On the Farm: Chunichi Dragons v Softbank Hawks (April 26th-27th)

Hee-haw what a hootenanny we had down on the farm this week!  We was down on the ranch in NAH-GOE-YAH spitting tobacky and throwing curve balls as the Dragons faced off against the Softbank Hawks in another rain affected series. We had two games with the third being called off because of the weather and it would be a win a piece to each side but Softbank inflicted the larger of the damage.

Game 1 of the series was a cricket score in favour of the Hawks as they ran out 10-0 winners after a 6 run blow-out by Yudai in the second inning marked particularly painfully by a three run homerun to Go Kamamoto. Yuu Sato would also be dealt the same punishment in the 3^rd inning by Takuya Kai to put the Hawks up to 9-0 in 3 innings. The game was also showed a return for Asao who has been worried with niggling injuries since sometime last year. He would unfortunately be the last to give up a run as Takuya struck a double  to put the game to rest at 10-0 in the 7^th inning.

Pitching

As mentioned,  it was a bit of a disaster for Yudai who pitched 1 1/3 innings, including 4

deliveries, and gave up 5 hit, 6 runs and 2 walks. Awful.  Yuu Sato faired a bit better  as he was given a long relief role despite being battered in his first full inning. Sato pitched 4 2/3 innings, striking out 5 and walking two for 3 runs.  Asao was tidy in his only inning despite giving up a run. He fanned two and conceded 3 hits. Mituma was even more impressive in his inning as he struckout two batters and gave up a walk for no loss. Ogawa and Kaneko finished out the last inning with no particular stats to worry the scorers.

One of those days I guess, but giving up 9 runs in the first two isn’t exactly forgivable. Then again, neither is not mounting a meaningful counter-attack.

Here's Asao's return to the mound: 

Batting

Kei Nomoto just keeps doing what he needs to and surely he isn’t too far away from replacing the likes of Fukuda or Morino in the first-team squad. The first-baseman raked 3 hits in his 4 plate-appearances on a day where his team-mates didn’t really help him out. The only other hits went to Watanabe, Tomonaga, Tamura and Kato who all scored singles. Pretty damning assessment. One does have to assume that the Softbank pitchers were on point, or the boys were swinging at everything as no walks were issued in the game. That really just makes Nomoto's form all the more impressive.

Some Nomoto highlights: 

A pretty bad game for the Dragons but well, you win some you lose some.

Game 2 of the series was a much closer affair and much nicer result for the Dragons. After going up 3 runs early against Daisuke Matsuzaka, Chunichi were able to keep a hold of their lead and add one more to their total in the 9^th inning to seal a 4-1 win.

Shinji Iwata got his third win of the Western League season while Matsuzaka sits with two losses from three games.

Pitching

Iwata done good.

Shinji Iwata has pitched really well in his last start and did it again today as he pitched out 6 innings taking a whopping 9 strikeouts while only conceding 2 walks, 4 hits and a run against 23 batters. You have to be impressed with the strikeout column. For 6 innings that’s some decent pitching. Ryuya Ogawa took 2 and 2/3 innings of perfect relief pitching, striking out two and avoiding giving an inch to the batters with a mini no-no. Sobue took his man out in 2 balls while Takeshi Kaneko got the save with another inning of no hits and no walks.

Quite exciting numbers coming from the pitching today but it does make one curious as to how good the Hawks batters were on the day.

Tamura lightly tapping the accelerator

Batting

Well, the man making all the 2-gun highlights was at it again today. Kei Nomoto once again put his firm foot down to state his case to be an 1-gun call-up. 3 hits and a walk in 4 plate appearances. Honestly, the guy is untouchable at the moment. Nomoto averages .438 in the Western League. If those kinds of numbers don’t deserve a call-up I will never understand what will. Tomonaga and Ishikawa both had two hits to their names and it was the latter and Watanabe that picked up the only RBIs of the game. Anderson Hernandez also picked up a single while Hitoshi Tamura got himself a walk and a hit for his hard work on the day.

Overall a much improved performance on the previous day in all aspects. The pitching was much better and the batting line-up did what it was supposed to do. Kei Nomoto might have to knock a bit harder to get Tanishige’s attention. Lord knows what’s keeping him in the reserves at the moment. He’s certainly doing all he can.

