2019 Seibu Lions Series Digest: Home runs salvage one in Fukuoka

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The Saitama Seibu Lions took one game in Fukuoka while losing two out of three games to the Softbank Hawks. They enter the All-Star break one game over .500 as they are barely in third place with two teams behind them at 1/2 and one game back.

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The first game took place from Tokyo Dome featuring Kona Takahashi and Ariel Miranda. Takahashi was lit up through six innings which included a two-run HR from Seiji Uebayashi for a 5-0 Hawks lead.

Despite the early struggles, the Lions were far from done. After blowing many chances in the beginning, they struck back with a solo HR from Hotaka Yamakawa and a flurry of timely hits in the 7th inning to make it 5-5. Takeya "Okawari-kun" Nakamura's timely hit tied the game with a gapper. 

The Hawks retook the lead off a sacrifice fly from Seiichi Uchikawa in the bottom of the frame, but the Lions weren't dead. In the top of the 9th, Tomoya Mori hit a two-run HR to give the Lions their first lead, but the Hawks tied it when Uebayashi hit a solo HR in the bottom of the 9th.

Both sides had chances in extra innings, but it was the Hawks who came through off Yasuo Sano in the 12th when Ryoya Kurihara hit a sacrifice fly for a sayonara Lions loss. 

Hawks 8, Lions 7 (12 innings) 

Game note: Kaima Taira was called up to the ichi-gun while Wataru Matsumoto was taken off for the All-Star break.

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Game two had Ken Togame against Rei Takahashi from Fukuoka. The Lions struck first on an RBI groundout, but Togame had a meltdown inning in the bottom of the 1st inning. He gave up a two-run HR to Shuhei Fukuda and a timely hit to Uebayashi making it 3-1.

The Lions botched several chances, including a double play from Takumi Kuriyama as their only run after the first came on a fluky bounce off the pitcher for an infield single by Sosuke Genda. The Lions bats were tamed by the Hawks bullpen and a bad bunt from Shohei Suzuki doomed the team in the 9th inning for their third straight loss.

Hawks 3, Lions 2

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The final game of the series had Zach Neal facing Tsuyoshi Wada in a battle of former major leaguers. Neal gave up two runs in the third which included a timely hit from Alfredo Despaigne. The Lions chipped away with two solo HRs from Masatoshi Okada and Fumikazu Kimura in the 5th inning to tie it.

Shuta Tonosaki delivered with a double off the wall and the Lions never had to look back. Home runs from Yamakawa and Okawari-kun sealed the deal as the skid was snapped and Neal won his third straight decision. 

Lions 7, Hawks 3

Game note:

-Shogo Akiyama reached third all-time for 678 consecutive games played with every inning.

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This could have been worse. The Lions end the road trip going 3-6 with no break inbetween during this time. If there's any positive to all of this, the Lions have only one more series in Fukuoka for the rest of the season. Pitching had its dud outings from Kona Takahashi, but Neal has been solid since returning to the ichi-gun besides Keisuke Honda's emergence.

It's going to be a wild ride for the second half with no breathing room, but there are worse situations around the league.

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2019 NPB Trade Deadline: Seibu Lions candidates to trade or release

The 2019 NPB Trade deadline is on July 31. However, we've seen a wave of trades come early in recent weeks as several teams are swapping ahead of time.

Through July 7, the Lions have not made a trade and haven't done a player-for-player swap since trading Yosuke Okamoto for Daiki Enokida prior to the 2018 season. Their last transaction was acquiring Ryuya Ogawa from the Chunichi Dragons for cash.

None of the trades have been blockbuster worthy, but it has been an interesting way to see how teams view the players they send off. A few might have traded to save face and not outright cut him (senryokugai) at the end of the year. Others just have no room on the roster or the team has no idea what to do with him.

Given how frequent these trades haven been in 2019, we've had to write a piece earlier than usual to project what the Lions could be thinking. Factoring in age and ichi-gun playing time is how we'll decide who is expendable, whether the Lions want cash or a player in return.

When it comes to cheap depth, the Lions could always use more pitchers whether it's for relief of a short starter or even a spot starter. They won't get anyone of quality, but the right change of scenery can find a contributor the way Ogawa and Enokida did in 2018.

