Graveyard Baseball Podcast: Lions ŌenDEN Episode 18

Christian and Wes return with the 18th episode of the Seibu Lions ŌenDEN podcast. They discuss the latest developments on the team, including Sosuke Genda and Shogo Akiyama. There are plenty of question marks also discuss with the team.

Other topics include previewing Interleague Play, the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Chiba Lotte Marines and more!



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Podcast episode was recorded on 5/23.  We apologize for any errors or bloopers that were unintentional.  

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2017 Seibu Lions Weekly Digest: Akiyama powers team on special grounds

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The Saitama Seibu Lions would have another winning week as they took two games from the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in Maebashi, Gunma and Omiya, Saitama. They would go 3-2 combined as they lost a series in Sendai against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. Despite the losing at the end of the week, the team holds a seven-game cushion on both the Orix Buffaloes and Fighters as they are still in A-class as interleague play begins soon. Here is how the team got here:

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The first game against the Fighters from Maebashi, Gunma would have Takayuki Kato up against Ryoma Nogami. Shogo Akiyama would leadoff the bottom of the 1st inning with a "Rickey Henderson" solo home run.

This would be a classic pitcher's duel as Nogami had six shutout innings with five walks and only had one chance in the top of the 5th. Nogami overcame a leadoff double in the first by throwing the runner out at third on a bunt attempt. He would also Houdini his way in the second, as he faced runners on second and third with one out. Kazunari Ishii struck out while Yushi Shimizu would flyout to RF as Fumikazu Kimura caught a ball off balance, saving two runs.

Kato would have seven innings with seven strikeouts on the night. Kazuhisa Makita took the 7th inning and struck out two batters and the Lions added a run in the bottom of the frame. With Takumi Kuriyama reaching base, Daichi Mizuguchi would pinch run and be on third. Ginjiro Sumitani successfully got a bunt down for a squeeze play and made it 2-0.

Brian Schlitter had two runners on base for the 8th with no outs initially, but got Sho Nakata to flyout and forced a double play from Brandon Laird. Tatsushi Masuda make quick work in the 9th and the Lions won their third straight game.

Lions 2, Fighters 0

Game note:

-Brian Wolfe was taken off the roster due to an injury from Sunday. Katsunori Hirai was called up in his place. He is the third player from the 2016 Lions draft class to be added to the ichi-gun.

-This was the third Lions shutout of the season.

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Game 2 from Omiya would have Ken Togame up against Masaru Nakamura, who was making his first appearance of 2017. It would be a slow start for the Lions as Brandon Laird hit a solo Hr in the top of the 2nd. Takeya "Okawari-kun" Nakamura would respond with an RBI single in the bottom of the third.

Unfortunately for Togame the top of the 4th is where things would fall off. A string of consecutive timely hits from Taishi Ota, Hiromi Oka and Kazunari Ishii would give the Fighters a 4-1 lead. After Takumi Kuriyama responded with an RBI hit in the bottom of the 5th, Togame would continue pitching in the 6th.

A throwing error from Okawari-kun created a chance for the Fighters and it would be Ishii again who would plate another RBI for the Fighters, making it 5-2. Frank Garces would strike out Haruki Nishikawa on three pitches to limit the damage and keep the game within range.

M. Nakamura would go five innings with five walks and two earned runs. Manager Hideki Kuriyama would pass the torch to Keisuke Tanimoto and he would walk the first two batters, giving a big chance. After Ginjiro Sumitani would move both runners over 90 feet with a bunt, Shogo Akiyama took the first pitch to the Fighters Oendan, tying the game with one swing.

The party didn't end there, as Sosuke Genda reached base with an error from Ishii, forcing a tough play. Tanimoto would be called for a balk after what looked like a flyout from Asamura, giving another chance. Asamura would make Tanimoto pay, with a ball in the gap as Genda scored easily from second.

Edwin Escobar struggled with control in the 7th and the Lions made him suffer. He would walk Kuriyama, have a passed ball and then hit Shuta Tonosaki to put runners on base. Fumikazu Kimura would bunt both runners over and Shogo Akiyama delivered with a two-RBI single.

The back end of the bullpen in Kazuhisa Makita, Brian Schlitter and Tatsushi Masuda would make quick work in the 7th, 8th and 9th innings, respectively and the Lions would win their fourth straight game.

Lions 8, Fighters 5

Game note:

-With three pitches, Garces would earn the win and have a hero interview.

-Akiyama would have five RBIs.

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The week would shift to Sendai as the Lions had Yusei Kikuchi on the mound against Yudai Mori for the Eagles. Chances would be minimal for both teams, though the Lions looked like they were knocking on the door against Mori.

In the bottom of the fourth, it would be Kazuo Matsui with a timely hit for the first run of the game. Mori would pitch six scoreless innings with two strikeouts and one walk before it would be in the bullpen's hands.

Frank Herrmann would have a scoreless 7th while Kohei Morihara would take the 8th. With Kikuchi needing run support, the top of the 8th would start with Kimura walking. Ginjiro Sumitani would bunt Kimura over and Akiyama moved him again with an infield single. With runners on the corners, Genda would pick up the luckiest hit of the night. While attempting a safety squeeze bunt, the ball would be in the air, but land on the ground as Ginji Akaminai and Morihara couldn't catch it to tie the game.

Hideto Asamura would make the Eagles pay with a gapper to right field and plate both runners. Takumi Kuriyama, pinch hitting for Naoto Watanabe, would add two more runs and make it 5-1.

Kikuchi would pitch the 8th inning with a total of 9 strikeouts and Masuda closed the game in the 9th to secure the Lions 5th straight win.

Lions 5, Eagles 1

Game notes:

-Asamura would have a modasho on the night.

-It wasn't a clean outing for Masuda in the 9th with two base runners, but once again, he left unscathed in a non-save situation.

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Game 2 from Sendai would have Minabu Mima against Yasuo Sano, making this third start of the year. The Lions struck first on a home run by Okawari-kun in the second inning, but the team failed to capitalize on a chance in the third.

The wheels would begin to fall off in the bottom of the 4th inning. Sano struggled with control and loaded the bases, giving Takero Okajima a 2-RBI single to give the Eagles the lead. He would load the bases again and manager Hatsuhiki Tsuji was forced to go to the bullpen early, this time with Garces. Carlos Peguero would launch a no doubt grand slam to put an end to the game early as the Eagles ended the Lions 5-game winning streak.

