Graveyard Baseball Podcast: Lions ŌenDEN Episode 6

This is the sixth episode of Lions ŌenDEN.

In this episode, we talk about the Saitama Seibu Lions by each position. We also discuss the outlook of Norio Tanabe, Kazuhiro Kiyohara's arrest and previewing the entire Pacific League. As a bonus, some talk on the Central League is also here.

We apologize for any mispronunciations and errors. This was recorded partially from a public library, where the background noise has other conversations. Thanks again for listening.

Be sure to provide any feedback in the comments if possible. Click here if the embed doesn't work.


Corrections:

-Yuki Matsui is a solid closer for Rakuten and the back end of their rotation will be upgraded with Kam Mickolio being healthy.

-The Lions went 6-17-2 against the Hawks last year.

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NPB 101: Designating for assignment and farm teams

The Seibu Lions farm stadium is next door to the Seibu Dome (as seen behind)

With baseball season just around the corner, there are plenty of different rules to be made known for NPB in comparison to MLB. The big one is how the top team (ichi-gun or first team) roster is in comparison to the farm team (ni-gun or second team).

There are is only two teams in NPB per club, where the ichi-gun has a 28-man roster and the farm team carries the rest in ni-gun. The farm team also has the same name and uniforms of their parent club. The only difference is how the division alignment is by geography where it's divided by the Eastern and Western Leagues in comparison to the Central and Pacific.

All five Kanto (greater Tokyo) area teams (Yokohama DeNA Baystars, Saitama Seibu Lions, Chiba Lotte Marines, Yomiuri Giants and Tokyo Yakult Swallows) as well as the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles are in the Eastern League while the five others are in the Western League.  Yes, seven teams are in the Eastern League while the Chunichi Dragons, Fukuoka Softbank Hawks, Hiroshima Toyo Carp, Orix Buffaloes and Hanshin Tigers make up the Western League. A fun tidbit is that the Fighters farm team is in Kamagaya in Chiba prefecture, East of Tokyo and far from Sapporo, where their ichi-gun team plays.

The 28-man roster will have three players scratched or "inactive" each game, meaning 25 players eligible. Inactive players are not public, but it is presumed that the pitchers who start the games before and after are scratched.

Overall, there can be up to 70 players under contract for their full roster. Otherwise, they can go to the ikusei, which is similar to an NFL practice squad at a lower cost. Ikusei players are only eligible to participate in ni-gun games and wear a triple digit number to indicate this.

How do players go up and down?

Players are not designated for assignment, but rather deactivated from the 28-man ichi-gun roster when they want to take them off. While waivers exist, there is no risk when deactivating a player in comparison to designating someone for assignment. They have to be outright released or their contract must be terminated to go on waivers.

As a result of deactivation where it won't cost a player his potential contract, he becomes ineligible for the top team for 10 days. So if he deactivated on August 12, he would be eligible to return on August 22 at the earliest.

A player does not need to be deactivated to participate in a ni-gun game, so its not unheard of for a top player to play for the farm team in the day time and the ichi-gun for a night game on the same day. For the Lions, it's even more convenient if the farm and parent clubs are both playing at home with farm stadium Seibu II being next door to the Seibu Dome. Tomoya Mori has done this as a catcher for a farm game while being a designated hitter at night with the ichi-gun.

So why does a player get deactivated? There are several reasons. The first and most obvious would be for injury as the player wouldn't be playing any time soon. It could also be performance related if someone struggles on the field.

Third, the player could be the last on the roster and someone better is returning or the team wants someone to come up, so a corresponding move must happen. Lastly, it could also result in making room for a foreign player in rotation with multiple players that are good.

Foreigners play a factor in these decisions occasionally

Some teams have a loaded rotation, or they have more than four imports on their roster. The rule in Japan is that only four players can be on the ichi-gun team at the same time. You also cannot have four pitchers or four position players. Three pitchers and a position player is fine, two pitchers and two position players and even three position players and no pitchers are acceptable.

With the four player limit, some teams could have a few pitchers go every 10 days due to wanting to make use of all imports. The Fukuoka Softbank Hawks have displayed this with Rick Van Den Hurk in their rotation combined with Jason Standridge and other pitchers.