Here is the list of players the Lions could trade or senryokugai at the end of 2019:

Note: First-year foreigners do not count.

OF Shogo Saito: In 2015, Saito had his peak season as the team's fourth outfielder, but hasn't replicated the same success since. The Lions have used him as a pinch runner and briefly called him up during interleague play this year. He is one of five Lions outfielders born in the 1980s, but has seen the least amount of ichi-gun playing time behind Masato Kumashiro, Takumi Kuriyama, Shogo Akiyama and Fumikazu Kimura. It's also clear the Lions want to move in a younger direction given Akiyama will likely sign with another team and the recent drafts picks need to develop. Saito is the odd man out.

IF Kyohei Nagae: Nagae used to be one of the top defensive replacement options off the bench. However, with others being drafted, Nagae has fallen down the depth chart given his inability to hit. Like the outfield, there are younger options available with more upside.

IF Daichi Mizuguchi: Mizuguchi was one of the better underdog stories on the Lions when he earned an ikusei promotion back in 2015. After being a decent part-time player in 2017, he has fallen out of favor with Ryusei Sato and Kakeru Yamanobe receiving more playing time. Now a 30-year old with only 95 ichi-gun games to his name, he doesn't have upside compared to the rest of the group.

P Deunte Heath: Heath is starting to get low leverage innings with others pitching in his place when the Lions have a lead. The 2018 closer has struggled in 2019 out of the gate when an injury set him back for a few weeks. Kyle Martin has been the top foreign option out of the bullpen and it's possible the Lions even deactivate Heath if they want a foreign spot starter.

P Fabio Castillo: The Lions brought Castillo back for depth after a promising first half of 2018. He regressed once the team made him a closer and an injury took him out for the second half. Castillo had surgery in the offseason and made his first ni-gun appearance in June. He could still be recovering from an injury, but it's unclear if he would take a low wage to return for 2020 again. We won't know the Lions decision on Castillo until the season ends.

1B/DH Ernesto Mejia: Mejia enters the final year of his three-year extension signed in the middle of the 2016 season. This extension has proved to be an expensive mistake as he has been the highest paid player for the last three years. The 2017 season saw the emergence of Hotaka Yamakawa which dropped Mejia to a part-time player status. He has mostly seen time as a pinch hitter and is unable to deliver in this role. The writing has been on the wall for awhile since Yamakawa took the everyday cleanup and 1B spot from Mejia. Deep down, the Lions wish they could find someone to take on the rest of his contract and I'm sure they'd be willing to take small cash considerations back in return.

IF Nien Ting Wu: Wu has been unable to get ichi-gun playing time with Sosuke Genda, Shuta Tonosaki, Kakeru Yamanobe and Ryusei Sato all leaping him on the infield depth chart. He saw some time in 2016 when the team wasn't playing well, but the Lions have mostly used him as a versatile utility player with him being in the outfield in ni-gun. With no room for him on the spot, it doesn't look so good for his baseball career. The Lions have a deep relationship with Taiwan, so it's unlikely he becomes a senryokugai, but on the field, it's doubtful he contributes at the ichi-gun level.

C Shota Nakata: Nakata has been a career ni-gun catcher for majority of his time at the NPB level. He has been injured since April and hasn't seen a game of action since. With the Lions already playing without him, there are plenty of younger options with more upside, including a recently promoted Masato Saito. He could serve as a coach, but as a player won't be doing much for the ichi-gun as Tomoya Mori and Masatoshi Okada have the main two spots.

P Tatsuya Oishi: Arguably the biggest bust in Lions history could finally be cut after the 2019 season. Injuries derailed his career early on and had issues cracking ichi-gun games. His highlights include being a decent reliever against righties in 2016-2017, but that has been it for someone who was once viewed as an ace by several teams an scouts. He currently holds a 5.51 ERA in ni-gun.

P Koki Fujita: Fujita is one of only two players from the 2015 draft class to not appear at the ichi-gun level. He has mostly struggled after spending majority of 2016 recovering from an injury. In 12.2 innings of work at ni-gun his ERA is 7.11. However, he turns 22 in December so he could still have a chance, but there are previous Lions who were senryokugai at the age of 23. 

