Since the end of the season, the Swallows have lost some players through cuts and retirement, the team has also gained some players through free agency and the draft. The team also managed to keep Chang-Yong Lim by resigning him to a lucrative contract. We have covered some of these moves, like the draft, quite extensively, others have been mentioned on our Twitter or in the comment section of some of our posts, still other moves haven’t been covered by us at all. This post will summarize all the major player transactions the team has executed during the offseason.

Retired

• Munehiro Shida OF
• Yuki Tanaka P

No surprises here. Both Shida and Tanaka were given a nice send off in the Swallows’ final game. Neither player was a major contributor and their retirement doesn’t really affect the Swallows’ plans. No other retirement have been announced since the season has ended.

Released

• Hidehiro Okamoto P
• Satoshi Nishizaki P
• Jun Hagiwara P
• Hiroki Yamada P
• Yusuke Kajimoto INF
• Koji Tsukamoto (Ikusei) P
• Tony Barnette P
• Hei-Chun Lee P
• Jamie D’Antona INF
• Eulogio De La Cruz P

These cuts can be separated between imports and non-imports. All of the non-import cuts feature players that haven’t been able to crack the top team, and didn’t factor into the team’s future. Some Tsubamengun writers have a special place in their heart for Yusuke Kajimoto, but the team’s current logjam at short seems to have pushed him out of the way. Among the imports, the only real surprise is the release of Jamie D’Antona. Despite some comments by Ogawa earlier in the offseason, which indicated that he’d like to keep Jamie, it seems the team decided to go in a different direction. Sponichi runs a series every year where they ask released players about memories of their old team, and it seems Jamie had some kind words to say about the team and its fans. You can find Jamie’s comments (in English and Japanese) here. We wish Jamie and all the other released players all the best in their future endeavors.

Drafted

• Tetsuto Yamada INF
• Yuki Shichijo P
• Akihisa Nishida C
• Tomoya Matano P
• Kentaro Kyuko P
• Nariaki Kawasaki OF
• Koki Kitano (Ikusei) OF
• Keisuke Ueno (Ikusei) P
• Takanori Sato (Ikusei) OF

We’ve already covered our draft picks in an earlier article, but now we can report that all drafted players have signed contracts with the team. The only players we think might get any significant playing time this year is Shichijo and Kyuko.

Signed

• Wladimir Balentien OF
• Osamu Hamanaka OF
• Ryuji Miyade OF

Balentien is a 26 year old right handed outfielder who is basically being brought in to replace Jamie D’Antona. Balentien’s minor league numbers show a player that can absolutely destroy minor league pitching, but with a high strikeout rate and below average OBP. Which is probably why Balentien has failed to replicate his minor league success when he has been up in the Majors. While I would not be surprised if Balentien has a hot start, whether he’ll be able to find sustained success in NPB is another matter.

Miyade and Hamanaka seem to have been brought in as potential right handed bats off the bench. Neither player had particularly good seasons last year, which is probably why they were available in the first place. Hamanaka only played in 4 ichi-gun games with the Orix Buffaloes last year because of a combination of injury and general ineffectiveness. It would seem that the Swallows are hoping to see something closer to the Hamanaka that belted 20 homeruns in 139 games in 2006 with the Hanshin Tigers. Miyade will be making his second tour of duty with the Swallows. He was shipped off to Rakuten in 2009 in the deal that brought Yasuhiro Ichiba to the Swallows. Miyade posted decent numbers in limited starts in his first year with the Eagles, but last year he saw his playing time dive as the Eagles decided to focus on developing their younger players. While there are no doubt some Miyade fans left in the Jingu stands, and I have had some Kansai people tell me they’ll be cheering for Hamanaka, I don’t think either signing will have a particularly big impact on the team’s success/failure.

Re-signed

This section will only look at free agents that were free to leave the team.

• Chang-Yong Lim P
• Tony Barnette P

Undoubtedly the biggest signing of the Swallows offseason was the re-signing closer Chang-Yong Lim. Despite some reports that indicated that talks had completely broken down, Lim re-signed for 2 years at 750 million yen plus incentives, with a third year mutual option that could earn him another 700 million yen. The Lim signing breaks a Swallows record for pitcher salary that was previously held by Kazuhia Ishii. For those who question the logic of investing that much money on a player that will, at best, appear in only 80 innings, we’d point out that Chunichi’s Hitoki Iwase (and Kaz Sasaki before him) has set the financial bar quite high for prime closers with his deal, that Lim has been a tremendous asset, and that the money probably couldn’t have been used elsewhere without opening up questions in our bullpen. To me, at least for this season, whether Lim or any closer is worth that much money is secondary to the fact that we still have him on our team and the Giants don’t.