It is also possible for a foreign player to obtain the status of being a "Japanese" player if he has nine years of service in NPB. Foreign players who accomplished this in history includes Alex "Rami-chan" Ramirez, Alex Cabrera, Tuffy Rhodes and Tai-Yuan Kuo.

This is a very special accomplishment because a player would have to be decent for several years to be wanted back, but also solid enough to not retire before that ninth year comes. Standridge, now with the Chiba Lotte Marines, could reach this status if he completes the 2016 season.

Playoffs? You're talking about playoffs? 

The farm teams will play each other throughout the year and the first place finishers of both the Eastern and Western Leagues in a one game championship at the end of the year.

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NPB 101: How to read a Japanese baseball lineup card

There is a way to read this. 

With the 2016 season upon us, I figure I can give a simple guide on how to see a lineup card so it can become easier for you.

There are some basic things to understand before we go into looking at one. Here are some notes:

-Foreign players names are in Katakana while domestic players are in Kanji. The Kanji derives from Chinese.  Essentially, when you have a foreign name, you can use the alphabet in Katakana and make a new word in Japanese. This means your surname could be pronounced with a Japanese accent.

-Pitchers bat in the Central League while the Pacific League has a designated hitter. Like MLB interleague games, the home team decides which rules occur when the Pacific takes on the Central.

-Lineups are usually announced 35 minutes before a game. That's the exact deadline for managers to submit their cards to the umpire.

-There is a Twitter account for each team that presumably tweets the live score/lineups/and boxscores in image form. (Other accounts include Baseball King) You can follow an account for your team.

Chunichi Dragons

Orix Buffaloes

Fukuoka Softbank Hawks

Chiba Lotte Marines

Yomiuri Giants

Saitama Seibu Lions

Hiroshima Toyo Carp

Tokyo Yakult Swallows

Yokohama DeNA Baystars

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

Hanshin Tigers

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The Lineup:

First thing to note in this example is how the team name is on the left with 西武 (Seibu) in this case.  Obviously it helps to see "Lions" on the top.

The numbers of course from left to right represent the batting order (while the pitcher of course is listed afterwards for a Pacific League team).

The Red and Blue lines below the numbers represent if the player is left handed or right handed.

Red - Right handed batter.

Blue - Left handed batter

Red / Blue - Switch hitter

Below that is the Kanji (abbreviated) for each position the player is for the game while in the field.

Here are the Kanji for each position:

一 - First Base / Ichi

二 - Second Base / Ni

三 - Third Base  / San (Not pronounced like San Jose, but Sahn)

(These should be self explanatory I hope.  That's also how to say 1-2-3 in Japanese)

指 - Designated Hitter. This kanji has multiple meanings including "finger" / Yubi. In this case, it's short for 指定 / Shitei which means to designate/assign.

右 - Right Fielder. The kanji obviously means "Right" in a directional meaning, which is pronounced as Migi. 

中 - Center Fielder. The 中 kanji has a lot of meanings, but in this case it refers to the center or Chushin. It can also mean Naka which is where we see plenty of names containing this kanji.

左 - Left Fielder.  Like right, Hidari is how to say "left" in Japanese. Pronounce Hidari like Hidodi.

捕 - Catcher. This kanji is abbreviated for 捕手 / Hoshu, which means "catching arm". In Japanese, they can also say "catcher" in Japanese with キャッチャー in Katakana.  It's pronounced as catcha. 

遊 - Shortstop. It's an abbreviation for 遊撃手 / Yūgekishu, which literally translates into "playing shooting arm."

投 - Pitcher. Once again, the kanji is abbreviated for 投手 / Toshu. "投" can mean to throw, or toss away while "手" can mean hand/arm. So it's a literally translation of throwing/pitching arm. It's possible you can also hear ピッチャー / Pitcha said by announcers.

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Reading the names:  

This part can become tricky, but here is the best way to shortcut this. You can always use Google Translate, but the NPB website has the roster listings in Japanese and also in English. In this case, take a look at the Lions pages listed below:

English Lions roster page

Japanese Lions roster page

You'll notice immediately that the Japanese page is by position, then numerical order while the English version is done by position, then alphabetical order by romanized surname.  The last name is also listed before the first name in Japanese. 

Matching the numbers is the instant way to do this. See the jersey number listed on the left. After some studying and repetition of seeing the same names over and over, this becomes easy over time.  