P Hirotaka Koishi: Koishi has been the pitcher to take mop up innings if the Lions were trailing. At age 32, there are younger pitchers who can fill this role and it's clear his ichi-gun time has diminished in favor of Ryosuke Moriwaki. He's the third oldest pitcher on the Lions roster behind only Tetsuya Utsumi and Daiki Enokida.

P Hayato Takagi: The Lions front office and fans alike thought they got a steal when taking Takagi as compensation for the loss of Ryoma Nogami in free agency. Instead, Takagi has been nothing but a disappointment after being thought of as a rotation starter. Pacific League hitters have destroyed whatever he's thrown and even in mop up duty for 2019, he still can't record outs. Having a senryokugai after two seasons would be losing face, but if a team was desperate for pitching depth, he could be a trade option.

P Shunta Nakatsuka: Nakatsuka has the fewest ichi-gun appearances among the 2016 Lions draft class and has found problems not fixing his control. He was viewed as a hard thrower with upside, but his control issue might be what he is with no end in sight. It's unlikely the Lions cut him, but a change of scenery would do him wonders.

P Tadasuke Minamikawa: A fifth-round shakaijin pick in 2015, Minamikawa has seen limited time at the ichi-gun and hasn't made the most of it when called up. Being one of the older draft picks from that class, his upside has disappeared at age 27 and it doesn't look like there's a role for him on the team.

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There could be even more guys on the bubble like Naoaki Matsumoto and Shogo Noda, but I'm giving those tow the benefit of the doubt. If anything, there are several guys who will likely not return in 2020 and at minimum, five players will become senryokugai.

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2019 Seibu Lions Weekly Digest: Honda keeps rolling

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The Saitama Seibu Lions front end of the road trip was not so successful, going 2-4 against the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and Chiba Lotte Marines. They're barely in A-class through Sunday's games, but only one game separates second place from fourth place.

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The first game from Sapporo featured Kona Takahashi and Takayuki Kato. This one was over early when Takahashi was unable to record an out in the second inning with continuous walks and hits. He was tagged for eight runs as the Fighters were able to cruise through easily. Shuta Tonosaki had a consolation home run in the 7th.

Fighters 9, Lions 1

Game notes:

-Shota Takekuma was called up while Shogo Saito was taken off the ichi-gun roster.

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Game two had Ken Togame facing Toru Murata. Sho Nakata had an early timely hit, but Takeya "Okawari-kun" Nakamura responded with a two-RBI timely of his own. Murata was taken out after three innings and the relief did its job to prevent further damage.

Poor defense and some base hits led to Togame having a meltdown inning in the fourth, where he was lit up for four runs including a timely from Haruki Nishikawa. The Lions bats were tamed for the rest of the night as the Fighters would claim the series.

Fighters 5, Lions 3

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The final game had Zach Neal taking on Mitsuo Yoshikawa, where the latter made his first start returning to the team in a trade. Tonosaki cleared the bases with a triple in the third and ended Yoshikawa's night early.

This night was all about Neal, who had his best outing of the season going six scoreless frames with five strikeouts and two hits. Okawari-kun rewarded him in the 7th with a bases-clearing double and the Lions scored a crooked five-run inning as they salvaged one game.

Lions 8, Fighters 2

Game note:

-"Aito" Takeda was deactivated for Shohei Suzuki.

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The week shifted to Chiba with Tatsuya Imai and Kota Futaki. Both sides couldn't score until the 6th inning, where a sacrifice fly from Sosuke Genda gave the Lions first blood. The Marines responded immediately with a bases-loaded walk from Seiya "Aja" Inoue.

Takumi Kuriyama gave the Lions a lead in the top of the 8th with a solo HR. However, the bottom of the 8th proved to be too much for Imai, as the bases were loaded and a walk from Takekuma didn't help. With inherited runners, Katsunori Hirai threw a wild pitch to tie it and Aja had the game-winning base hit for a timely, giving the Marines their only lead of the night for the Lions loss.

Marines 4, Lions 2

Game note:

-Shohei Suzuki made his first career start in LF.