After failing to sign Young-Soo Bae (see below) the Swallows the Swallows were left with an extra import spot in their pitching staff. Being late in the offseason, it would seem that the Swallows decided to go with the devil they knew by re-signing Tony Barnette to a 1 year contract with a club option for a second year. Hopefully Barnette will stay healthy and show the dominant pitching he displayed at the beginning of last season.

Other Notable Transactions and Non-Transactions

• Miyamoto signs 2 year deal.
• Young-Soo Bae is NOT signed.

Miyamoto signed a 2 year deal in the offseason and seems to be gunning for the 2000 career hits that will get him into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. This probably means, for better or worse, we’ll be seeing a lot of Miyamoto playing third base for the foreseeable future.

The Swallows were also apparently close to signing KBO pitcher Young-Soo Bae, even agreeing to terms, but apparently the team backed out when Bae failed the team’s physical. In the past, the team has indicated a preference of splitting their import slots evenly between pitchers and fielders. Without Bae, the only import pitcher on the team is Lim, no word on whether the Swallows will be perusing another import pitcher.

Summary

The Swallows will be going into next season largely with the same team as last year. The only major change is the release of D’Antona and the signing of Balentien. Optimists will point to the team’s record after switching to Ogawa and will look forward to the growth of our young team. They may also say that that many of the splashiest signings/additions happened in the Pacific League, meaning our opponents aren’t significantly stronger than the ones we managed to beat in the tail end of the season. Pessimists will no doubt point to the rather lackluster September/October our team had last season, and will lament that many of the unresolved issues (SS and bullpen depth) we had last season remain unresolved. While the Swallows may add a few more bodies before the start of spring training, it’s probably safe to assume that the Swallows won’t be making any moves that will change the status quo significantly.

Swallows throw around some cash. (BTW Tsubakuro re-signed for 8960 yen.)

Yokohama BayStars 1

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3

Streak: Won 2    Last 5: WWLWW

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

With little more than pride and a couple of personal records for Aoki at stake, the Tokyo Swallows hosted the Yokohama BayStars for the final time in 2010.

With all the talk of Yokohama’s possible sale, many in the stadium were left wondering what the visiting team’s uniforms would look like the next time they come to town–not to mention where that team will call home.

At any rate, the game ended in an agreeable way for the home team.

Tonight’s lineup:

1. Aoki CF
2. Tanaka 2B
3. Hatakeyama 3B
4. Whitesell 1B
5. D’Antona LF
6. Iihara RF
7. Kawamoto C
8. Kawabata SS
9. Yoshinori P

Yoshinori didn’t have his best stuff tonight, and he didn’t always get the help he needed on defense, but given that he was facing the BayStars, a team that has lost 90 or more games in each of the past three seasons (NPB record), there wasn’t too much to worry about in the end.

Both starters found themselves in jams multiple times, but it was Yoshinori who was able to fight his way out of the corner. It seemed like there were constantly runners on third base in this game.

This game was basically wrapped up in the second inning. Whitesell led the inning off with a fireball right at the left foot of second baseman, Fujita, and he advanced to second on a wild pitch.

D’Antona then lofted a high home run into the reserved outfield seats in right to start the scoring. 2-0 Tokyo.

Iihara followed the cleanup act with a double to keep the pressure on Yokohama’s starter, and he moved over to second on Kawamoto’s grounder to short. One out.

Kawabata then hit a low-arching fly ball to left which was just deep enough to allow Iihara to score from third. 3-0 birds.

And that was basically it. Yokohama did manage to score a single run in the fourth, but not without the help of a second Tokyo fielding blunder. 3-1 Final.

Yoshinori ended up with the win, his 12th, and saw his ERA improve to 3.60 on six innings of work (116 pitches). As mentioned earlier, he definitely wasn’t unstoppable as evidenced by the six hits, two walks and one HBP that he allowed, but he pitched himself out of some jams and definitely deserves credit for winning 12 times in a single season.

It’s his 12-9 record that likely earned him game MVP honors tonight.

D’Antona definitely deserved some game hero kudos for his 2-3 (2 RBI) evening at the plate.