Here's some more Nomoto highlights from Wednesday:

That’s all for the Western League at the moment as there will be a recess until the 6^th when the Dragons play the Carp. There will however be a small Cup tournament at the Nagaragawa ball park in Gifu called the “Bay Blues Cup” during the Golden Week holidays.(May 1^st, 2^nd & 3^rd) I don’t really know too many details but it seems to be 3 games against industrial league teams; Nishino Transportation, Mitsubishi-Hitachi Power Systems Yokohama and 77 Bank.  I will try and report on the games if I can find some info! 

On the Farm: Chunichi Dragons v Softbank Hawks (April 19th & 20th)

Keep  movin' movin' movin', though Hawks be disapprovin' keep those runners movin', home side! Don't try to understand em' just mash, crash and slam 'em, soon we'll be smilin' side by side. Our pitchers are frustratin' those Ks will be waiting, if we don't get that control down right. HOME SIDE!

Ahem, yes, the Western theme continues as we continue to follow the Dragons farm team and their adventures in the Western League. Things have been going remarkably well for the team with the losses few and far between. A lot of the good performers have so far gone up to the first team and done well, most noticeably Tetsuya Tani has carried on his superb form.

Michihiro Ogaswara's team headed down to the Hawks Baseball Park Chikugo where the Softbank team normally plays it's 2-gun and 3-gun games. We had another incidence where a 3-game series was turned into a 2-game series because of rain on the 21st. This also hampered recovery efforts in Kumamoto so a called off game was really the least of the worries.

2 games and another two wins to follow. Some good batting on the 19th and some good pitching on the 20th ensured a series win once more for our talented 2-gun players.

Game 1 of the series would see a return to the mound for Yudai Kawai while Yosuke Shimabukuro took up duties for the Hawks. Yudai had a typical blow out after a few innings, but it wasn't to be too detrimental to the team's overall success. The Dragons opened the scoring in the 1st with Hirata hitting home Kondo and the lead was extended to 0-4 in the 4th. One run given up in the 4th and then 4 runs given away in the 5th made it a 5-4 scoreline in favour of the Hawks. With things scoreless until the 9th, Ishikawa scored 2 runners to put the Dragons ahead and secure the win.

Pitching

Kaneko with the save.

Yudai Kawai as mentioned did reasonably well but 4 conceded runs in his 5th inning meant that he was yoinked from the mound fairly early on. Yudai did however take 5 strikeouts but threw 2 walks and allowed 7 hits off his 4 2/3 innings. 93 balls in his spell meant that he probably is lacking a bit of stamina. Yuu Sato would take 1 2/3 innings to strike out and walk two out of his 7 batters faced, helping stem the tide of runs. Ryuya Ogawa, who was in the opening day squad for the big leagues, took 1/3 of an inning and took 4 balls to strikeout his only batter. Achira would walk away as the winning pitcher as he threw down 1 1/3 innings giving up a hit and walk but taking a strikeout to stay scoreless. Takeshi Kaneko took the last inning and got the save taking two strikeouts despite giving up two hits.

Kondo showing the good
stuff

Batting

Young Kondo would be in the midst of all the good things about the batting today as he put in a superb 4 at-bats. The youngster notched 2 hits, a walk and a sacrifice hit. A great contribution. Ryosuke Hirata continued his rehabilitation as he hit 2 including an RBA to go with a walk in his 4 plate appearances. Infielder, Abe started to show signs of settling in as he scored twice and hit two RBIs to go with a walk in a very good appearance with the bat. Ishikawa would be another to carve up the Hawks pitching as he made a telling contribution with 3 hits including 2 RBIs and a walk in his 4 at-bats. Special mention too goes to Ryuichiro Akada who made his comeback as a pinch-hitter after being sidelined with a broken thumb. The catcher with an American grandfather hit two from two to end a good days work. There were plenty of good contributions with the bat, maybe too many to list.

A good performance from the batters and relievers saved the game after some shoddy pitching from Yudai early on. A 5-8 win were the spoils. Credit goes to Abe and Mizowaki, particularly the former, for their fantastic displays in the field.