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Keisuke Honda started the next game against Hideaki Wakui. Shogo Akiyama pulled a Rickey Henderson with a first inning HR and the Lions had no trouble after that. They would score four more runs and Honda pitched 7.1 scoreless innings in what was an easy victory. Suzuki also recorded his first career hit and an RBI (in separate at-bats).

Lions 5, Marines 0

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The final game had Wataru Matsumoto against Seiya Dohi. With no score after four innings, a bases-loaded walk from Hotaka Yamakawa gave the Lions a 1-0 lead.

Unfortunately for Matsumoto, a flurry of errors in the 5th inning led to four runs for the Marines, including one error on the pitcher himself. Ryosuke Moriwaki was lit up in the 7th inning, which included a three-run HR from Aja as the Lions lost the series.

Marines 8, Lions 2

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It's not the ideal week on the road with a few winnable games that could have been flipped. At least Neal's performance has been encouraging, but the big test before the All-Star break comes with the defending champions on the road, including a corporate party in Tokyo Dome.

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2019 Seibu Lions Series Digest: Matsumoto wins third straight decision

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Pacific League play resumed after the Saitama Seibu Lions successfully went 10-8 against the Central League. In this first series against the Orix Buffaloes, the Lions took two out of three and jumped into A-class with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters losing six in a row.

Here is how it all went down:

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The first game against Orix had Yoshinobu Yamamoto against Tatsuya Imai. An early timely hit from Koji Oshiro gave Orix a 1-0 lead in the first. The Lions squandered a bases-loaded, no out opportunity when Sosuke Genda struck out and Shuta Tonosaki's sacrifice fly attempt ending up being a double play as "Aito" Takeda was tagged out at the plate.

Imai's great effort was wasted as he only allowed that one run through eight innings. This one was all about Yamamoto, who successfully pitched a shutout on 124 pitches. Deunte Heath was lit up in the top of the 9th to put the icing on the cake.

Buffaloes 4, Lions 0 

Roster note:

-Masato Saito was promoted from ikusei and assigned jersey number 78. The Lions now have 67 players on their 70-man roster with three spots remaining open.

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Game two had Tsubasa Sakakibara against Keisuke Honda. The Lions jumped out to an early lead of 3-0 with timely hits from Genda, Tonosaki and Tomoya Mori through the first three innings.

Honda ended up cruising through six shutout innings while the bats stayed alive through Genda's four hit outing. Yuji Kaneko also hit his first HR of the season.

Lions 7, Buffaloes 0

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The rubber match had Wataru Matsumoto against Kohei Suzuki. This one had a slow start when Orix lead 2-0 in the beginning, but the Lions tied it in the third with the help of a timely hit from Shuta Tonosaki and a double steal.

After the Lions nabbed two more runs in the fourth inning, the Buffaloes pulled within one from a timely hit by Masataka Yoshida. When the were threatening on Matsumoto, a lineout and tagup ended any chance for more runs as the Lions rookie was pulled from the game.

Orix continued to blow chances for the rest of the day with 16 hits, but only three runs to show for it. Takeya "Okawari-kun" Nakamura made the Buffaloes pay when he cleared the bases on a double in the 7th inning. Home runs from Tomoya Mori and Tonosaki put icing on the cake in this laugher.

Lions 11, Buffaloes 3

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This was a solid series even though the hitting came up short against Yamamoto. The Orix Buffaloes came into this series red hot after interleague play, so taking two our of three works fine.

Now comes the road trip of death, with nine away games against the Fighters, Marines and Hawks with one game being a Softbank corporate party from Tokyo Dome. This should be a good test ahead for a team that won't be home until after the All-Star break.

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2019 NPB Power Rankings: July Edition

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The 2019 NPB season just concluded its interleague portion of the schedule with June coming to a close. A proper shuffle takes place with some teams taking a rise, while others fall. It was another year where the Pacific League won the head-to-head battle, so we'll factor this in accordingly for this month's edition.

1. [^] (6) Fukuoka Softbank Hawks (41-30-4, 14-7-2 in June)

The defending NPB champions won Interleague once again for the third time in four years. No Yuki Yanagita? No problem! They've had ups and downs offensively, but the supporting case seems to be doing fine without him. Defensive stalwarts Takuya Kai and Kenta Imamiya are both having decent years at the plate while Rei Takahashi and Kotaro Otake are proving to be solid support behind Kodai Senga in the rotation. Is the sky the limit for this Hawks team, looking to go for a three-peat? Nobuhiro Matsuda is still hitting well too while the rich get richer having Carter Stewart enter their system.