For the following, we can conclude the lineup is as follows: 

1. CF Shogo Akiyama

2. SS Sosuke Genda

3. 2B Hideto Asamura

4. 1B Hotaka Yamakawa

5. LF Takumi Kuriyama

6. 3B Shuta Tonosaki

7. DH Tomoya Mori

8. C Ginjiro Sumitani

9. RF Yuji Kaneko

P. LHP Daiki Enokida

Now when we tweet, that's too many characters to fit into the old 140 character limit.  We will abbreviate it by listing the order, then using positional numbers just like a baseball boxscore. Here's the guide for those who aren't used to the numerical positions.

EDIT: With Twitter extending themselves into 280 characters, it's easier. 

When we tweet the lineup on our @GraveyardBall account, it will look like this. 

8 Akiyama

6 Genda

4 Asamura

3 Yamakawa

7 Kuriyama

5 Tonosaki

DH Tomoya Mori

2 Sumitani

9 Kaneko

P Enokida

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As a bonus using the method above, I can also write the Chunichi Dragons lineup (from the top of this post). Using their English and Japanese roster pages, I can conclude the following:

1. SS Yota Kyoda

2. CF Yohei Oshima

3. LF Zoilo Almonte

4. 1B Dayan Viciedo

5. RF Ryosuke Hirata

6. 3B Nobumasa Fukuda

7. 2B Toshiki Abe

8. C Shota Ono

9. P Raidel Martinez

So to type this lineup on Twitter it would look like this:

6 Kyoda

8 Oshima

7 Almonte

3 Viciedo

9 Hirata

5 Fukuda

4 Abe

2 Ono

1 Martinez

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So there you have it.  You can now read Japanese without having major expertise on the language when looking at a lineup card. It will take some practice and memorization, but after awhile, you'll get used to it.  

Enjoy your baseball!

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2016 Seibu Lions coaching outlook: Is this the end for Norio Tanabe?

Is Tanabe a bridge or on the hot seat?

The 2016 season for NPB season will begin at the end of March, but the big picture suddenly draws question marks for what happens to the Saitama Seibu Lions manager after the year is over.

In the offseason, the Lions added three coaches to their staff. Hideki Hashigami is the new strategy and tactics coach, where he previously worked with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles from 2005-2009 and in 2015 as well as the Yomiuri Giants from 2012-2014. He also worked with the national team in 2013 for the World Baseball Classic.

Masanori Taguchi is the new battery coach while Tomoaki Sato will be in charge of outfield defense and base running. Sato will presumably be the first base coach while Hiroshi Narahara will remain at third base.

Hisanori Yokota, the team's pitching coach in 2015, will be the manager for the farm team at the ni-gun level. However, the biggest change is Tetsuya Shiozaki being promoted from farm manager to pitching coach and "Head coach" (which is an equivalent to bench coach in MLB terms).

This is only speculation, but putting the pieces together gives us the feeling that 2016 could be the end for Norio Tanabe as the head manager. According to Jim Allen of Kyodo News, Shiozaki was supposed to be the successor to Hisanobu Watanabe (Nabe-Q) after 2013 where the latter stepped down. Nabe-Q currently works in the front office as a senior adviser. 

Lions general manager Haruhiko Suzuki might have disagreed with having Shiozaki as the skipper and made the selection to put Haruki Ihara to be the manager for 2014. Ihara failed miserably and resigned in the middle of 2014, where Tanabe took over as the interim manager. Nabe-Q had no say in the hiring of Ihara.

Tanabe led the Lions to a 69-69-5 record which was short of the postseason and fourth place in the Pacific League. Despite the shortcoming in the second half, they signed a one year deal through the 2016 season. The biggest key in all of this is that Tanabe is in a contract year, meaning he's only guaranteed to manage the team this season.

In historical trend, Ihara was once a stop gap manager for the Lions from 2002-2003. He led the team to a 2002 Pacific League pennant which resulted in a sweeping loss to the Giants. In 2003, the Lions came in second place wit a 77-61-2 record, 5.5 games behind the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks which was short of the postseason. (The Climax Series didn't begin until 2004).

Those two years were grooming seasons for longtime catcher Tsutomu Ito, who became the manager in 2004 and it was the plan all along. Ito would lead the Lions to their first Japan Series championship since 1992 which included a crucial elimination Game 5 win in Fukuoka. Today, Ito is the manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines.

