Literally the day after I release my last podcast, the Dragons announced their signing of former Cincinatti Reds slugger, Aristides Aquino. He signs on for big money which I hope will lead to big things. I break down the signing, what he best compares to and where he will fit into the team.
I also make mention of the new uniforms the Dragons have announced which you can view here:
As of a few days ago the Dragons have been active in bringing in more players ahead of the 2023 season. Former Royals and Giants utility, Orlando Calixte joins the team while Zolilo Almonte makes a surprising return after a 3 year absence. This however doesn't look to spell the end of the Dragons roster shake-up...
Hi all, I bring to you a new podcast based on breaking down the two trades that have occurred this week. We firstly had infielder, Toshiki Abe being sent to the Rakuten Eagles for veteran starter Hideaki Wakui while just today news broke of former rookie of the year, Yota Kyoda going to the Yokohama Baystars for lefty bullpen arm Yoshiki Sunada. Give it a listen and let me know your thoughts.
I will be editing and uploading my draft review either tonight or tomorrow. My apologies for the delay.
In the meantime some Dragons news, the team have signed a second 2-gun hitting-coach for the first time since the Shigekazu Mori regime. The only disappointment perhaps is that it is yet another retread. Yoshinori Ueda, who was part of the Dragons staff between 2009-2015 has been installed as a former left-handed hitting player to coach our hitters along.
Ueda has a long career in coaching. After he left the Dragons in 2015 he joined Alex Ramirez's staff at the Yokohama DeNA Baystars. After Daisuke Miura cleaned house, Ueda moved on to the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters for two years before arriving back in Nagoya. Looks good on paper right? An experienced coach with connection and exposure to other teams? I would have thought so. But hang on, what was his position in these teams again? Base-running and outfield defence coach. Oh. Despite hitting being the biggest issue for the Dragons in recent years, they are bringing in a coach who has zero experience actually coaching players how to hit. Now, this is not to say that he doesn't have some nous when it comes to coaching hitters, but, so far, he has no experience doing so.
Ueda's hiring reeks of more incestuous in-house hiring. While Ueda comes from another team, he still has the Dragons connection as a player and former coach. The Dragons love doing this but it severely limits the pool of ideas and reinforces the power structures in place. If you're used to the Dragons way, you're less likely to question it. A guy like Norihiro Nakamura was a bit of a mercenary and has always been a free thinker, so I'd like to take him away from this conversation, but by and large, particularly for the farm team, the Dragons like to hire from within. Kazuhiro Wada's hiring is just another example in a long line of coaching decisions made for seemingly sentimental reasons. I don't think Wada will be a bad coach per se, but I disagree with the logic of the search conditions.
Out of the current staff members, it is only Shuji Nishiyama, Atsushi Kataoka and Yutaka Nakamura who had no previous Dragons affiliation before joining the team. In a similar vein to drafting local talents, there seems to be a very insular culture at the Dragons. The 2022 draft disproved this somewhat as, for the first time in a very long time, the Dragons did not draft anyone in their immediate catchment area. However, the staff recruiting policy seems to remain the same. The first box that apparently needs to be ticked is "Played for Dragons". I don't know if this is done as a way to maintain some form of uniformity in the ranks or if it's to ensure some kind of loyalty in spite of poor decision making. We'll possibly never no. The Dragons are of course not the only team to hire their own, but I feel it is done to such an extreme degree in with Chunichi that the team seem to be afraid of outside influence. Ironically, the longer this goes on the worse it is going to get. The connections coaches and players have will be limited to players and coaches that have always been with the Dragons. The fact the team don't chase after free agents from other teams only further impacts this. Add in the fact that the team rarely go after polished international signings as well and the influence of outside ideas really is waning.
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| Awano was a big part of revolutionising Dragons' pitcher management. |
I understand that managers will often look to old classmates from university and the like as well to bring in new faces. Yoda did this with Hideyuki Awano. Awano brought with him former Hankyu team-mate Motoyuki Akahori and together the trio created one of the most formidable pitching staffs in Japan. The same could not be said for Takayuki Murakami however as he seemed to fail to make an impact on the team's hitting. Unfortunately, beyond this, many of the others of Yoda's staff were made up of former Dragons.