Lastly, a big welcome back goes to Tsuyoshi Wada, who returned to the ichi-gun from an injury for the first time since 2017.

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2. [^] (7) Yomiuri Giants (40-30-1, 15-7 in June)

A cold May was followed by a red hot June and a decent position in Interleague play. They're back in first place, but the Hiroshima Carp are still not far behind. Not every player they signed is living up to the hype, but Yoshihiro Maru and Dai-Kan Yoh definitely are as veterans. Time will tell if this 18-game stretch was fluky or for real when they see the Carp.

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3. [^] (4) Rakuten Eagles (39-32-2, 12-9-1 in June)

The Eagles continue to play well through the first half like it's 2017 again. Takahiro Norimoto shoudl be ready to go for the second half of the season while Takayuki Kishi is healthy. This group is very dependent on four guys for their offense and the pitching has done enough to get things done. Yuki Matsui appears to be continuing his trend in having a good year following a bad one.

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4. [^] (9) Yokohama DeNA Baystars (35-36-2, 13-8-2 in June) 

The Baystars were the only other team with a winning record in interleague play. This group is still home run dependent, but the starting pitching is beginning to come around. They have to like the value they're getting out of rookie Taiga Kamichatani while Shota Imanaga continues a dominant season.

They looked dead in the water after April, but they've climbed hump to put themselves in the hunt for postseason baseball. Alex Ramirez's job has been on the line since the start of the year.

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5. [=] Saitama Seibu Lions (38-34-1, 12-11 in June)

The Lions survive interleague play by not taking any big steps backward. Offense is still there and they're not doing it with just home runs from Hotaka Yamakawa and Takeya "Okawari-kun" Nakamura because there is balance. Pitching remains raw and they're still competing without opening day starter Shinsaburo Tawata.

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6. [v] (1) Hiroshima Carp (38-34-3, 6-15-2 in June)

The Catp take the largest fall after a nearly invincible May. They finished with the second worst interleague record as the Pacific League ate them alive. Their biggest positive is having Kris Johnson look strong while Makoto Aduwa has continued to eat innings. Daichi Osera is still the dominant ace continuing his form from last year.

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7. [^] (11) Orix Buffaloes (31-38-5, 12-9-2 in June)

No one benefited better in interleague play than the last-place Buffaloes, as they were only 4.5 games out of A-class when the 18-game stretch ended. Their pitching has shown they can compete, but will the self-inflicting mistakes stop? There are still offensive holes in the lineup, but Keita Nakagawa is a big reason they get credit for a good June.

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8. [=] Chiba Lotte Marines (34-36-2, 11-10-1 in June)

The Marines didn't fall backward, but they couldn't gain ground during Interleague play by having a losing record at 8-10. As much as Brandon Laird has improved their offense, the pitching is not where it needs to be if they want to be in A-class. Portions of their Core-4 in Shogo Nakamura and Ayumu Ishikawa have underachieved whether it's performance or injury related.

It's been a strange year where one obvious hole from 2018 looks fixed, yet they're just a bubble team with regression from their arms on the staff.

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9. [v] (2) Hanshin Tigers (35-36-4, 7-13-2 in June)

Like the Carp, the Tigers were sent back to earth by the Pacific League and even lost a series to their Kansai neighbors. Defense on the field has hurt their pitching staff and it doesn't show in the boxscore. Bullpen has given fans a scare, but they've continued to get it done ugly. These Tigers appears to be streaky, but the pitching will keep them competitive. It should be a good dog fight in their hunt for A-class under first-year skipper Yano.

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10. [v] (3) Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (35-36-4, 9-12-2 in June)

The Fighters are still in the hunt, but their pitching staff took a blow when an accidental play took Naoyuki Uwasawa out for the season. Pitching will have to work as a team if they want to return to A-class, but this will be an uphill battle. Recently, they reacquired Mitsuo Yoshikawa from the Yomiuri Giants in a trade. It's possible he could eat up some innings so the team won't need to bullpen their way through games. They've had openers and short starts while being innovative, but it hasn't led to much success so far.