Mima would go six innings with seven strikeouts and limiting the team to five hits. Chances came in the late innings for the Lions, but it was too late.

Eagles 6, Lions 1

Game notes:

-Masatoshi Okada started at catcher. He would go 0-3 with two strikeouts.

-Katsunori Hirai made his ichi-gun debut in the 8th inning. He gave up two hits and a walk, but didn't allow a run.

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The rubber match would have Makoto Aiuchi spot starting in place of the injured Brian Wolfe against former Lion Takayuki Kishi. This mismatch on paper over from the start as Peguero hit a solo HR in the first inning to set the tone. Aiuchi would allow another set of consecutive hits on the second inning and timely RBIs came from Okajima and Motohiro Shima. Eigoro Mogi put the game out of doubt with a two-run blast.

Aiuchi couldn't even get an out in the third inning as he was credited with even more runs. Hirotaka Koishi would be called up before the game and ate up some innings, but allowed plenty of hits.

Kishi wouldn't need to do much as he went seven innings with only two runs allowed. His only blemish was a solo HR to Akiyama in the 4th, but he already had a 10-1 lead by then. The Lions would lose their first series since May 7.

Eagles 13, Lions 2

Game notes:

-Ryohei Fujiwara would be sent down to make room for Koishi.

-Katsunori Hirai gave up his first runs in his career as he took the 6th and 7th innings.

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Despite the losses in Sendai, this has been another successful week of Lions baseball. The bullpen will be well-rested as interleague play begins on Tuesday. Obviously there are plenty of concerns with the back end of the rotation, but the team has weathered the storm so far while missing some players.

Akiyama has been playing like an MVP, Kikuchi is rock solid while the bats are still a threat. Can the back end of the rotation hold up? Will the bats stay strong against Central League pitchers that aren't normally seen? We'll find out.

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Follow us on Twitter @GraveyardBall

2017 Seibu Lions weekly Digest: Kuriyama's sayonara defeats the Hawks

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The Saitama Seibu Lions had another successful week going 5-1 against the Chiba Lotte Marines and Fukuoka Softbank Hawks. As a result, they've won nine of their last 11 games and have a five game cushion over the Orix Buffaloes and Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in the hunt for A-class. Here is how things went....

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Game 1 from Zozotown Marine Stadium saw Kuan-Yu Chen against Ryoma Nogami. Both sides were scoreless through four innings, but the Lions continued to knock on the door facing Chen with multiple chances.

The Lions would draw first blood in the top of the 5th as Hideto Asamura would sneak a ground ball past the infield and Jimmy Paredes' throw to home plate was off target, advancing runners to second and third. Takeya "Okawari-kun" Nakamura would hit a clean single, plating both runners for a 3-0 lead.

Chiba would get a run back in the bottom of the 5th from an RBI hit by Ikuhiro Kiyota, but Nogami would do a good job of limiting the damage. Nogami would go six innings with only one earned run and four strikeouts, scattering five hits.

Kazuhisa Makita had a jam in the 7th inning allowing the first two base runners, but a bunt by Kiyota would have the pitcher make a play. Makita would throw to 3B to get Tadahito Iguchi out and retired both Kohei Shibata and Kazuya Fukuura quickly to end the threat.

Brian Schlitter took the 8th inning and allowed a run through an RBI single by Matt Duffy, but there were two outs and there was little drama. Iguchi would foul out shortly after the Marines took two outs to advance Takashi Ogino to third. Tatsushi Masuda had a clean 9th inning to secure the Lions 4th consecutive win.

Lions 3, Marines 2

Game notes:

-Naoto Watanabe would be the DH while Takumi Kuriyama would PH later in the game.

-Makita would reach 15 consecutive scoreless innings to begin 2017.

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Game 2 would have Jason Standridge against Kona Takahashi, where both pitchers are 19 years apart in age. It would be a slow start for Takahashi, as he would give up three runs in the first inning from timely hits by Tadahito Iguchi and Paredes.

The Lions responded in the third inning, where a fluke triple by Masatoshi Okada would get things going. Paredes would misplay a ball on what should have been a single and it would bounce to the wall. Akiyama would ground out and the Lions picked up a free run. They would eventually load the bases and give Takumi Kuriyama a chance to do some damage. With two outs, Kuriyama would hit a timely single to plate two more runs and tie the game.

Standridge's day was done after three innings as Yuta Omine came in for the 4th. The Lions nearly squandered another bases loaded opportunity, but Asamura's hustle brought in a run as he would head slide to first, beating out a double play and giving the team a 4-3 lead.

Takahashi would settle in and not allow a run after the first. He would go five innings in total with four strikeouts, including one to end the 5th.

Former Marines closer Naoya Masuda would take the 6th inning and gave up a double to Okada, as the latter secured a modasho. Shogo Akiyama would score him in with a base hit. Akiyama added a two-run home run in the top of the 7th to put the game away for good. Kuriyama also added an RBI hit in the 8th inning.

Shota Takekuma and Kazuhisa Makita had clean innings for the 6th and 7th while Frank Garces got to take the 8th. Ichiro Tamura gave up a solo home run to Jimmy Paredes in the 9th, but the Lions were comfortably ahead and secured their fifth straight win.

Lions 8, Marines 4

Game notes:

-Every starting Lions player had at least one hit.  Okada and Akiyama both had a modasho with the former being a home run short of the cycle.

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The third game in Chiba would have Ken Togame up against Chihaya Sasaki, where the latter was the Marines' first round pick last October. Seibu had first blood in the top of the third with a timely single from Mejia.

In the top of the 5th, Akiyama would walk and Sosuke Genda would put him on third with a single. Genda's smart base running would have him on second with a steal. Asamura, the team's captain would then single both of them home with Chiba's infield playing in to make it 3-0. Okawari-kun would get a "timely hit" thanks to a blooper by Ikuhiro Kiyota as it scored a running Genda from first to make it 4-0.

Togame would have his best start of the season, going eight innings and giving the bullpen complete rest heading into the next series. He would have six strikeouts and not allow a run on the day.

Ginjiro Sumitani and Paredes traded home runs in the 9th inning to end the game, preventing a Lions shutout.

Lions 5, Marines 1

Game notes:

-The Lions had only five hits, but eight walks as a team on the day. Akiyama walked three times.

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The week would shift back to MetLife Dome as Game 1 would have the Softbank Hawks bringing Rick van den Hurk against Yusei Kikuchi. An early defensive relay from Shuta Tonosaki and Sosuke Genda would save a run as Yuki Yanagita was tagged out at home plate in the first inning.