We must therefore respect Hiromitsu Ochiai's personnel selections. Ochiai went out of his way to hire coaches who had nothing to do with the Dragons. Ochiai was responsible for bringing in Shigekazu Mori and Hatsuhiko Suji from the Lions. Of the 2006 staff, Shinji Hata was brought in out of the blue after a failed coaching stint at the Marines. Seiji Kobayashi was picked up out of the blue. Hideki Takayanagi was brought in from the Hawks via the Marines. Shinji Hara had been coaching in Taiwan before being brought into the Dragons fold. Naoyuki Kazuoka, now still coaching with Orix, was a Tigers coach before his tenure. While there are plenty of coaches who previously had either playing or coaching experience with the Dragons before Ochiai appointed them, it is clear that Ochiai was a man with connections that wasn't afraid to go beyond the Dragons pool.
Perhaps it is too much to ask of a manager like Tatsunami who spent his entire career at the Dragons. You would perhaps think that the connections he made during his professional career as a representative of his team, frequent all-star and Meikyuikai member would have yielded slightly better appointments. This is not to mention the various ex-baseball people he would have met in the close to 15 years he had as an analyst.
This turned into a rant very quickly, however I think Ueda's appointment once again falls within the realms of imagination and is overall a disappointing choice. Given the issues that the Dragons have in developing hitters, it is suicidally irresponsible to not address this with a stronger move. While this would have been a first-team appointment, Takuro Ishii, one of the highest regarded hitting coaches in NPB was available last year. He joined Daisuke Miura's backroom at the Baystars. Surely however, this is the kind of appointment that needs to be considered if the team are to get back on the right track. Maybe luck or connection wasn't their with Ishii, but surely there are a bevy of other candidates.
The appointment of Ueda is yet further evidence of a team lacking ambition and leadership. If the rumour is true that certain former players are avoiding coaching for the Dragons because they see it as a sinking ship, then I can't see how the ship is going to righted. In saying all this, I don't know how Ueda will perform as a hitting coach. He could be ready to take on the challenge and be excellent at his job. Who knows; we will have to wait and see. As usual however, I will maintain my skepticism.
Hi all, after recording, re-recording and then sitting on it for a few days, I finally have my draft preview ready. You can listen via the embedded link here or through Spotify. I am not sure what's happening with iTunes at the moment.
| Team | Name | Position | School |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swallows | Kojiro Yoshimura | RHP | Toshiba |
| Baystars | - | Either | |
| Tigers | - | ?? | |
| Carp | Yuta Saito | RHP | Tomakomai Chuo HS |
| Giants | Shogo Asano | OF | Takamatsu Commercial HS |
| Dragons | Reia Nakachi | RHP | Okinawa University |
| Buffaloes | Ryuhei Sotani | LHP | Hakuoh University |
| Hawks | Ikhine Itua | SS | Homore HS |
| Lions | Takuya Hiruma | OF | Waseda University |
| Eagles | Kosei Shoji | RHP | Rikkyo University |
| Marines | - | P/IF? | |
| Fighters | Kota Yazawa | LHP/OF | Nippon Sports Science Uni |
Hi all, I should have my draft preview podcast ready very soon. Will be editing a little bit now. I recorded it yesterday and unfortunately it's already a little out of date (curse you Carpies!).
In the meantime some interesting developments have taken place with regards to the team. Firstly, Ariel Martinez has left the team and is now a free agent. He performed well this year hitting a .276/.350/.435 slash with 8 homeruns in 82 games this year. It seems...strange to jettison a player that actually did quite well but perhaps there were some things in the background. It sounds like firstly, Martinez reluctantly left the catching position this year to make some kind of team contribution. His inability to play as a catcher may have been a deciding factor. The team may also have not thought his relative contribution worthy of the possible price-tag. With news that Tatsunami is going on a scouting mission the the Dominican Republic Winter League, it sounds like they're looking for someone a bit cheaper and with more upside.
On the staff side of things, there has also been a bit of a shake-up. There was news earlier that Toshio Haru, long serving batting coach, would be leaving the team. He has now left the team alongside other long-standing coaches, Takashi Ogasawara and Hidenori Kuramoto. Ogasawara has been busy developing arms on the farm since 2013 and has a fairly decent track record. Hidenori has been up and down between the first and second team as an outfield coach since 2013 as well. Haru I can understand leaving given the hitting issues, but I don't understand jettisoning two perfectly good coaches in Ogasawara and Hidenori. The former I thought was quite good at his job and this now leaves two relatively inexperinced pitching coaches in Daisuke Yamai and Takuya Asao. Hidenori was given a role on the farm this year as a development coach, but I think that was merely the precursor for him leaving the team when his contract finished. There may have been compatibility issues with Atsushi Kataoka that led to the change, but this is pure speculation. What will this mean for the farm team? Since Asao was hired, the team have had 3 pitching coaches on the farm. Maybe cutting one is making room for another hitting coach perhaps? We'll have to wait and see.