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11. [v] (10) Chunichi Dragons (33-39, 10-12 in June)

The Dragons rotation appears like it can't hold up outside of Yudai Ono and Yuya Yanagi carrying the load. Their bullpen is still a liability while they're inconsistent on offense. This is still a learning season for first-year skipper Tsuyoshi Yoda with several kids being thrown in while veterans like Daisuke Yamai will still get appearances.

On paper, this the making of a last place squad, yet they're 2.5 games out of A-class. Right now, it's tough to take them seriously. We'll revisit this in a month to see what happens next.

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12. [=] Tokyo Yakult Swallows (28-46-2, 7-15 in June)

Interleague play should have all-but sealed the 2019 Swallows season. At 18 games under .500, it's too much of a mountain to overcome. Pitching, defense and a lack of timely hitting are all hurting this team, but there is one thing they can cling to: The power hitting success of 19-year old 2017 first round pick Munetaka Murakami. He'll be keeping this team interesting while the wins and losses will come and go.

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Overall:

A-class races are interesting while both pennants are not runaways yet. Only one team is all but dead while everyone else is still competing. We should see another team fall to the pits and join the Swallows soon. If anything, the Baystars getting hot combined with the Hanshin Tigers falling makes the race interesting in the Central.

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Lions survive interleague play, but what is this team?

The Saitama Seibu Lions went 10-8 in Interleague play, which is good enough for a winning record. However, it's easy to think they were a few plays away from 12-6 or as low as 8-10 depending on how you see the glass.

A few blown saves by the bullpen and some clutch hitting evened things out, but if anything, the Lions didn't fold or take a step backward through this stretch. They finished tied with Rakuten for 5th in the Interleague Standings.

Here are some observations on the team since interleague play concluded:

Shinsaburo Tawata and Daiki Enokida, where are you? 

Tawata was deactivated before interleague play began and he didn't even start a game. Recently, he struggled in a ni-gun outing against Rakuten this week. Enokida saw one outing before being yanked off the ichi-gun in favor or spot starters. He has also had a slow season after a strong 2018. Regression was expected for Enokida, but Tawata underperforming is a cause for concern.

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Kyle Martin took advantage of the Central League

Interleague play provides a change of pace of not seeing the same five teams over and over again. Martin was a midseason acquisition in the middle of 2018 and skipped the entire interleague stretch last year. Having not seen any opponent prior to June, his off speed pitches were baffling the Central League batters and it contributed to a success. He was getting meaningful innings in the 6th and 7th innings over Deunte Heath if the team had a lead.

This could possibly be lightning in a bottle for three weeks with Pacific League opponents coming back, but Lions fans can only hope Martin builds off this stretch and remains confident the rest of the way. 

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Takeya Nakamura can still hit

Mr. Okawari-kun can mash and isn't completely over the hill yet. He was either clutch or hitting or power which is a perfect luxury to have when batting 6th in the order. They haven't needed him to be the guy anymore with the emergence of Hotaka Yamakawa, but when he does contribute, it's huge.

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Right field is back to being a revolving door

Fumikazu Kimura was given the starting role at the beginning of the year, but it's obvious he is a replacement and spell OF at best. Guys like Daisuke Togawa, Shogo Saito and even "Aito" Takeda have seen time in right field and it's likely the team will go by committee depending on the matchup they like. Before the season started, it was possible to put Shuta Tonosaki in right field, but the team likes him at 2B and he is a better fielder than predecessor Hideto Asamura.

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Kakeru Yamanobe is not Sosuke Genda

A shakaijin third round draft pick from last fall, it was possible Yamanobe could have won himself a job at 2B with the void Asamura created. As it showed in preseason and practice, his bat wasn't adequate enough despite his speed and defensive abilities. He was an insurance draft pick while still having some upside, but won't make instant impact the way Genda did in his first season.