Nobuhiro Matsuda would hit a solo HR in the top of the 2nd for the first run of the game. The Lions responded as Shuta Tonosaki would have an infield single, scoring Ernesto Mejia from third base. This would be a classic pitcher's duel with minimal scoring chances throughout the game and this being scattered.

It would be Seiji Uebayashi who would break the tie with an RBI double in the top of the 7th. The Lions had a chance to respond in the bottom of the frame, but Genda would flyout.

There was one last gasp opportunity against Dennis Sarfate in the bottom of the 9th. The tying run was on second base, but Tonosaki would strikeout while Okada hit a comebacker to end the game and snap the winning streak.

Hawks 2, Lions 1

Game note:

-Kona Takahashi was deactivated for Makoto Aiuchi. With next week being a five-game week, the Lions chose to not have Takahashi be a starter. He will be ineligible to play the game in Gunma prefecture next week.

-Okawari-kun would DH while Naoto Watanabe started at 3B.

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Game 2 against the Hawks had Yasuo Sano up against Kenichi Nakata. The Hawks scored first from an RBI single by Alfredo Despagine in the first, but the Lions would answer quickly in the bottom of the second.

Fumikazu Kimura would hit two-run HR to give the Lions the lead while Asamura would hit a three-run shot for a five run inning. It would be Asamura's 100th career home run in NPB. The Lions added two more runs in the bottom of the third off Nakata with a timely single by Kimura and a bloop hit by Daichi Mizuguchi to make it 7-1.

Sano would allow the one run in the first to score, but allowed three more runs through the next four innings. Two would be unearned thanks to an error from Kimura. Sano finished the day with five innings and one strikeout, scattering six hits.

With the game within three runs, the Lions went to the bullpen in the 6th with Shota Takekuma having a scoreless frame. Kazuhisa Makita gave up his first earned run of the season with a solo HR by Yuki Yanagita. Brian Schlitter had a clean 8th while Tatsushi Masuda struck out the side in the 9th.

Lions 7, Hawks 5

Game notes:

-Mizuguchi would start at 2B as Mejia was the DH. Asamura played 1B for the day.

-Masatoshi Okada would be the catcher.

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Game 3 against the Hawks featured Brian Wolfe against Hayato Terahara in the rubber game of the series. The Lions would strike first in the bottom of the first thanks to an RBI-groundout for Okawari-kun after a walk, an infield hit and a sac bunt put Shogo Akiyama in scoring position.

Hideto Asamura would open up the Lions lead with a solo home run in the third that hit the top of the wall in left-center and bounce over the wall into the Lions Oendan. The Lions would continue the scoring in the 3rd with two on for Shuta Tonosaki who would line a two-run double off the wall and give the Lions a 4-0 lead. Things would get worse for the Hawks two batters later as Terahara would plunk Ginjiro Sumitani in the earhole of his batting helmet thus resulting in an automatic ejection for Softbank's starting pitcher after 2.2 IP.

With a 4-0 lead, Brian Wolfe would cruise to five shutout innings thanks to the help of three double plays. This would all change in the top of the 6th where the Hawks would bat around and put together a five-run inning and Wolfe would come out of the game due to an apparent torso injury. The first big hit would come from Kenta Imamiya who would hit a double passed Okawari-kun at third that would easily score two and cut the Lions lead in half. Then Seiichi Uchikawa would push a single to the opposite field which would score Imamiya to make it 4-3 and Wolfe would surrender the mound for Shota Takekuma. The Hawks would then take the lead thanks to a two-run single from Nobuhiro Matsuda giving the Hawks a 5-4 lead.

The lead would be shortlived with Sosuke Genda leading off the bottom of the 6th with a leadoff triple that would be converted into a run with a Hideto Asamura sacrifice fly that would draw the two teams level at 5-5 after 6. The seventh inning would go scoreless but then in the bottom of the 8th, the tie would be broken by an unlikely source in Ginjiro Sumitani who would hit a solo home run to give the Lions a 6-5 lead heading to the top of the 9th.

With the closer Tatsushi Masuda in the game, after a strikeout to start the inning things looked good, but then Nobuhiro Matsuda would hit a solo home run to left-center to draw the game level and give Masuda his first blown save of the season and the "ATSUO!" chant rang through the MetLife Dome. Just when the Lions thought they had lost the game, Takumi Kuriyama would send the Lions home happy as he hit a walk-off home run that just cleared the right-centerfield fence. The Lions had won the game 7-6 with the Lions taking their record in one-run ballgames to 5-7 this season.

Lions 7, Hawks 6

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The Lions finish with a 5-1 week and more impressively, they have won 9 of the last 11 to retain a solid position in A-class with a 5 game lead over the Fighters and Buffaloes for the third spot in the Pacific League.

The Lions have continued to score a lot of runs in their victories but more questions will now be asked about the rotation after Wolfe's apparent injury. If he's out for the considerable future, it's anyone's guess about whether the Lions can replace his starts with ni-gun players.

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Believe it: Sosuke Genda Is Dominating As A Hitter

Yes, we knew he was going to be a defensive wizard, but in the batter's box, Genda is showing that he's more than that. The Lions' 2016 third round pick out of Toyota Motors has been turning heads for his defense as the shortstop, but what's starting to come into view is just how good he has been with the bat in his hands. Just a couple weeks ago, I didn't put much stock into it, but thanks to our friends at 1.02 Essence of Baseball, we get a closer look at what has been the key to his early success.

If you're a fan of advanced metrics, please do check out this website it will enhance your Japanese Baseball viewing and just make you a smarter baseball fan. There are three things to take away from Sosuke Genda's statistics through May 12 and here they are.

1. Genda's Batted Ball Statistics Are A Good Early Sign, Despite High BABIP

Whenever a hard hit ball is hit right at an outfielder or a soft ground ball finds the outfield grass, the term BABIP can sometimes be heard by nearby fans. Quite simply, it measures the luck that a batter has when it comes to balls that a player hits in play. Right now, Sosuke Genda's BABIP is at .355. For our MLB fans out there, we generally like to think of .300 as the median for where a hitter should be, but from what I've seen that's not entirely accurate in Japan since players in NPB put the ball in play a lot more than their MLB counterparts. We really won't know what Genda's general average BABIP is probably until his third year in NPB, but looking at his contact percentages there are good signs that his early success isn't just beginner's luck.

