Lions have hope for future behind youth experience

 

The 2023 Saitama Seibu Lions season is now thought to be a wash. It's not even at the halfway point yet, but the flaws are too much for the team to be taken seriously as an A-class contender.

That being said, this past weekend's series against the Rakuten Eagles showed glimpses of the future behind several first round draft picks. 

Takuya Hiruma made his debut and got his first career HR in the third game which was the eventual game winner. Many think he could be a five-tool player with bat comparisons to Masataka Yoshida.

The Lions waited to play him with wanting to manipulate the service time, which will save a bit for later and he'll be playing every day as long as he's healthy. 

Chihiro Sumida might not be an ace, but he's been an unlucky loser when it comes to pitcher decisions outside of his control. The Lions have been rather tight with using him, yet there's progress with what we're seeing on the mound.

As a trajectory, there's reason for optimism of being at least middle tier rotation starter. 

Kento Watanabe spent the entire 2022 season in ni-gun, but is now a starting 1B due to Hotaka Yamakawa in trouble.  With this necessity, the Lions have no choice but to give him a shot an opportunity to win a starting position.

His pop numbers may not be as flashy as his appearance, but will get a chance to develop by continuous play. 

All three players had at least a win or home run for the series in Sendai.

Despite having the worst record in interleague play, they can still avoid the Pacific League cellar.

It won't be about wins and losses in the standings from here on out, but the progress of the young players which we haven't seen for some time. 

===

Follow us on Twitter @GraveyardBall

Almost everything has gone wrong for the Lions in 2023

 

===

The Saitama Seibu Lions have become a trainwreck since the month of May began. This negative momentum has carried into Interleague play with a losing home stand against both the Chunichi Dragons and Yakult Swallows of the Central League, both of whom are in the cellar.

Too many issues to pick and point one instance, but here are some things we can decipher.

===

The Outfield still can't hit

Offense has been an elephant in the room since 2020 and it really hasn't recovered since Shogo Akiyama signed with the Cincinnati Reds. 

Nobody can keep their everyday job as it's been a position by committee. Only Shohei Suzuki can afford to stay at the ichi-gun full-time, but "Aito" Takeda appears to not be an answer after a decent April. 

Others who have appeared up and down the rotation include Mark Payton, Gakuto Wakabayashi, Shinya Hasegawa, Yuji Kaneko, Manaya Nishikawa and Seiji Kawagoe. 

It's been a messy situation trying to hope someone can stick, but it's a failure.

===

Yamakawa's downfall can't be an excuse

The most casual remark would mention the awful story of Hotaka Yamakawa awaiting a formal prosecution and being off the team for it. However, the Lions spent a good chunk of April without his presence and he didn't even hit a HR in the 17 games he appeared in.

It was veteran Takeya "Okawari-kun" Nakamura masking the offense with several HRs in April to have them at .500. Coming into this season, it was essential to find someone who can produce on offense not named Yamakawa as he would enter free agency, but now, very few can hit or have earned an everyday starting role. 

Shuta Tonosaki has been decent for what he is, but can't carry a team alone. David MacKinnon is also the only player to play in every game this season. He has been adequate in what he does, but there is room for improvement. 

It's been a terrible job at developing position players drafted in the last 8 years. 

===

Bullpen is unreliable 

Most people said the Lions pitching would take a step back. However, most expected this with the rotation and instead it's the bullpen being a liability when it counts. Tatsushi Masuda has been nothing but shaky and there's a reason Kazuo Matsui put in a rookie in Minato Aoyama to try and close on opening day.

The setup roles for Katsunori Hirai and Shunsuke Sato look promising, but once it's the 9th inning, anything goes.

Import signings Jesus Tinoco is also inconsistent to have high leverage innings. 

===

Rotation is mostly positive 

The only spark for the Lions had been Kaima Taira and Kona Takahashi carrying the load in the front of the rotation. They've currently operated under spot starters and others while Tatsuya Imai is down in ni-gun. At this rate, it's all desperation where nobody can last more than five innings. 

At least Taira is justifying his job in the rotation.

===

Kazuo Matsui going through growing pains

While some decisions may not be his alone, Matsui has been criticized for certain bunt calls or even the use of relievers at the wrong time. He has manager experience from the ni-Gun level, so the excuses are thinner than what is seen on the surface. 

===

Playing without Yamakawa is better for the long run

The Lions will be very familiar playing with no Yamakawa in the ichi-gun lineup as it's already been this way for majority of the season. Someone needs to step it up and unfortunately, the team is still waiting for Takuya Hiruma to play and appear at the ichi-gun.

For now, they just need to hope for someone to improve offensively as the season wears on and don't be too concerned about the standings. 

===

Bonus: Former Lions imports released in Korea

In the offseason, there was the possibility of bringing back Brian O'Grady and Burch Smith for doing enough to earn a contract for 2023. 

Both players signed with the Hanwha Eagles and didn't even last two months in the KBO of Korea. Smith was released in April after a shoulder injury and only one start while O'Grady was let go on May 31. The latter failed to hit a Home Run and had an OPS under .400 in 22 ichi-gun games for the Eagles. 

Given the tier of KBO among foreign leagues, there isn't much regret in letting them walk.

===

Follow us on Twitter @GraveyardBall