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Bullpen and rotation still have a share of uncertainty

This is where things get dicey. Rotation spots haven't been stable outside of Tatsuya Imai with others spending time in ni-gun or being injured. The Lions have rode back end starters or spot starters on a six game week, which isn't bad, but there is no clear cut great pitcher in the rotation. Zach Neal, Keisuke Honda, Yasuo Sano and Chun-Lin Kuo have all seen time as a starter with Tawata and Enokida being out. The good news is Wataru Matsumoto has found ichi-gun playing time after a slow April to begin his career.

With the rotation usually coming short of six innings among the back end starters, the bullpen is overworked with Katsunori Hirai pitching way too often. Deunte Heath had a rough interleague stretch while Martin has already looked good. Tatsushi Masuda had some hiccups, but he doesn't appear to be a liability yet. For now, Kazuyoshi Ono has his back end guys, but will they stay there?

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Tetsuya Utsumi has been a dud pickup for compensation

Utsumi has his following from his days with the Yomiuri Giants, but he hasn't played a single ichi-gun game since joining the Lions. He has only appeared in two ni-gun games and the Lions have only cashed in on marketing with Utsumi having his own player bento box. When the Lions took him as compensation for the loss of Ginjiro Sumitani, they were hoping to get a starter who can eat at least 100 innings. At this point, will he even reach 50 innings and be healthy for the second half?

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Overall:

In perspective, the Lions aren't dead at three game above .500, but they're not great or anywhere close to the level of what the Softbank Hawks are. They're going to need pitchers to grow quickly while the hitting can maintain their decent pace with the abilities to hit and be on base. Speed is still killing the opposition, which is something the Lions lead the league in with stolen bases.

Things could be worse, but expectations for a few have felt disappointing.

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2019 Seibu Lions Series Digest: Togawa hits first HR, Matsumoto rocked in first loss

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The final series before NPB' interleague play resulted in the Saitama Seibu Lions losing two out of three to the Chiba Lotte Marines. They currently sit outside of A-class behind the Fighters and are only one game above .500.  Here's how the series went down:
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The first game in Chiba had Kona Takahashi and Kota Futaki going at it. A fielding error from Daisuke Togawa let two runs go in the Marines favor for a 2-0 lead in the first. Takeya "Okawari-kun" Nakamura had a timely in the second to respond, but a game-tying HR from Togawa in the fifth evened everything up.

Even after that HR, the Lions were able to string together some hits and Shuta Tonosaki hit a timely up the middle for a 3-2 lead. Takahashi had to battle, but forced a double play with runners on the corners in the bottom of the frame. He was able to go 6.2 innings before Katsunori Hirai came in and forced a ground ball with an inherited bases-loaded situation.

Both Hirai and Tatsushi Masuda had no trouble in the 8th and 9th as Takahashi won his third straight game.

Lions 3, Marines 2

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The second game featured Daiki Enokida against Mike Bolsinger. It was a rough beginning for Bolsinger as Takumi Kuriyama's timely hit made it 3-0 in the first, but both sides were trading runs throughout the day. Daichi Suzuki hit a two-run HR, Tonosaki had a solo HR and the Marines eventually had a 6-5 lead in the 5th inning where Enokida couldn't last.

The Lions were able to get runners on base in the 7th and a timely hit from Okawari-kun made it 7-6, but Ryosuke Moriwaki couldn't hang on to the lead in the bottom of the frame and it was tied up again. Both sides had chances in the late frames including Fumikazu Kimura up in the top of the 10th with a runner on second, but this game went Chiba's way as an overworked Hirai struggled and gave up the game-losing run on a sayonara hit to Suzuki.

Marines 8, Lions 7 (10 innings)

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The final matchup of the weekend had Ayumu Ishikawa and Wataru Matsumoto. This game was over from the start as Matsumoto was rocked for three home runs, including a grand slam by Naoya Emura which made it 8-0 after five innings. Ishikawa cruised through seven frames with the lone run coming from a HR off Hotaka Yamkawa.

As a result, the Lions lost the final series before going into Interleague Play.

Marines 8, Lions 1

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Not the most ideal series, but it's also not the end of the world. The starting pitching is still too flawed to be a contender, but the hitting keeps them afloat. If anything, Kona Takahashi's outing through a tough battle is encouraging as he's been on a role. 

This change of pace could make or break the Lions if they have extreme winning or losing in the next 18 games.

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