It may be a shock to some, but among the Lions' everyday players, Sosuke Genda has the highest line drive % on the team with 15.6%, which means he's hitting the sweet spot more than anyone. And when you add to the fact that his strikeout % is at only 11% as a rookie (compared to Fumikazu Kimura who has a 25.8%), it's clear that not only is Genda holding his own against top flight pitchers in Japan, but he's succeeding at a tremendous rate. Things look even better when you look at how hard he's hitting the ball, as Genda's batted balls are hit at medium-high contact 85.4% of the time which is also the best among Seibu's regular position players. That might be the most startling realization of all when looking at Genda's deeper numbers.

2. Genda's Base running Skills Are A Tremendous Asset

In our April podcast episode, I indicated that I wasn't a fan of having Sosuke Genda batting in the second spot in the order because I felt that Hideto Asamura was better suited for that position being the Lions' best contact hitter. At this point in time though, it looks like Hatsuhiko Tsuji is being bailed out because of not only his bat, but also his base running. Sure, we've seen Genda bunting for hits at a solid rate, but the advanced metrics confirm Genda's base path prowess goes beyond just that.

Right now, he has nine stolen bases on 11 steal attempts which hopefully will continue as the year goes on, but looking at his UBR rating which measures how much his base running helps his team, Genda has a 2.2 which is higher than any regular players with only the Carp's Yoshihiro Maru and the Hawks' Yuki Yanagita anywhere near him at 1.9 and 1.8 respectively.

That means that Genda is successfully advancing to the extra base at a rate more than anyone in all of NPB and this validates Genda as the Lions two-hole hitter because when he's on base (and right now he has a solid OBP of .354) it will be the Lions best hitters up to bat with him on base with Asamura, Okawari-kun, and Ernesto Mejia usually following him in the order. His impact base running will pay dividends when he's on first base and if any of that trio behind hits a ball in the gap, more times than not, Genda is scoring.

3. Don't Look Now But Genda's Second On The Team In WAR

You heard that right. Only Shogo Akiyama has a higher WAR than Genda at 2.3 while the latter is at 2.2. Why is this? Put simply, Genda's all-around skills in the early going of this season have propelled him to this level, while Ernesto Mejia and Okawari-kun maybe have negative defensive or base running value, Genda has positive value in those areas while also being slightly above average with the bat. You add that all together and you have a high WAR. And for those wondering, among all rookie position players, Sosuke Genda leads the pack in WAR.

Conclusion:

Hopefully, when you're watching the Lions, this piece will make you watch Genda's base running since it's often that we take it for granted since the television cameras usually just show where a ball goes rather than what's going on the basepaths unless someone's gets thrown out. It'll be interesting to see whether or not his hitting continues but the peripheral stats are good signs for continued success in the future. It's hard to see the Lions getting this much value out of lower round pick for the next several years, and I'm going to certainly enjoy watching Sosuke Genda's career path.

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2017 Seibu Lions Weekly Digest: Sano earns first win as the Lions Sweep Orix

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The Saitama Seibu Lions would have a long road trip to both Hokkaido to face the Nippon-Ham Fighters and in Kansai against the Orix Buffaloes. Against Orix, the Lions were winless heading into the weekend. Could they rebound from their bad ways?

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The first game in Sapporo would feature Kona Takahashi against Hirotoshi Takanashi, the reigning Pacific League rookie of the year. It would be another slow start for Kona as he gave up a timely base hit to Sho Nakata for the first blood. Shota Ono would then hit a solo HR to make it 2-0 in the second.

It wouldn't be long before the Lions responded in the top of the third. Sosuke Genda would steal second base and with Shogo Akiyama on third, the tying run was in scoring position for Takeya "Okawari-kun" Nakamura. Okawari-kun didn't disappoint with a timely single scoring both runners. Takumi Kuriyama would give the Lions the lead with a two-run blast right into the Seibu Oendan to make it 4-2.

Genda would add a timely two out hit with the Fighters outfield playing in to make it 5-2. Masatoshi Okada would score from second and barely beat out Haruki Nishikawa's throw. Kona Takahashi would settle in after a slow start, going five innings with seven strikeouts before being taken out.

Shota Takekuma and Kazuhisa Makita had clean 6th and 7th innings, but the Lions put the game away in the top of the latter inning. Okada and Fumikazu Kimura would deliver timely hits off the Fighters bullpen making it 7-2, ending a two game skid.

Lions 7, Fighters 2

Game notes:

-Ichiro Tamura made his ichi-gun debut in the 9th inning. He would give up a single to Kensuke Tanaka, but not allow a run.

-Every Lions player who started had a hit and even the substitutes got on base or hit later in the game after coming in as pinch runners.

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Game 2 would have Ken Togame up against Takayuki Kato. The Lions scored first with a bases loaded single by Okawari-kun, but they failed to capitalize afterwards. Brandon Laird responded with an RBI single in the bottom of the frame, but like the Lions, the Fighters couldn't take advantage of more runs.

Kensuke Kondo hit a simple single, but a bobble error by Shogo Akiyama helped him get to second base. It would be Laird again with a timely hit to make it 2-1 in the third inning.

Togame was rather fortunate, giving up seven hits but only one run through five innings on the night. He would have one strikeout and two walks included. Kato went six innings, but settled in after the first and had seven strikeouts.

The Lions would have the tying run on second base in the 7th, but Kensuke Tanimoto got Kimura to flyout and Naoki Miyanishi struck out Akiyama to end the threat. Chris Martin pitched a clean 8th while Hirotoshi Masui ended the game with a double play to Shuta Tonosaki.

Fighters 2, Lions 1

Game note:

-Kuriyama would continue to play DH.

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Game 1 against Orix would have Yusei Kikuchi against Yuki Nishi from Kobe. The Lions took advantage of a leadoff double by Akiyama and Asamura plated him on a sac fly after Sosuke Genda would bunt him to third.

With the bases loaded, Asamura would plate two more runs on a single in the top of the third.  The top of the order would produce again in the top of the 5th. with Akiyama and Genda reaching base on singles, Asamura would blast a three-run bomb off Nishi for a 6-0 lead to put the game away.

Kikuchi would go six innings with plenty of run support with six strikeouts and three hits allowed. Asamura would get a 7th RBI through a groundout in the top of the 8th inning. The Lions poured it on in the final three frames of the game with five more runs, included base hits by Okawari-kun, Genda and Naoto Watanabe. It would be the team's first win against Orix in 2017.