Masubuchi (2.65), Matsuoka (2.62) and Lim (1.46) kept Yokohama off the scoreboard for the final three innings while Lim picked up his 35th save of the year.

Aoki wasn’t able to extend his consecutive game hitting streak as he went 0-3 with a walk. He also lost some more ground to Murton in the quest to beat Ichiro’s single season hits mark of 210. Murton had one hit today in Hanshin’s win over Hiroshima and he has now equaled Ichiro’s mark with three games left to play. Aoki finished the day at 204 hits and has four games left to play.

Whitesell and D’Antona were the most dangerous guys in the Tokyo lineup tonight. Both had two hits with the latter tallying his 15th home run of the season and 2 RBIs to go with it.

The Swallows will take on the Tigers one final time on Tuesday at Jingu. Look for Hanshin to be very fired up for this one. Home field advantage during the first round of the Climax Series (vs Yomiuri) is at stake. Hanshin and Yomiuri are currently tied.

Random thoughts:

Tokyo currently sports a 70-66-4 record. With four games left to play, the birds are guaranteed to finish the season with at least a .500 record. Imagine that!

Tokyo won the season series versus Yokohama: 14-9-1.

]]> http://tokyoswallows.com/2010/10/03/10310-yokohama-home/feed/ 1 http://tokyoswallows.com/2010/09/26/92610-chunichi-home/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=92610-chunichi-home http://tokyoswallows.com/2010/09/26/92610-chunichi-home/#comments Sun, 26 Sep 2010 13:53:31 +0000 Christopher Pellegrini http://tokyoswallows.com/?p=8042 September 26th, 2010

Chunichi Dragons 1

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3

Streak: Won 1   Last 5: LWWLW

(Meiji Jingu)

In yet another absolute must-win situation, the Tokyo Swallows bested the first place Dragons on the back of a decent start by Yoshinori and a solid first inning on offense.

Tonight’s lineup:

1. Aoki CF
2. Morioka 2B
3. Hatakeyama LF
4. D’Antona 1B
5. Iihara RF
6. Kawabata SS
7. Kawamoto C
8. Yoshinori P

Yoshinori pitched eight innings, but the first was definitely worth forgetting. Araki drew a leadoff walk and was bunted over to second by Fujii. He would then score on Morino’s single to center. 1-0 Chunichi.

And things very nearly got much worse. Wada drew a walk of his own before Blanco collected the first of his four Ks this evening for the second out. But Yoshinori issued a third free base to Nomoto which gifted Donoue a golden opportunity with two outs and the bases juiced. That was, of course, after a pitch had gotten away from Yoshinori and the runners were able to advance. Fortunately, for the Jingu faithful at least, Donoue grounded out to second to leave the Tokyo deficit at one.

But the birds came screaming back in the bottom of that inning. Aoki got things off to a quick start by driving a high 2-0 fastball into the stands in right to tie the score on Nakata’s third pitch. Tied 1-1.

It was Aoki’s 13th homer of 2010. He’s now two behind his 2009 total of 16. His career best is 20 homers which he achieved in 2007.

Morioka followed that up with a single to center, and Hatakeyama drew a walk in his first trip to the plate.

D’Antona then drove a single to right to load the bases so that Miyamoto’s fly out to right was enough to score Morioka from third. 2-1 Tokyo.

After a two out single in the second, Chunichi would not be able to find a way to get another runner on base for the remainder of Yoshinori’s time on the mound.  He retired 18 straight batters before handing control over to Lim for the ninth.

In the meantime, Tokyo added one more run in the sixth when Miyamoto’s fourth homer of the season landed in the stands in left. 3-1 Final.

Lim pitched a scoreless ninth (16 pitches, 1 K, 1 BB) while notching his 33rd save of the year. His ERA, now at 1.34, is well ahead of his strong numbers from last year (57 appearances, 28 saves, 2.05 ERA), and should make him a prime free agent target for Yomiuri this coming off-season.

Yoshinori’s record now stands at 11-9 with a 3.73 ERA. He was very much in control during 7/8′s of his outing tonight, and he deserved this win. He threw 129 pitches and gave up one run off of only two hits. He also tallied nine Ks against 3 BBs (all three were in the first inning).

The birds head to Yokohama on Tuesday for another game that they desperately need to win. Yomiuri faces the Tigers in two gigantic games Tuesday and Wednesday.