With all the outs, we have had an in. Former MVP, Kazuhiro Wada has joined the Tatsunami backroom as first team hitting coach. He was reportedly sent an invite when it was announced Haru was leaving. Wada was a great hitter in his day but has not had any coaching experience. His post-retirement days have been mostly spent as a colour commentator. Wada and Tatsunami spent two years together with the Dragons in 2008 and 2009.
That was just a small update on some key moves the Dragons are making. I will be interesting to see what further shake-ups may occur post-draft and if there will be further additions to the coaching staff.
The team for the annual Phoenix League in Miyazaki prefecture has been announced. The following players will be playing in the roughly 3 week long fall tournament. The Phoenix League is usually for younger players to get more experience and the roster is often an expanded farm team of sorts but mostly for prospects or older players that need to tune-up.
| Pitchers | Position Players |
|---|---|
| Akira Neo | Taisei Miya |
| Yuki Hashimoto | Yuya Gunji |
| Hiroto Takahashi | Kota Ishibashi |
| Hiroto Mori | Shuhei Takahashi |
| Yuichiro Okano | Masami Ishigaki |
| Akiyoshi Katsuno | Ryuku Tsuchida |
| Hiroshi Suzuki | Mao Hoshino |
| Takumi Yamamoto | Kosuke Ukai |
| Ryushin Takeuchi | Yuma Fukumoto |
| Yuta Matsukihira | Hironori Miyoshi |
| Hiroaki Matsuda | Kenta Bright |
| Sho Ishikawa | Kosuke Ito |
| Shota Fukushima | Yuki Okabayashi |
Hi guys,
I'm sticking with Podcasts for now. I have actually set-up an RSS feed (still playing with this) for future podcasts. As I mention in the episode, I don't have a schedule or anything so I just upload when I can.
Today I talk about the end of the season, staff shuffles, who the Dragons might be saying farewell to and what they might want to target at the draft.
I will have an episode as well to preview the draft but that will go-up likely next week. Draft is slated for the 20th of October.
DragonSoulCast #3 - 2022 is dead, long live 2022
4th October 2022 - 5:00pm update
The Dragons have gone heavy on the cuts and have laid off the following:
Ryosuke Hirata, Ayatsugu Yamashita, Yu Sato, Masaru Watanabe, Marc Ishida, Yoan Tavarez, Luke Wakamatsu, Kaname Takino, Yuta Omine and Tatsuro Hamada.
They have cleared 8 spots on the top-team roster in one foul swoop. The names listed are not one's I'm surprised about but perhaps Kaname Takino can consider himself a little unlucky. Tatsuro Hamada's career has been hanging on by the good wishes of the club. He's had injury after injury and the man once uttered in the same breath as Shohei Otani and Shintaro Fujinami will be leaving the team. Yamashita leaving is also slightly surprising given the lack of options at first-base on the farm, but this may well change. Looks as though at least the team are keen on bringing back Ariel Martinez, we'll have to see how his contract plays out.
Hi all, another podcast of sorts today which is a half-rant/analysis about Neo being converted to a pitcher by Kazuyoshi Tatsunami. I make a few comparisons and largely throw my arms up in despair.
DragonSoulCast #2 - Who is Neo? The outfielder-come-short-stop now a pitcher (16th June 2022)
Tatsunami's monstrous attempt to play Shuhei Takahashi at short-stop against the Lions last night is telling of a few things, most of which is there isn't a place for Takahashi in this team. Shuhei missed out on a number of months with an injury to start the season but now it seems there are better options at his two preferred positions of third-base and second-base.
There's a number of issues that are preventing the former regular's use and here I would like to run through a few of them.