Lions 11, Buffaloes 0

Game notes:

-Three Lions would have Modashos in Genda, Asamura and Akiyama.

-Mejia was hit by a pitch, but stayed in the game.

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Game 2 from Kyocera Dome would have Yasuo Sano making his 2017 debut in a spot start against Phil Coke. Ernesto Mejia starting the scoring with a no-doubt HR in the top of the second. Coke would end up leaving the game in the third inning, as Genda would reach on an E1 with a surprise bunt. With Sachiya Yamasaki coming in, he would walk both Mejia and Naoto Watanabe as the bases were loaded with the latter up, scoring another run.

Kimura would add another run with a solo home run off Yamasaki in the top of the 4th. Sano wuold have one scare in the 4th inning, but only gave up one run from a hit by Hiroyuki Nakajima in the process. With the bases loaded, he would force one key ground out to Kenya Wakatsuki to limit the damage.  Sano would go five innings with five strikeouts on the day.

The Lions got two runs in the top of the 6th off Satoshi Oyama thanks to timely hits from Genda and Asamura. Shota Takekuma allowed a run in the 6th from an RBI single by Hikaru Ito, but avoided further damage escaping a small jam. Kimura put the game away with a 2-RBI double in the top of the 7th, securing a modasho for the day.

For the first time in 2017, the Lions took a series from Kansai.

Lions 8, Buffaloes 2

Game notes:

-Shogo Noda was sent down as the corresponding move to make room for Sano.

-Kuriyama was a pinch hitter and walked in the top of the 7th. He would be replaced by Shotaro Tashiro, who would score on Kimura's double.

-Daichi Mizuguchi came in as a defensive replacement for Ernesto Mejia and got an RBI single in the 8th.

===

Game 3 from Kyocera Dome would see Brian Wolfe try to complete the Lions sweep with Orix rookie Taisuke Yamaoka on the hill for the home team. The table would be set early for the Lions with Hideto Asamura doubling creating a second and third opportunity for Okawari-kun. He would capitalize on the opportunity by following it up with another double of his own to give the Lions an early 2-0 lead. Ernesto Mejia would then line a single up the middle to bring home Okawari-kun and just like that, Brian Wolfe would take the mound with a 3-0 lead.

Wolfe would give one run right back to the Buffaloes thanks to some opportune base running from Kyohei Iwasaki. Iwasaki would slap a one-out single and then promptly steal second base, and after a Masahiro Nishino groundout would move him over to third, a wild pitch would allow him to score. That would be the only run that Orix would score on the day.

The Lions would then tack on another run in the 5th thanks to Sosuke Genda who would drive in Shogo Akiyama who got into scoring position thanks to his fifth stolen base of the season. Genda would line one into the outfield and put the Lions back up by three.

Brian Wolfe would be pulled after six innings, where he scattered six hits and allowed one run with two strikeouts,  good enough for another quality start for Wolfe to start the year. Kazuhisa Makita and Brian Schlitter would pitch the 7th and 8th innings respectively in clean fashion.

The Lions would then tag on two runs in the 9th with Sosuke Genda providing an RBI-single which also gave Genda a modasho and that brought in Fumikazu Kimura and then Hideto Asamura would hit a chopper up the middle to bring home Ginjiro Sumitani to officially make the game into a rout.

Tatsushi Masuda would be brought in for a non-save situation in the bottom of the 9th just to get some work in and the Lions closer would get three quick outs to deliver the Lions a clean sweep of the Orix Buffaloes.

Lions 6, Buffaloes 1

===

The Lions are back in A-class for now and above .500 thanks to the sweep. Of course there is still plenty of work to be done. They look competitive again, but they saw a back end of Orix's rotation.

Can they continue to hit their ways? How does the back end hold up now that Nogami has been shifted to the front end of a week? Questions will still need to be answered.

===

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2017 Seibu Lions: How the roster was built

The Saitama Seibu Lions roster is already available in English, but the information is rather minimal. When scouring the Japanese site, you can see extra material, including where the player was drafted and / or where he played for previously. There are also several Japanese sites that show this information, including one chart that has the estimated salaries of each player.

Here is the entire Seibu Lions 70-man roster in English, where we've included when the player was taken, which round, what level he was drafted out of and the salary. We've also included the last team each player was part of, whether it was high school, university, the industrial league or another MLB organization/NPB team.

Starting Pitchers: 

Yusei Kikuchi (16) [1st round draft pick, 2009] HS; {Hanamaki Higashi}  ¥100 million
Ken Togame (21) [1st round draft pick, 2011] I; {JR East}  ¥60 million
Brian Wolfe (54) [Free agent, 2016]* {Fukuoka Softbank Hawks} ¥60 million
Ryoma Nogami (20) [2nd round draft pick, 2008] I; {Nissan Motors} ¥50 million
Stephen Fife (69) [Free agent, 2017]* {Miami Marlins AAA}; ¥34 million
Chun-Lin Kuo (12) [Free agent, 2014]*  {Taiwanese National Team U23} ¥30 million
Kona Takahashi (17) [1st round draft pick, 2014] HS; {Maebashi Ikuei} ¥23 million
Shinsaburo Tawata (18) [1st round draft pick, 2015] U; {Fuji} ¥23 million
Keisuke Honda (45) [6th round draft pick, 2015] U; {Tohoku Gakuin} ¥7 million
Makoto Aiuchi (41) [2nd round draft pick, 2012] HS; {Chiba Kokusai} ¥6 million 
Isamu Sato (63) [5th round draft pick, 2012] HS; {Konan, Fukushima prefecture}¥6 million

Relief Pitchers:  

