is the big slogan for 2021, with the hopes of younger Lions taking advantage of an opportunity and possible slump years rebounding for the proven veterans. The question is, do we have some breakout seasons from unproven players or does the team breakdown somewhere to cost Tsuji his job?
Winning a pennant feels like a stretch given the Softbank Hawks are on a different level, but the Lions still need to show they can compete with the rest of the league. Some underachieving for the offense cost them a postseason spot when it was the bullpen who carried everything. Odds say relievers can follow up a good year with a bad one, but there's hope if Ryosuke Moriwaki, Kaima Taira and Tatsushi Masuda can keep their main role in the bullpen.
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