1. The form of Toshiki Abe
Abe had a pretty bad year last year, but this year, the Iwate-born infielder has been one of the Dragons' hottest bats. He's currently hitting a .275/.344/.450 slash which is one of the best among Dragons hitters. His splits are also a bit strange for a right-handed hitter as he's only hitting .238 against lefties but in a small sample size of 21 plate appearances. He's otherwise striking .281 against right handers. Shuhei has traditionally been a good hitter against righties and last year he was abysmal against lefties. A platoon situation therefore is off the table somewhat at second base. Plus, let's face it, Abe is slugging at a level that is beyond what Shuhei normally musters and in a team that lacks big hits, taking out Abe would be suicidal.
2. The development of Takaya Ishikawa
Out of all the position players in the Dragons organisation, Ishikawa has by far the highest ceiling. A third-baseman that hits for power and is an above average defender is a prized commodity and seeing him develop and ensure he can be that superstar the teams needs in future is important and in particular a mission of Tatsunami's this year. Ishikawa has been typically inconsistent for a young hitter this year and has been slashing a modest .228/.269/.423 this year. While the slugging potential is certainly there, the on-base ability hasn't come along just yet. Only 7 walks in 135 plate appearances is somewhat telling of where Ishikawa is at with his plate discipline, but he doesn't strike-out and awful lot either (26 this year) which means he's getting contact but perhaps just not on the right kinds of pitches.
When we look at his splits however, he is only hitting .215 against right-handers in 107 PA while, in a much smaller sample size, hits .313 over 16 PA against lefties. Ishikawa is a potential platoon candidate with Shuhei based on these numbers but we must take into account two things. Firstly, there just don't seem to be a lot of PAs against lefty pitchers in the Central this year compared to the inverse. Secondly, you want Ishikawa at this stage in his development to face everything and everybody so that he can adjust and get the experience so he can be better at hitting right-handers; this is a tack I think the Dragons are definitely taking. So in this respect too, finding time for Shuhei, who offers little power but probably better on-base skills, is not really a prime candidate.
3. Positional inflexibility
Shuhei has shown a willingness to move around the diamond throughout his career to get opportunities. First coming up under Morimichi Takagi, there were attempts to play him at short-stop to replace the departing Hirokazu Ibata. Shuhei was a bit exposed at short and ended up being billed as a third-baseman, trapped behind Hector Luna. Once Luna left the organisation however, Nobumasa Fukuda started providing power from the hot corner, and Shuhei was then given an opportunity at second-base where he was competent but still looked like a WWI-era tank turning double plays. We all know that he has an elite glove at third-base. The diving catches and neat footwork have been somewhat of a trademark, but at the moment team need is not at third, it is probably at short-stop if anywhere. Unfortunately, Shuhei is built like a power-hitter and is not the kind of guy you want at short-stop long-term. That being said there's really no-one banging on the door to be the team's next short-stop.
Takahashi is essentially the odd-man out at the moment. He can't play short, but is probably capable at just about every other position across the diamond. However, what does Shuhei bring to the team? Good corner infield defense and on-base skills. Given Ishikawa is a competent third-baseman that can bring in extra bases, this limits Shuhei to play third. Second base is currently occupied by the team's hottest hitter and another that is more skilled at getting extra base-hits. The question is, what do you do with Shuhei? If this were the MLB, there'd bit a strong case to trade Shuhei to maybe bring in a potential short-stop but I don't think the Dragons would part with one of their team faces so easily.
What is the solution? Well, it might just sort itself out. Patience with Ishikawa may dwindle and that might force Tatsunami's hand to play Shuhei at third more often. Abe could get injured or drop-off, and that too would allow for Shuhei to be first-up at second-base. At the current point in the season there just doesn't seem to be a proper space for him unless you are using him as cover to give Abe and Ishikawa rest-days which again, seems kinda unlikely for the Dragons or an NPB team to do.
Let's all agree, that no matter what happens he should never appear at short ever again.
Other news: Yakyu Cosmopolitan on YouTube and I collaborated on a video. They have used a bit of my analysis for their video on the rise and fall of the Chunichi Dragons. Please give it a watch.
With the severe lack of runs over the past few seasons, it's hard not to get a little skeptical as to whether the Dragons ever scored runs with an proclivity whatsoever. I often find myself looking back into the Dragons' history for the greatest that have played the game for the team. And while those celebrated by fans quite commonly come up with a scour through the data and statistics, I'm always excited to find cases that challenge those conceptions or that highlight the careers of players long since forgotten. I am also keen here to find out if the Dome era has really been such a negative for Dragons hitters over the past 25 years.
In this post, I'm using data on wRAA (weighted runs above average) and WRC+ (weighted runs created plus) to give you an idea of some of the most productive seasons by players in a Dragons shirt.