Kazuhisa Makita (35) [2nd round draft pick, 2010] I; {Nippon Express} ¥100 million
Tatsushi Masuda (14) [1st round draft pick, 2012] I; {NTT West} ¥95 million
Brian Schlitter (47) [Free agent]* {Colorado Rockies AAA} ¥80 million
Frank Garces (59) [Free agent]* {San Diego Padres} ¥60 million
Shota Takekuma (48) [4th round high school draft pick, 2007] ^; {Asahikawa Kogyo} ¥50 million 
Tomomi Takahashi (43) [4th round draft pick, 2012] I; {Seino Unyu} ¥48 million 
Alexis Candelario (68) [Free Agent]* {Estrellas, Dominican Republic} ¥25 million
Yosuke Okamoto (30) [6th round draft pick, 2009] I; {Yamaha} ¥18 million 
Tatsuya Oishi (15) [1st round draft pick, 2010] U; {Waseda} ¥15 million
Hirotaka Koishi (29) [2nd round draft pick, 2011] I; {NTT East} ¥15 million
Yasuo Sano (34) [2nd round draft pick, 2014] U; {Heisei} ¥13 million
Shogo Noda (23) [3rd round draft pick ,2015] I; {Seino Unyu} ¥13 million
Seiji Kawagoe (26) [2nd round draft pick, 2015] U; {Hokkai Gakuen} ¥12 million
Tadasuke Minamikawa (36) [5th round draft pick, 2015] I; {JR Shikoku} ¥10 million
Takuya Toyoda (19) [3rd round draft pick, 2013] I; {TDK} ¥9.5 million 
Ryohei Fujiwara (28) [3rd round university draft pick, 2007] ^; {Daichi Kogyo} ¥9.5 million
Toshihiro Iwao (31) [3rd round draft pick, 2009] U; {Beppu} ¥8.5 million
Kentaro Fukukura (50) [7th round draft pick, 2013] U; {Daichi Kogyo} ¥6 million
Tsubasa Kokuba (57) [8th round draft pick, 2015] U; {Daichi Kogyo} ¥6 million
Yusuke Tamamura (38) [4th round drafft pick, 2014] HS {Tsuruga Kehi} ¥5.5 million
Koki Fujita (67) [9th round draft pick, 2015] HS; {Hirosaki Kogyo} ¥5 million
Naoaki Matsumoto (66) [10th round draft pick, 2015] I; {Kagawa Olive Guyners} ¥5 million


Rookie Pitchers: 

Tatsuya Imai (11) [1st round draft pick, 2016] HS; {Sakushin Gakuin} ¥13 million
Shunta Nakatsuka (22) [2nd round draft pick, 2016] U; {Hakuoh} ¥12 million
Katsunori Hirai (25) [5th round draft pick, 2016] I; {Honda Suzuka} ¥10 million
Ichiro Tamura (40) [6th round draft pick, 2016] U; {Rikkyo} ¥7 million

===

Catchers:

Ginjiro Sumitani (27) [1st round high school pick, 2005] ^; {Heian} ¥100 million
Tomoya Mori (10) [1st round draft pick, 2013] HS; {Osaka Toin} ¥45 million
Masatoshi Okada (37) [6th round draft pick, 2013] I; {Osaka Gas} ¥16 million
Tatsuyuki Uemoto (49) [6th round draft pick, 2002] I; {Kyowa Hakko} ¥16 million
Shota Nakata (64) [6th round high school draft pick, 2007] ^; {Naruto} ¥5.8 million
Hitoto Komazuki (62) [3rd round draft pick, 2011] HS; {Kyoto Shiritsu Tonan} ¥5.1 million
Komei Fujisawa (78) [Ikusei pick, 2011] iU; {Matsumoto} ¥5 million

===

Infielders:

Ernesto Mejia (99) [Free agent, May 2014]* {Atlanta Braves AAA}  ¥500 million
Takeya "Okawari-Kun" Nakamura (60) [2nd round draft pick, 2001] HS; {Osaka Toin} ¥410 million 
Hideto Asamura (32) [3rd round draft pick, 2008] HS; {Osaka Toin} ¥155 million
Naoto Watanabe (8) [Trade with DeNA Baystars for RP Shuichiro Osada, 2013] #; ¥50 million 
Yuji Kaneko (2) [3rd round draft pick, 2012] U; {Ritsumeikan} ¥48 million
Yuji Onizaki (5) [Trade with Yakult Swallows for RP Chikara Onodera, 2011] #; ¥23 million
Hotaka Yamakawa (33) [2nd round draft pick, 2013] U; {Fuji} ¥16 million
Shuta Tonosaki (44) [3rd round draft pick, 2014] U {Fuji} ¥13 million
Kyohei Nagae (32) [4th round draft pick, 2011] HS {Nagasaki Kaisei} ¥12.5 million
Nien Ting Wu (39) [7th round draft pick, 2015] U; {Daichi Kogyo} ¥8 million
Shogo Kimura (0) [Free Agent, 2016]%; ¥7.5 millionHaruka Yamada (52) [5th round draft pick, 2014] HS; {Saga Kogyo} ¥6 million
Kazuki Kaneko (56) [4th round draft pick, 2013] HS; {Fujisawa} ¥5.5 million
Daichi Mizuguchi (00) [Ikusei draft pick, 2012] iI; {Kagawa Olive Guyners} ¥5.5 million


Rookie Infielder:

Sosuke Genda (6) [3rd round draft pick, 2016] I; {Toyota Motors} ¥12 million

===

Outfielders: 

Shogo Akiyama (55) [3rd round draft pick, 2010] U; {Hachinohe} ¥200 million
Takumi Kuriyama (1) [4th round draft pick, 2001] HS; {Ikuei} ¥190 million 
Yutaro Osaki (9) [6th round university draft pick, 2006] ^; {Aoyama Gakuin} ¥18.5 million
Ryo Sakata (88) [4th round draft pick, 2008] U; {Hakodate} ¥15 million
Shogo Saito (65) [7th round high school draft pick, 2007] ^; {Kasukabe Kyoei} ¥14 million
Fumikazu Kimura (51) [1st round high school draft pick, 2006]^; {Saitama Sakae} ¥14 million
Masato Kumashiro (58) [6th round draft pick, 2010] I; {Oji Paper} ¥13 million
Aito Otaki (53) [4th round draft pick, 2015] HS; {Hanasaki Tokuharu} ¥6 million
Shotaro Tashiro (61) [5th round draft pick, 2011] U; {Hachinohe} ¥6 million
Daisuke Togawa (71) [Ikusei pick, 2014] iHS; {Hokkai} ¥5 milllion


Rookie Outfielder: 

Shohei Suzuki (46) [4th round draft pick, 2016] HS {Shizuoka} ¥6 million

Ikusei:

(None)

===

Legend: 

U - Drafted out of University/College

I - Drafted out of Industrial or Independent League

HS - Drafted out of High School

^ - Drafted in a year where High School and University drafts were separate. From 2005-2007, those taken in high school were separated from those taken out Universities or Industrial/Independent League teams.
  