Here's some highlights from the 9th inning:

Game 2 would prove to be a much closer affair as Chunichi managed to hold on to a 0-2 lead that was achieved in the second inning to close out what would end up being a series sweep. Shinji Iwata would be the man on the mound for the Dragons as a recovering former Major Leaguer, Daisuke Matuzaka would be the Hawks starter for the day. Takuma Kato, and Mizowaki would start things for the Dragons in the second inning to get on base and it was successive RBIs from Watanabe and Kamezawa that ultimately sealed the win.

Iwata with his 1st win

Pitching

Iwata defied his critics today as he pitched out 6 1/3 innings to out-pitch his opposite number. Iwata gave up only 4 hits and a walk as he claimed 6 strikeouts. Ryuya Ogawa had an easy task in his one inning as he gave up one hit against 4 batters. Achira took 2/3 of an inning and took 2 strikeouts against his two batters to continue to stifle the Hawks batting. Takeshi Kaneko finished things up with the save as he conceded one hit but struck out two to finish the game.

It was a really good start from Iwata that got things going. If he can keep his up who knows what might be around the corner, but he still has a lot to prove.

Batting

Tamura made his first full
appearance for the 2nds.

Veterans Hirata and Tamura would be the only one to walk away without a hit as the lineup all
had at least one to their name. Tamura made his full debut since his move from the Baystars and only managed to get on base once through a walk. Kamezawa would have the best performance of the game with an RBI, two walks and 3 stolen bases. Not bad! Nomoto would be the only other to walk away with more than a single approach to base as he got a hit and a walk for his troubles.

Against the likes of Daisuke Matsuzaka and Edison Barrios, it is no real surprise it was a low-scoring game but a fantastic performance from Kamezawa with the bat a and a solid performance form Iwata with the ball ensured an unspectacular but well worked win.

Here's some of Kamezawa's highlights from the game:

Two wins in two games to take away from Fukuoka with plenty of positives. 

Lastly, if you have a Pac-TV account, you can watch the Softbank 2-gun games which means you can watch the Dragons team play live when they go up against the Hawks at home.

On the Farm: Chunichi Dragons v Hanshin Tigers (April 8th, 9th & 10th)

Weeeee're back on the farm after a very short intermission as I'm trying my best to catch up on some reports. We are in for a 3 gamer in today's report as for whatever reason no game was called off this time around. The Dragons took on the Hanshin Tigers in the second farm series clash of the Western League season. It would be an unfortunate overall loss to the Dragons, but there were lots of runs in an exciting three games against our geographically closest rivals.

The first game saw 2-gun regular starter, Yudai Kawai take the mound once again while Masaru Iwasaki took up duties for the Tigers. There would be a number of first-team hopefuls in the side as Okada took up the ball again today while Kamezawa, Hernandez and Akasaka played roles in the field and with the bat.

Pitching

I better shape up, coz we
need a....relief pitcher...

It would be the ubiquitous, Yudai to start things off and he would keep things tidy until his last inning where he allowed the Tigers back in the game with Naomasa Yokawa and others striking back to make the score 4-3 in the 6th. Yudai would finish with 6 strikeouts giving up 6 hits and a walk.  Achira would clean up the 6th inning as he run through 3 batters for no loss. Toshiya Okada would unfortunately give up 2 runs, including a homer,  against the 4 batters he faced, taking one strikeout in the process. Takeshi Kaneko restored some respectability as he remained scoreless after 1 1/3 innings giving up a walk and a hit but taking a strikeout. Mitsuma would take up closing duties and let go of another run. He would end his one inning with a strike, a walk and a hit to his name.

Not the greatest of work from the pitching staff.

Homerun to the Tokyo
suburb, Akasaka

Batting

Batting started off well in the first inning. Hernandez would send Kamezawa to make it 1-0 with 2 outs before Akasaka, fielding at first-base today, sent one over the fence to bring himself and Hernandez home to make it 3-0 in the first. A further RBI would be added by the man of the moment, Kondo to make it 4-0 in the 5th. Kondo would grab two hits today and strikeout twice in his 4 at-bats. Other notable performances go to Ishikawa who milked two walks as well as Kamezawa and Hernandez who both claimed two hits a piece.

Not a great day at the office for the bullpen, but these are the lessons that must be be learned at this level. A 4-6 loss at home is never a good look.