Here's some definitions before we move on:
wRAA measures how many runs a hitter contributes, compared with an average player -- so a player with a 0 wRAA would be considered league average, offensively. It's calculated by finding the difference in the number of runs contributed between a player and the league average (which is determined by the league average wOBA).
wRC+ takes the statistic Runs Created and adjusts that number to account for important external factors -- like ballpark or era. It's adjusted, so a wRC+ of 100 is league average and 150 would be 50 percent above league average.
- mlb.com
First, as WRC+ is a statistic that is based on wRAA plus a few bits and bobs, I will present to you the greatest career years for Dragons based on position and wRAA. This will be followed but a top 10 list not constricted to position.
| Position | Name | wRAA | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| C | Tatsuhiko Kimata | 37.7 | 1970 |
| 1B | Tyrone Woods | 60.6 | 2006 |
| 2B | Morimichi Takagi | 29.7 | 1966 |
| 3B | Hiromitsu Ochiai | 41.6 | 1987 |
| SS | Kiyoshi Sugiura | 30.7 | 1950 |
| RF | Kōsuke Fukudome | 70.0 | 2006 |
| CF | Toshio Naka | 31.9 | 1966 |
| LF | Shinichi Etō | 59.7 | 1965 |
| Team | NPB | Position | Name | wRAA | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 | RF/CF | Kosuke Fukudome | 70.0 | 2006 |
| 2 | 37 | 1B | Tyrone Woods | 60.6 | 2006 |
| 3 | 39 | LF | Kazuhiro Wada | 60.5 | 2010 |
| 4 | 44 | LF | Shinichi Etō | 59.7 | 1965 |
| 5 | 85 | RF | Kōsuke Fukudome | 53.2 | 2005 |
| 6 | 89 | 1B | Hiromitsu Ochiai | 52.8 | 1991 |
| 7 | - | 1B | Michio Nishizawa | 48.6 | 1952 |
| 8 | - | 1B | Dayan Viciedo | 47.7 | 2018 |
| 9 | - | 3B/1B | Hiromitsu Ochiai | 45.8 | 1989 |
| 10 | - | LF | Satoshi Sugiyama | 45.3 | 1952 |
| Position | Name | WRC+ | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| C | Tatsuhiko Kimata | 182 | 1970 |
| 1B | Hiromitsu Ochiai | 206 | 1991 |
| 2B | Morimichi Takagi | 165 | 1966 |
| 3B | Hiroji Okajima | 169 | 1958 |
| SS | Akiteru Kawano | 150 | 1963 |
| RF | Kōsuke Fukudome | 212 | 2006 |
| CF | Alonzo Powell | 168 | 1993 |
| LF | Shinichi Etō | 233 | 1965 |
| Chunichi | NPB | Position | Name | WRC+ | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | LF | Shinichi Etō | 233 | 1965 |
| 2 | 40 | RF | Kōsuke Fukudome | 212 | 2006 |
| 3 | 48 | 1B | Hiromitsu Ochiai | 206 | 1991 |
| 4 | 52 | LF | Shinichi Eto | 204 | 1966 |
| 5 | 61 | LF | Satoshi Sugiyama | 201 | 1952 |
| 6 | 91 | 1B | Michio Nishizawa | 192 | 1952 |
| 7 | 97 | 1B | Tyrone Woods | 191 | 2006 |
| 8 | - | LF | Kazuhiro Wada | 190 | 2010 |
| 9 | - | 1B | Kenichi Yazawa | 183 | 1980 |
| 10 | - | C | Tatsuhiko Kimata | 182 | 1970 |
| Rank | Year | wRC+ | wRAA | Key Contributors | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1962 | 122 | 90.6 | S. Etō (171), D. Newcombe (161), M. Maeda (143) | 3rd |
| 2 | 2006 | 117 | 103.5 | K. Fukudome (212), T. Woods (191), K. Inoue (130) | 1st |
| 3 | 1966 | 115 | 65.3 | S. Etō (204), T. Naka (168), M. Takagi (165) | 2nd |
| 4 | 1996 | 114 | 81.8 | T. Yamasaki (167), T. Chen (149), A. Powell (141) | 2nd |
| 5 | 1991 | 114 | 74.9 | H. Ochiai (206), T. Chen (140), K. Tatsunami (121) | 2nd |