* - Foreign import signing  

# - Traded domestically

% - Domestic free agent (Passed a tryout and earned a roster spot) 

i - Ikusei draft pick. It's similar to how an NFL practice squad works, except they're drafted in an ikusei round after the initial NPB Draft.  For more information, you can click here. The Lions currently have no one on their ikusei roster and have three former picks promoted to the 70-man roster.

===

Lastly, here is the coaching staff of the Lions both at the ichi-gun and ni-gun level.  This is listed on the Lions website.  

Head Manager (Supervisor) 
85 Hatsuhiko Tsuji (田辺 徳雄)

Ichi-gun Coaches

73 Hideki Hashigami (橋上 秀樹) - Head Coach
80 Shigenobu Shima (嶋 重宣) – Batting
76 Masahiro Abe (阿部 真宏) - Batting
84 Kosaku Akimoto (秋元 宏作) – Battery^
72 Yoshihiro Doi (土肥 義弘) – Pitching
89 Shinji Mori (森 慎二) – Pitching
83 Toshifumi Baba (馬場 敏史) – Infield defense and Base-running (3B coach)*
70 Tomoaki Sato (佐藤 友亮) – Outfield defense and Base-running (1B coach)
92 Shinobu Sakamoto (坂本 忍) – Training
98 Takafumi Sato (里 隆文) – Training^

Ni-gun Coaches 
86 Tetsuya Shiozaki (潮崎 哲也) - Farm Manager   [v]
75 Hiroyuki Takagi (高木 浩之) – Farm Hitting and Head Coach
74 Fumiya Nishiguchi (西口 文也) – Farm Pitching*
91 Eiji Kiyokawa (清川 栄治) – Farm Pitching
82 Kosuke Noda (野田 浩輔) – Farm Battery*
87 Satoshi Kuroda (黒田 哲史) – Farm infield defense and Base-running
77 Shogo Akada (赤田 将吾) – Farm Outfield, base-running and defense
81 Takanori Hoshi (星 孝典) – Ikusei and development*
95 Haruki Kurokawa (黒川 春樹) – Farm Training
96 Kenta Kudo (工藤 建太) – Farm Training*

* New coach
^ Promoted to ichi-gun
[v] Sent down to ni-gun

===

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2017 Seibu Lions Weekly Digest: Slammed in Fukuoka, Kishi haunts former team

===

The Saitama Seibu Lions would spend Golden Week in Fukuoka against the Softbank Hawks before returning home for a short homestand against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. Could they rebound from a brutal week last time?

===

The opener from Fukuoka would feature Alexis Candelario making his ichi-gun debut in place of Shinsaburo Tawata while facing Kodai Senga. After a strong first inning, things looked promising as Takeya "Okawari-kun" Nakamura started the game with a two-run home run while Candelario got a shutdown frame.

Everything would go downhill in the second inning as Candelario gave up a grand slam to Takuya Kai. Seiji Uebayashi would also hit a three-run bomb off Candelario in the third inning, where the night would end for the latter.

Senga would settle in after a shaky first inning by going six innings with four strikeouts. Shogo Noda and Kentaro Fukukura would combine for the final five innings of the night and give up a combined seven runs, including two HRs allowed by the latter. Nobuhiro Matsuda hit one in the 5th inning while Uebayashi added a three-run HR in the 8th.

Shuta Tonosaki hit a HR and Okawari-kun would get a second HR late in the game, but it was already too late.

Hawks 14, Lions 4

Game notes:

-Shogo Noda was ejected for a dangerous pitch to the head level of Akira Nakamura.

-Kuriyama played DH as he continued to recover from an injury.

-Hotaka Yamakawa was the corresponding deactivation move in order to make room for Candelario and his spot start.

-Candelario was deactivated after the game for Frank Garces.

===

Game 2 in Fukuoka at the start of Golden Week would be a matinee featuring Kona Takahashi and Nao Higashihama. This was nearly a replay of the previous game as the Lions jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the third. Sosuke Genda had an RBI triple and Asamura plated him with a single.

Things would go south in the bottom of the 4th. With two outs, Takahashi would give up a grand slam to Uebayashi and make it 4-2 Hawks. Uebayashi would add another run to make it 5-2 and end Takahashi's night after six innings. Frank Garces made his debut in the 7th inning and allowed another run on a groundout by Seiichi Uchikawa.

Higashihama mostly settled in and nearly pitched eight innings, until the Lions had a threat in the top of the 8th. With the bases loaded, Okawari-kun would ground out against reliever Sho Iwasaki to end the chance.

With this defeat, the Lions would lose their second straight and fall to .500.

Hawks 6, Lions 2

Game notes:

-Tatsuya Oishi was deactivated from the roster after reports of neck pain. Ryohei Fujiwara was called up in his place.

-The Lions would only scatter five hits on the night with chances being minimal.

===

The final matchup from the series would have Rick van Den Hurk against Ken Togame as the Lions tried avoiding a sweep. Togame would have a slow start by walking in the first run as he faced Hiroaki Takaya.  The Lions responded in the top of the 4th as Ernesto Mejia hit his 100th career home run in NPB for a two-run blast.

Togame failed to get a shutdown inning as Nobuhiro Matsuda hit his own two-run HR as the Hawks regained the lead. Asamura tied the game in the 5th with an RBI single, but the Hawks would pull away for good. Matsuda would get an RBI hit in the bottom of the frame and Alfredo Despaigne put the exclamation point on the game with a home run.

The Lions were able to score three runs in the top of the 7th to pull the team within one, but Okawari-kun would ground into a double play with the bases loaded to prevent any further damage and Ernesto Mejia struck out.

Brian Schlitter would have his first bad outing as he couldn't keep the game within one run. With runners on second and third, Kenji Akashi would pinch hit the catcher position and plate two runs with a timely hit. It would secure the second straight road sweeping of the Lions in 2017.

Hawks 9, Lions 6

===

Game 1 against the Eagles would have Yoshinao Kamata against Yusei Kikuchi. Okawari-kun would begin the scoring in the 4th with a two-run home run and the Lions never had to look back. Shuta Tonosaki and Ginjiro Sumitani would add timely hits to make it a four-run inning off Kamata.

Kikuchi would be on cruise control with the given run support, allowing only one run through seven innings with two hits and nine strikeouts. At one point, he retired 16 consecutive hitters.

Overall, it was a clean outing by both the bats and pitching with little to worry about.

Lions 7, Eagles 1

===

Game 2 against the Eagles would have Manabu Mima against Ryoma Nogami. This would be a laugher from the beginning as Hiroaki Shimauchi, Ryo Hijirisawa and Takero Okajima had timely hits for a combined five runs in the top of the 1st.

