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 Orix Buffaloes (April 22nd - 24th)

ODELAY-HI-HOOO

It's time for a slightly delayed, but another, farm report! For the first time in a while the 2-gun team was able to have a 3 game series and it was up against the Buffaloes again, this time in Nagoya. The Buffaloes have been pretty bad in the Pacific League and the Western League with the Dragons having the best of most of the match-ups in the latter.

It wouldn't be all that straightforward for the Dragons this time around as they recorded a win and two losses. There would however be a couple of rare homers through this series to give me a little bit more to write about.

Game 1 was to mark the return of Raul Valdes who has been out of reckoning since sustaining an injury either early this year or late last year. The 38 year-old Cuban and former Phillie, is probably not going to see a whole lot of first team action this year, but looked very good on his return. 23 year old Hiroki Kondo would however go some way to taking the limelight away from Valdes with his key performance with the bat.

Pitching

Valdes back in business.

Valdes threw down a strong 5 innings where he only gave up 2 hits and a walk while fanning 3 to keep things scoreless. A strong comeback. Yuu Satoh took up a relief inning and also kept things scoreless, giving up 2 hits and fanning 1. Achira continued his great form with a scoreless inning while Ogawa took two strikeouts in 2/3 of an inning. Kaneko fanned 3 in his full inning and Yamamoto, also coming back from injury, threw out his one batter to end the game.

Kondo in fine form.

Batting

Kei Nomoto would be the first to tee off against Umida in the 5th, sending one of two Dragons homeruns over the fence. As mentioned, Hiroki Kondo continued his great form in the 2-gun as he hit a marvelous homerun in the 7th against Tsukada and grabbed a hit to continue building up his burgeoning reputation. Akasaka would also raise some eyebrows as he made the best two at-bats as he scored 3 from 2 hits. Hitoshi Tamura, the veteran, also picked up a hit and a walk in his 4 at-bats.

A 5-0 win were the spoils in a fairly dominant performance from the bullpen and a some good hitting from some key batters. Nomoto and Kondo have certainly been pushing for first team selection and I wouldn't be surprised if the latter is offered a full-time contract before the year is out.

Game 2 marked another return to a man on the comeback trail as Tomoya Yagi, a former Buffalo, made his first start of the year. This was also a game where Shinnosuke Ogasawara was given a relief role for the first time in his 2-gun career. It is worth mentioning that Hikaru Itoh, the starting catcher for Orix last year and Takahiro Okada another usual starter were in the line-up for the Buffaloes. Kondo would rock some worlds again, but it would the Orix who would leave victorious.

Yagi, more goat than man.

Pitching

Yagi didn't cover himself in glory as he gave up 4 runs, including a 2-run homerun to Okada, and 6 hits in only 3 innings. Ogaswara didn't do much better as the youngster continues to adjust. The lefty gave up 3 runs including a home run to Sugimoto plus 5 hits and a walk in 4 innings. Nomura would be another returning from injury as he saw off 3 batters taking one strikeout as Ohba finished things as he gave up one hit but kept things scoreless in the final inning.


Batting

Kamezawa promoted

The only real positive and scoring moment was from Kondo as he hit a 2-run homerun in the 4th against Matsuba. Kondo also managed to milk a walk as he did just about all he could to try and push the Dragons along. Kamezawa hit two and stole a base to help build his case for a return while no other batters really stood out in an unfortunate loss.

Not a great game for the team as a whole but Kamezawa and Kondo ensured it wasn't an amazing embarrassment, 2-7.

In Game 3 the ball would be put in the safe hands of Junki Ito who is 2-0 this season in the Western League so far. It would however end up being a bit of a massacre as Orix ran out 4-11 winners. Things would start well for the Dragons as they put up 2 runs on the board in the first two inning, but a 3-run homerun from Hikaru Ito in the 3rd off Ito's pitching gave the Buffaloes the lead. A Tamura double would put the Dragons ahead in the 4th. In the 5th Hamada gave up 2 runs and a Nishikawa blow-out in the 7th, where he leaked 5 runs, ensured a pretty bad loss.

Nishikawa a bust?

Pitching

Junki Ito would only throw three innings as he gave up 4 hits and 2 walks along with Itoh's homer to finish off very shakily. Considering how good he has been of late, it's a surprise that he was taken apart so quickly. Hamada picked up where Ito left off as he gave up two runs in his 2 innings. Yamamoto would keep things quiet in his 1 inning as he struckout one and gave up a single hit. Nishikawa however would face 7 batters however and only manage to take two outs as he haemorraged  5 runs. Ohba took the last out of the inning and kept the Buffaloes quiet in the 8th as he took 2 strikouts but gave away 3 walks and a hit. Nomura pitched out the 9th inning in 11 balls taking 3 straight outs.

Batting

Nomoto continues to impress

Kei Nomoto picked up 3 hits today including an RBI and a walk in a fantastic display at the number 5 batting spot. Kondo only managed a walk today despite his consecutive homers. Tamura picked up 2 RBIs and a walk to add to his good performance in the previous game. Kamezawa grabbed another 2 hits and a walk in his 4 at-bats in what would be enough to earn himself a recall to for the series against the Baystars. Abe would be one of the worst of the day as he made an error and struck out three times.

A big 4-11 win for the Orix and a pretty disappointing loss for the Dragons. Some good performances from Tamura, Kondo and Kamezawa in there however helped alleviate some of the heavy feelings about the series.