Nabe-Q could have more power to get "his guy" in Shiozaki as manager in 2017, no matter how the 2016 Lions finish under Tanabe. Suzuki could give in and for the long run, Shiozaki appears to be the man after this year. He should know plenty of the farm players from his experience as ni-gun while this year watching as the second in command for the Lions dugout.

Tanabe's back is against the wall. He most likely knows he needs to win now or else he is replaced with Shiozaki waiting in the wings. Tanabe cannot be "fired" because his contract expires after the season, but he would be let go at no extra cost. While this theory in Shiozaki being the one next in line is just speculation, there's too much evidence which draws us to this conclusion after his promotion to head coach.

What we do know is, the managerial position is uncertain for 2017 and that Tanabe will be in charge on Opening Day. This could very well be an all-or-nothing season for Tanabe to make a lasting impression as a manager in his career.

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Position Outlook Series: 

Catcher

Outfielder

Bullpen

Infield

Starting Rotation 

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Seibu Lions 2016 Position Outlook: Bullpen

The Saitama Seibu Lions bullpen was one of the problems in 2015. Their only strength was on the back end relying on three individuals.  This year hopes to be a different outcome with some additions.

Locks: 

Tatsushi Masuda: Masuda was the best bullpen arm of the Lions and it reflected in his FIP, where he doesn't walk guys, but strikes them out instead. It was only until the last months of the season where he became overworked due to the limited options in the bullpen. He should remain the setup man for 2016.

Shota Takekuma: Takekuma was mostly a lefty specialist, but was capable of coming in for the seventh inning if needed. He was the only reliable middle reliever who could take an inning before the eighth. It's possible that he's a rotation candidate.

Tomomi Takahashi: Takahashi was the closer for 2014 and 2015, but some ugly regression had him demoted in the middle of last season. There was no evidence he was playing through an injury, but there can always be speculation by how poor his velocity was in the second half. He is coming off a separate injury where he hurt his leg fielding a ground ball after a bad step.  Takahashi is penciled in to be the closer, but it's possible someone else can take over.

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The Imports: 

Esmerling Vasquez: Vasquez was the only foreign signing from 2015 to return for 2016. He appeared mostly in middle relief in medium leverage situations, but his control was shaky. The only positive is how he never gave up a home run.

C.C. Lee: Lee is the newcomer from the Cleveland Indians organization. It will be his first time playing professional baseball in Asia, as he spent time in the minor leagues for a majority of his career. Lee has a 3/4 deliver and is a possible closer candidate. His numbers have consistently involved strikeouts at any level of baseball.

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Spot starters/Long relievers:

Ryohei Fujiwara: Fujiwara had one appearance as a long reliever, but would only see a limited playing time. It's possible he can be seen in middle relief.

Ryoma Nogami: If the Lions don't like Nogami as a starter, he could easily come to the bullpen to fix the depth. Last year, he was involved in split start with Chun-Lin Kuo out of the pen. There is a better chance they make him a starting pitcher to being the season. 

Yosuke Okamoto: Okamoto had a bad start to the year giving up home run after home run, but had a stronger second half where Norio Tanabe even played him during the seventh inning.  The Lions have had him appear for some spot starts if necessary last year.

Yasuo Sano: Sano was a second round draft pick in 2014 who appeared in one spot start last season in Hokkaido. He looks like a bullpen candidate, but with the ichi-gun they could have him for a spot start as another option.

Depth: 

Toshihiro Iwao: Iwao had some interesting FIP numbers due to his strikeout abilities, but had a lack of control to stay with the ichi-gun. While he didn't give up the long ball, he coughed up several gappers that were just short of the fences.

Kazuki Miyata: Miyata appeared in a handful of games last season, but mostly had low leverage innings. He earned a win against the Hanshin Tigers with a decent appearance in middle relief.

Kentaro Fukukura: Fukukura was a seventh round pick in 2013, but remained productive in ni-gun. The Lions brought him up for one low leverage appearance.

Atsushi Okamoto: Okamoto is a veteran who saw medium leverage playing time in the first half of 2015. The Lions kept him buried in ni-gun after interleague play.

Hirotaka Koishi: Koishi appeared out of the bullpen with the ichi-gun last year for a handful of games, but he is a starter while in ni-gun.