The only positive moment for the Lions was Shuta Tonosaki hitting two solo home runs in a losing effort. Five Eagles would have a modasho in this game and the team would combine for 20 hits. The Eagles pounded five more runs off the Lions bullpen which included Frank Garces, Shogo Noda, Ryohei Fujiwara and Kentaro Fukukura.

Having plenty of run support from the beginning, Mima would go eight innings and allow only two runs with four strikeouts, scattering four hits.

Eagles 10, Lions 2

===

Game 3 had Takayuki Kishi's awaited return to MetLife Dome as he started against Brian Wolfe. The Eagles struck first on a safety squeeze by Yuichi Adachi in the third inning. Carlos Peguero would send a two-run home run into the Lions Oendan to make it 3-0.

Kishi would shut down the Lions offense until the 7th inning, where he would allow back-to-back solo home runs to Okawari-kun and Mejia, but that would be the only scamper in a solid outing. He would finish the day scattering six hits and getting four strikeouts through seven innings.

The last threat against Kishi would have Daichi Mizuguchi on third base with two outs, but Fumikazu Kimura would hit an infield fly and end the chance. Wolfe would have the one bad frame in the third, but go seven innings total with four strikeouts and three hits.

Yuki Matsui would secure an Eagles victory with a clean 9th inning and the Lions would once again have a one-win week.

Eagles 3, Lions 2

Game notes:

-Kentaro Fukukura was deactivated with Ichiro Tamura called up and taking his place.

-This was the first time the Lions have lost a game when Brian Wolfe starts. They were 9-0 initially dating back to the second half of 2016.

-Kishi would be greeted with boos from the Lions Oendan, but also earned the hero interview for winning.

===

Winning one game a week will not get things done. Unfortunately the rotation is falling apart and the depth is being exposed. Let alone, the Lions look dependent on living and dying by the home run.

Too many question marks surround this team and we can only hope it gets better. The defense is still improved, but the pitching is not.

===

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Rotation Conundrum: Lions don't have a pitcher who can eat innings

On Thursday, May 4, Ken Togame was tagged with seven earned runs over 4.2 IP in a 9-6 Lions loss that gave the Hawks a sweep over the boys from Tokorozawa. The start is the latest in another poor performance from the back end of the Lions rotation and it got me thinking about a point I brought up during our season preview podcast where I questioned where the innings were going to come from in the Lions rotation?

So I decided to go back and see what was the lowest innings pitched leader from a Pacific League playoff team since the year 2010. The results were for the most part, exactly what I expected.

Kohei Arihara 156.0 IP, 2016, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Shohei Otani 160.2 IP, 2015, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Luis Mendoza 162.0 IP, 2014, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters

It's quite interesting that all three players are from the Fighters over the last three seasons. Before I discuss Arihara, I'll add that the 2015 Fighters also had Mitsuo Yoshikawa put in 159.1 IP and Luis Mendoza putting in 148.2 IP to give three strong innings eaters to Hideki Kuriyama in 2015. In 2014, a 19-year-old Otani put in 155.1 IP in support of Mendoza while Naoyuki Uwasawa tossed 135.1 and Hiroshi Urano logged 115.0 IP.

The most interesting case is that of Arihara last season because the Fighters in 2016 were the only Pacific League playoff team to not have at least one pitcher reach 160 IP. Instead, in addition to Arihara, the Fighters got five different pitchers over 100 IP to make up for this extreme outlier. All this just adds to the resiliency of last year's Fighters run to a Japan Series title and it also says a lot about the ability of manager Hideki Kuriyama to get the most out of his pitching staff.

With all this information that's been presented, it seems pretty clear that in order to be a Pacific League playoff team, you need at least one starter on your team to make the 160 IP plateau and preferably you need two pitchers to at least break the 150 IP level. Run prevention is another matter, but this is the problem that the Lions rotation in 2017 must deal with. Now let's take a look at the Lions pitchers on their roster and see the who has the highest single-season innings total at the ichi-gun level.

Kazuhisa Makita 178.0 IP 2012
Ken Togame 164.1 IP 2013
Ryoma Nogami 152.2 IP 2013
Brian Wolfe 150.0 IP 2011
Yusei Kikuchi 143.0 IP 2016

Makita's strictly a bullpen arm in 2017, so he's eliminated from contention. Ken Togame now looks like he's nothing more than a ni-gun pitcher at this point while Ryoma Nogami has looked good in the early going, but whether he can keep up this form is unlikely and the Lions would probably be happy if he reached 130 IP. Then there's Brian Wolfe, who hasn't thrown over 130 IP since 2013, so that's probably an unlikely occurrence given his injury history.

Then we get to Yusei Kikuchi where he certainly would've hit at least 160 last season if he hadn't gotten hurt in June and missed a few weeks, so he's the most likely guy to carry the load with innings. Kikuchi can certainly get to 170 IP, let alone 160 IP if he stays healthy, but that's the question, will he stay healthy? I think it's fair to say that last year's injury might've been a freak accident, but until he hits 160 IP, I have my doubts.

I will add that the Lions do have a strength in their bullpen of having 5 pitchers in the bullpen who logged 50+ IP last season, which can help ease the gap in theory, but history says otherwise.

Looking outside of the Lions, the three teams that I expect to be competing with the Lions for an A-class spot don't really have to worry about this particular problem. The Eagles for example have Takahiro Norimoto who's thrown 190+ IP the last three seasons and they have Takayuki Kishi who if healthy, can easily toss 160 IP.

The Orix Buffaloes have Chihiro Kaneko who threw 160+ IP last year and has a large track record of doing more of the same. They also have Yuki Nishi who has thrown 150+ IP in the last four seasons as well as Brandon Dickson who threw 170+ IP last season. If Takahiro Matsuba is healthy and stays in the rotation all season, he could easily be a fourth.

The Marines have Ayumu Ishikawa and Hideaki Wakui who eat innings year in and year out, though the former has been struggling and went to ni-gun. Sure, those teams all have questions about whether they'll score enough runs to make the playoffs, but they all will surely make the prerequisite of having at least one pitcher throw 160 IP in 2017.

Let me know if there are any Pacific League teams who have made the playoffs without a pitcher throwing 150 IP prior to 2010, I doubt that there are any considering the larger workloads for NPB pitchers in the past. This will be an issue that I'll definitely be revisiting as the season goes on.

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