On the Farm: Chunichi Dragons v Orix Buffaloes (April 12th & 13th)

Oooooh..give me a home where Ogasawaras doth roam, and the youths and the veterans
plaaaayyyy...

One Ogasawara?

Two Ogasawaras?
Oh my medication!

That's right, it's time for another farm update! We only have two games this round again as poor weather cancelled the final fixture. The Dragons 2-gun team has been in pretty good nick this year and they remain perched on the top of the table in the Western League.

The two games this week are the only farm games scheduled for the week so I can relax a little bit and focus on the weekend games (and the Hiroshima report) for the rest of the week.


We were back in Nagoya for these games and it would be a good series for the Dragons as they walked away with 2 wins in 2 to continue their time at the top of the table. A sold 7-2 win would accompany a more modest 6-5 win as the Chunichi batters continue to show prowess that we could only dream of with the first team at the moment.

Game 1 of the round would be played in decent weather with Junki Ito taking up the mound as part of the regular rotation with 20 year old, Koki Saito taking to the mound for Orix. It was to be a bad day for Saito but a very good one for Ito as the latter kept his composure to see out the win.

Pitching

Ito looks on.

Not too much to say about the pitching today, not in any detail at least, as only two pitchers took the mound today for the Dragons. Junki Ito was the man today as he pitched out 8 innings. It was only in his 7th that he conceded 2 runs as the young man showed what he's made of. Ito ended his bracket with lots of fours. 4 hits, 4 strikeouts, 4 walks. He faced 33 batters and threw just a touch over 100 balls in a very good effort from the youngster. A few more of these kinds of performances might have Tanishige having a closer look at him in future.

Toshiya Okada took the 9th inning and took a strikeout from the 3 batters he faced.

Batting

古本? More like 振本 amirite?

Some very good performances from the batting line-up overall as there were plenty of hits. The Greatest Hits collection would come from Furumoto who, fielding in the right today, hit two with two RBIs in his 4 at-bats. Yusuke Matsui would show why he was called up to the firsts not so long ago as he hit and scored twice as well as claiming an RBI. Hernandez and Nomoto would both end with two hits a piece as well. One significant statistic goes to Masato Matsui who managed to reap 3 walks and a sacrificial hit in his 4 at-bats. Not bad. Other RBIs went to Kondo, Watanabe, Mizowaki and Abe as the Dragons ran out deserved winners.

The development players have played consistently well for for Michihiro Ogasawara's side, and he must surely be happy with how the team is going.

Other interesting news to come out of the game was a first appearance for "development" player, former Baystars and Samurai Japan outfielder, Hitoshi Tamura. The veteran had been looking for work after he was released by Yokohama, and the Dragons extended a helping hand. Tamura was once a team-mate of our manager, Tanishige back when they played together at Yokohama. Tamura came in as a pinch-hitter but was unable to contribute.

Game 2 and subsequently the final game of the series would be a much closer affair as both teams were quick out of the blocks to pile on the runs. Dragons would take advantage in the 1st by piling on 3 runs after Orix added one at the top of the inning. Orix would continue to take advantage of Tatsuro Hamada's pitching and went 3-5 to the good by the top of the 3rd. Once Hamada was removed from the mound, Achira calmed things down and counter-attack would start in the 4th to make it 4-5. Now keeping the Buffaloes quiet, the equalizer came in the fourth inning, 5-5. The Dragons would have the last laugh with a walk-off double from Hernandez in the 9th inning.

The starting pitchers today would be the aforementioned Hamada and for the Buffaloes, Daiki Aoyama.

Pitching

Takuma Achira - あちらへどうぞう

Well, Hamada's form in pre-season is looking all the more miraculous as he got yoinked after 2 1/3 innings after giving up 5 runs to the Buffaloes. He gave up 7 hits and a walk to pile on the misery in what has been a terror year so far. An error from Mizowaki in the field didn't help either but I suppose if we're to be positive, he didn't walk too many today?
Achira would come into to calm things down and he pitched 2 full innings only giving up a single hit and 2 walks. Kaneko took over with 1 1/3 innings and took one  strikeout, conceding a hit and a walk. Muto as well would have 1 1/3 innings to show his stuff and allowed one hit and threw two strikeouts against his 5 batters. Toshiya Okada would have another chance to shape up as he conceded a hit and managed a strikeout in his 2/3 of an inning against 4 batters. Daisuke Sobue would walk away with the win however after he pitched the 9th inning and the last part of the 8th, taking two strike and giving up a walks and two hits.

Apart from Hamada, the bullpen really put the halt on the Orix attack and helped the batters as much as they could to turn the game around.

Mr No-motto continues his good touch

Batting

Kei Nomoto was at his industrious best as he took to the Buffaloes with 4 hits including 2 RBIs. A perfect outing from a man that has hit some good form of late. 6/8 against the Buffaloes this series. Not bad at all. Watanabe would also show more of what he has to offer as he chipped in with two hits, a walk and an RBI. Kondo, another trainee, kept his run of hits going as he hit one and walked once.  Hernandez and Yusuke Matsui would be the other RBI hitters today and it was the diminutive Domincan that would hit the winning RBI, a double in the final bracket in a sayonara win.

All in all a good couple of wins to keep the team on top. No significant movement between the rosters at present. Although with  3 straight losses for the first team, it's possible someone might get a call-up.