Takuya Toyoda: Toyoda appeared last year in only three games. He helped preserve a tie in Nagoya against the Chunichi Dragons during the 12th inning once.

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The Draft Busts: 

Yuta Nakazaki: Nakazaki was a first round pick out of high school in 2008. He has only appeared in seven games at the ichi-gun level in 2013.

Tatsuya Oishi: Oishi was highly touted in 2010, but has struggled after injury and has only seen time in the bullpen at the first team level. He appeared in 2015 with three scoreless innings in low leverage.

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The Farm: 

Yusuke Tamamura: Tamamura was a fourth round pick out of high school in 2014.

Takayuki Yamaguchi: Yamaguchi was a fifth round draft pick in 2013.

Shogo Noda: Noda was a third round pick in 2015 out of the industrial league.

Seiji Kawagoe: Kawagoe was a second round pick in 2015. Hisanobu Watanabe said he is a setup candidate for the long term.

Tadasuke Minamikawa: Minamikawa was the fifth round draft pick in 2015.

Tsubasa Kokuba: Kokuba was the Lions' eighth round draft pick in 2015.

Naoaki Matsumoto: Matsumoto was the 10th round draft pick in 2015 out of the independent Shikoku Island League.

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Verdict: 

We expect C.C. Lee to get the nod over Esmerling Vasquez for the last foreign roster spot on opening day. With Kuo, Ernesto Mejia and Andy Van Hekken locked to be on the roster, this is the only spot left among the imports.  This unit hopefully has more depth with some immediate contributions from Noda and Minamikawa with the ichi-gun.

It's possible that moving a few starters to the bullpen can make it easier in middle relief, as the team was too dependent on Takahashi, Masuda and Takekuma to get the job done last year. The closer position will need to be established, because closer by committee is rather a nightmare, which is what was forced to happen in 2015. If the closer can stay in position and the middle relief shows improvement, it will go a long way to a possible playoff spot for 2016.

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Other positions in the series: 

Catcher

Outfielder

Infield

Starting Rotation 

Manager Norio Tanabe

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Seibu Lions 2016 Position Outlook: Infield

How often will we see Okawari-kun in the field?

The Saitama Seibu Lions infield will have some minor changes with the recent loss of Ryota Wakiya in free agency. However, they will have more depth through some recent changes.

Locks: 

3B Takeya "Okawari-kun" Nakamura: After coming off a great 2015 season, the Lions are expected to reduce his time in the field and have him as a designated hitter in 2016. His track record shows that he has yet to play there consecutive seasons of at least 100 seasons in his career. Based on trends, he would have a significant injury this season, which is something the team doesn't want.

2B Hideto Asamura: The starting 2B should still be playing, but there are question marks if he can put it together for a full season. He may never repeat his 2013 season, but last year saw a good first half followed up by a dismal second half.

1B Ernesto Mejia: Mejia is the second-highest paid player on the team behind Okawari-kun. Despite having a "down" year hovering around the .220 mark for much of it, the Lions still rewarded him with a raise to bring him back for 2016. He still amassed 27 home runs and fans hope he can have a better rebound season compared to the frequent ground balls last year.

SS Yuji Kaneko: Kaneko started a good number of games at SS, but a conditioning problem sidelined him for most of the second half. At minimum, he should be on the ichi-gun, but no guaranteed everyday starter.

SS Shota Tonosaki: Tonosaki made his ichi-gun debut in his rookie season last year. They gave him an extended look at SS, but now he will be the 3B behind Okawari-kun. He has good speed, but his bat is still a question mark.

Depth: 

Yuji Onizaki: Onizaki is mostly a shortstop there for defense. His bat is poor, but can make great plays in the field.

Naoto Watanabe: The Lions put Watanabe in ni-gun camp, but he is the most versatile veteran among the infielders. He can at any position if needed and provide a respectable bat as well as glove in a reserve role.

Shogo Kimura: Kimura is the newest Lion, where the team secured him after a tryout. He's capable of playing all over the infield if needed, but could spend more time at SS due to the lack of a bat. Kimura can hit for a better average, but defense is nothing spectacular.

