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| Photo credit: @Ethics_Niki |
The Saitama Seibu Lions sit at 19-17-1 through May 9 and are currently an A-class team being in third place.
They're only trailing the SoftBank Hawks on percentage points at the time of this writing.
We're here to check in on the season with notes and observations as the first 37 games have finished.
Taiga Hirasawa is killing it
If there was a team MVP up to this point, it's Taiga Hirasawa, who has seen an amazing run since being an ichi-gun player in 2026. With a near .400 batting average and an OPS of 1.300 when runners are on base, he's been invincible.
This season alone, he has five 3-hit (modasho) games when he only had 3 total in his NPB career from 2016-2025. There's no flashy power, though he hit a winning three-run home run in his last game, he's done everything the team has asked of him. Can he keep it up?
Lions have battled well through injury
When Masayuki Kuwahara went down to a calf injury when running a base, the Lions offense was expected to take a hit. Instead, the offense has been a roll once Tyler Nevin returned to the starting lineup on May 1. Nevin sat out for the entire month of April with an injury.
Trey Wingenter has yet to appear at the ichi-gun level in 2026 as he deals with his own injury. The outfield has suddenly stepped things up as Alexander Canario, Shinya Hasegawa and Seiya Watanabe have filled in well. Manaya Nishikawa also had a slow start but has shown positive signs going forward.
Rotation has not missed Tatsuya Imai
As Imai is struggling with the Houston Astros, Kona Takahashi took it personal no MLB team showed interest in his services. He's been leading the way while Chihiro Sumida and Kaima Taira have also been able to take the load.
Shinya Sugai and Sou Sato have also provided solid starts while Natsuki Takeuchi can get better.
Bullpen going through growing pains
One of the more bold calls of the season has been using a rookie in second-round draft pick Hakua Iwaki as the closer. While he has looked shaky at times, he already has 10 saves in 13 games.
Hiroshi Kaino is back in a setup role while there are hopes Shunsuke Sato can rebound. Hibiki Shinohara and Masaya Kuroda have looked promising in middle relief.
This isn't a dominant group, which had forced manager Fumiya Nishiguchi to get more out of his starting pitchers if possible. He's milked some guys as late as the 8th inning with the lack of confidence in a few pitchers. Can it get better? Sure.
Catcher position remains balanced
The Lions no longer have an everyday starting catcher as Yuto Koga and first round draft pick Taiga Kojima split playing time. They've also used Sena Tsuge as a spell catcher.
This balance is proving to be good offensively as nobody is established to have themselves in there for every game.
Early returns not coming for Lin
Coming into this season, most felt either Canario or Lin needed to be good in order to compete offensively. Canario doesn't do anything flashy, but he hasn't been overwhelmed at times like Lin.
Lin's playing time for now has gone down as he still admits to NPB over CPBL.
Can this continue?
May has been a tremendous month this far, especially on offense. It's unclear what happens ahead, but this Lions team has reason for excitement when it feels like there's always a chance to win when the offense clicks.
We wanted to let all readers know we're heading to Japan for the month of May on a lengthy vacation. We'll remain on X for all the fun detailed updates.
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