Game 2 of the series would be even less close as the Tigers made a blowout in the 5th against Iwata to pile on the runs and claim a 3-7 win.

Among the starting members today were some familiar faces with Muto returning to the second squad while Akasaka, Yusuke Matsui, Hernandez and Takeyama would make some contributions with the bat. New draftees, Takuya Kinoshita and Toshiki Abe would start while Yuu Satoh would relieve. Starting on the mound again was the ever erratic Shinji Iwata while Kouki Moriya took the mound for the Tigers.

Pitching

Iwata continues to struggle.

Iwata did well until the 6th inning but the remaining stats are what matters. The experienced starter conceded 5 in 4 1/3 innings giving up 6 hits and 3 walks while taking 6 strikes. Mitsuma finished off the 6th inning, gave up a hit and a walk but remained scoreless. Yuu Satoh took 2 strikeouts in his two scoreless innings against 6 batters. Unfortunately, Mutoh would give up a further two runs in his disappointing relief inning. Nishikawa took the tail inning and was able to remain scoreless as he took down his 3 batters with 9 balls.

Iwata might be lucky to keep his contract by the end of this year if he shows no further improvement.

Not to be confused with
ヒルナンデス

Batting

Hernandez would be the pick of the batters as he picked off two RBIs in two hits. Two strikeouts however tarnished that good record. Mizowaki would be the only other to register an RBI today for the Dragons as he helped the team to a 1-0 lead in the 3rd. Mizowaki would also make another hit as well as striking out to end his day. Watanabe, playing in left-field,  would also hit two, striking out once. Akasaka could make no notable contribution today while Matsui and Takeyama both struck-out as pinch hitters. Furumoto would be the only other to register some meaningful statistics as he got a hit and a walk as DH today.

2 losses in a row and both have been mostly due to blow-outs by the starting pitchers. All in all though, this is the development team. The main worry however is that the experienced ones are the one's stuffing it up.


The last game of the series taking place on Sunday, would be a refreshing but nail-biting win. Shinnosuke Ogasawara would continue in the starting rotation for the second team but once again find himself a bit lacking. Kamezawa, Hernandez and Takeyama would start in the field while Yusuke Matsui found himself at the DH.

Kohyo Aoyanagi would start on the mound for the Tigers.

Adapting to big ball takes time.

Pitching

Ogasawara opened things up and his starting jitters would continue as he gave up 3 in his second inning. Control seems to still be an issue as the youngster game up 4 walks and 4 hits to accompany his 4 strikes in 5 0/3 innings. Kaneko would not slow down the scoring either as he gave up a hit and a run to go with his single strikeout in 1 1/3 innings. Okada would restore some essence of sanity by keeping things scoreless against 5 batter in 1 inning. Muto would take home winning honours despite pitching only 2/3 of an inning, giving up a hit and a walk. Daisuke Sobue would grab another save for his collection, once again running through 3 batters in quick succession taking two strikeouts.

A much better showing...or at least a luckier one but the slow progress of Ogasawara is a minor worry. Easy to forget he is only 18 though.

A man that needs No-motto.

Batting

Kamezawa would be one of the scorers today after he walked twice. Hernandez grabbed two RBIs and walked once while Matsui grabbed a hit and walk for his troubles. Furumoto was the pick of the bunch as he hit twice and walked twice to do very little wrong. An unlikely hero would however emerge as Kei Nomoto came in as a pinch-hitter to claim a game winning double. Takeyama unfortunately would only trouble the scorers with a strikeout.
Young Watanabe would also show good form today as he picked up an RBI, took a walk, stole a base and struck out once.

A good performance from the batters saw this one out, but it did take some 8th inning heroics from Nomoto to make it possible.

A very mixed bag of results for the 2-gun team this round, with no huge standouts. Hernandez did his reputation no harm, but with Jordan and Naylor in the starting rotation and Ricardo Nanita in decent form, it's currently unlikely we'll see a return for the Dominican for a little while. My guess would be a drop in form from Nanita and disappointment with Donoue might bring the stocky infielder back into the fold.

In other roster news, Shota Tomonaga has been spending time with the first team, while Kazuki Yoshimi will be taking time off to recover after being de-reg'd despite starting against the Giants on Saturday. Akasaka as well is currently with the first team side after his home-run performance.