Hotaka Yamakawa: Yamakawa was a second round draft pick in 2013. After spending two years in ni-gun, the Lions feel he could be ready for more time with the ichi-gun. He was a former teammate of Shinzaburo Tawata at the college level and is capable of playing 3B and 1B. Most likely he will see time at 1B if they want to give Ernesto Mejia a day off. It's possible that he could be a defensive substitute. With Yamakawa being recently injured, it's unsure how long he is out.

Kyohei Nagae: Nagae is a defensive specialist who comes in for the late innings. He's solid defensively at SS, but doesn't have the bat to be an everyday player. With Kimura on the ichi-gun, he could be buried down in ni-gun for 2016.

Daichi Mizuguchi: Mizuguchi was a former ikusei draft pick who earned a promotion to the 70-man roster in the middle of 2015 for hitting above .300 in ni-gun. He has been pegged as a reserve 2B with speed, but most likely will spend the year in ni-gun.

The Farm: 

Kazuki Kaneko: Kaneko was a fourth round draft pick in 2013.

Haruka Yamada: Yamada was the Lions' fifth round draft pick in 2014.

Nien Ting Wu: Wu was drafted in the 7th round in 2015. He was born in Taiwan, but went to school in Japan, meaning he will not count as a foreign player when he is on the 28-man active roster.

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Verdict:

The Lions lost Wakiya in free agency, but picked up Kimura to the roster. They were able to expand themselves at the SS position with another option, but does that mean Watanabe gets bumped down to ni-gun? Defense at shortstop should not be a problem and it becomes flex position.

Tonosaki will be learning on the fly in the field, as he saw time at SS last year in the second half. It's possible he gets eased into 3B when Okawari-kun is playing DH. There are more pinch hit options on the bench while Nagae and Yamakawa provide depth. I don't see Mizuguchi playing much unless there's an injury to Asamura.

Can Mejia and Asamura have good seasons for the full year? Or do they become only good for half a season, bringing the team down? Okawari-kun was healthy last season, which was a rare exception. Kimura should be plugged in at 3B or even 1B as he can play multiple spots on the infield.

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Other positions in the series: 

Starting Rotation

Bullpen


Outfield

Catcher

Manager Norio Tanabe

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Yusei Kikuchi Named the Lions Opening Day Starter

Saitama Seibu Lions manager, Norio Tanabe announced that their 24-year old lefty will be starting the first game of the season on March 25th against the Orix Buffaloes.

This is the first time that the former high school star will garner the honor of being the Lions opening day starter. Last year, Takayuki Kishi was scheduled to start on opening day, but an abdomen injury gave the honor to Kazuhisa Makita which turned into a 1-0 victory at Seibu Prince Dome.

At times, Kikuchi was the Lions best starting pitcher and he finished the year posting an ERA of 2.84.  His revised FIP (more on that in a future post), was a 2.93 (with the older constant showing a 3.07), indicating that there will only be more success in Kikuchi's future. Those numbers were second among Lions starting pitchers, with only Takayuki Kishi placing better with 22.2 fewer innings.

Kikuchi also led Lions starters in K/9 with 8.3 and finished second to Kishi in K/BB with 2.22. His walk rate did spike up a little bit (3.7), but without a doubt, Kikuchi's performance last year (presumably combined with his performance in camp) has earned him the role of being the opening day starter. His velocity was hitting a max of 154 KM/H (95 mph) on the radar gun.  

When drafted, Kikuchi was considered to be a phenom out of high school and expected to help any team who would land him. Hisanobu Watanabe (Nabe-Q) won the 6-way draw for his rights at the 2009 NPB Draft with the hope he would be the next great pitcher. The video below shows the moment Kikuchi was selected and later drafted by the Lions after Nabe-Q pulled out the winning ticket after drawing first. 

Kikuchi will be quite important for the Lions to have success in 2016. He has what it takes to be the Lions ace in the future, but one thing to look at is his workload as a whole. He hasn't thrown more than 139.2 IP  in a season and that number will need to get above 160 to supplant Kishi as the Lions No. 1 starter.

This will be the first time a left handed pitcher will start for the Lions on Opening Day since 1992. Kimiyasu Kudo, who was elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame and current Fukuoka Softbank Hawks manager was the last, per John Gibson. Here's a list of the Lions opening day starters since 2006.

2006-2007: Fumiya Nishiguchi

2008-2012: Hideaki Wakui

2013-2014: Takayuki Kishi

2015: Kazuhisa Makita

BEAST! (For 2016)

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