Let’s all raise our glasses to Yomiuri losing back-to-back heart-breakers.

Random thoughts:

Tokyo is yet again 5.5 games behind Yomiuri and a playoff spot.

Aoki leads the Central League in three offensive categories: HBP (18 — tied with Iihara); batting average (.362); and OBP (.440).

Yoshinori leads the Central League in one pitching category: BB (72).

Aoki’s homer in the first was his 200th hit of the season. His career best was in 2005 when he had 202 base hits. Hanshin’s Murton currently leads the Central with 203 hits.

]]> http://tokyoswallows.com/2010/09/26/92610-chunichi-home/feed/ 2 http://tokyoswallows.com/2010/09/22/92210-hiroshima-away/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=92210-hiroshima-away http://tokyoswallows.com/2010/09/22/92210-hiroshima-away/#comments Wed, 22 Sep 2010 14:05:46 +0000 David Watkins http://tokyoswallows.com/?p=8013 September 22nd, 2010

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 5

Hiroshima Toyo Carp 4

Streak: Won 1    Last 5: WLWLW

(Mazda Zoooom Zooooooooooooom Stadium Hiroshima)

With the Swallows playoff hopes now all but extinguished, and 4th place effectively long since in the bag, the goal of improving on 2009′s one game under .500 finish is all that there is left to fight for. But if there’s one thing this team has possessed in abundance since Ogawa stepped took over the managerial reigns it’s fight , and they showed that characteristic tonight as Hiroshima’s five game winning streak was put to the sword.

1. Aoki (CF)
2. Tanaka (2B)
3. Hatakeyama (LF)
4. D’Antona (1B)
5. Ihara (RF)
6. Aikawa (C)
7. Miyamoto (3B)
8. Kawabata (SS)
9. Ishikawa (P)

The Swallows opened the scoring in this one in the 4th against Carp starter Soriano, with Ihara reaching on an error, an Aikawa single and a Miyamoto sac-bunt setting the table for Kawabata, who hit a sac-fly to left, 1-0 Tokyo.

But the lead would only last until the bottom of the inning, as a single from Akamatsu was followed up with a single to left from Kurihara, only Hatakeyama botched the throw back to the infield allowing Akamatsu to score for 1-1.

The lead was back in the hands of the Swallows in the 6th, a D’Antona homer to centre (no.14 of the year) making it 2-1 Tokyo. But again, the lead wouldn’t last as Ishikawa let things slip in the bottom of the same inning.

A single, double and a wild pitch let the tying run home for 2-2 before another single made it 3-2 Hiroshima. A sac-bunt followed to leave a runner on second with one out. That was it for Ishikawa, who left the game after 5.1IP/9H/7K/1BB/4ER, the last of those earned runs coming via a two-out single allowed by his replacement Oshimoto (3.00), 4-2 Hiroshima. Masanori’s record remains at 12-8 with his ERA now at 3.71.

The final twist in this back and forth game came in the top of the 7th. Singles for Kawabata, Whitesell (in for Oshimoto) and Aoki loaded the bases for Tanaka. He grounded out to third but it was enough to score a run for 4-3. Hatakeyama then hit one over the infield to centre and two runs scored to hand the lead back to the birds, 5-4 Tokyo.

It was then handed over the the bullpen to try to bring home the win, and Masubuchi (2.72)  got things started by working a one-hit scoreless 7th. The 68th appearance of 2010 followed in the 8th for Matsuoka (2.74), and he got a quick first out before allowing a single and a walk to put two men on. After the prior night’s troubles, he was then seated and Lee (6.75) took his place, striking out Aizawa for out number two before Lim (1.37) came on for another K to end the inning. With Lim then posting a 1,2,3 9th that was that for a 5-4 Tokyo Final.

Oshimoto won the lottery as he was awarded the win to put his record at 3-4, while Lim earned his 32nd save of the year.

D’Antona went 2 for 4 with a walk and is now batting .232. You’ve got to hand it to Jamie, as when he’s been called on to come in for Whitesell he’s done pretty well each time. It would have been easy for him to spit out the dummy after Whitesell’s arrival and subsequent success left him benched, but he’s stayed positive and professional throughout.

Aoki had a 3 for 4 (with a HBP) evening and is now at 196 hits, with his average a NPB leading .362.

The two teams will return tomorrow evening for the rubber game of the series.

Hiroshima Toyo Carp 5

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 6

Streak: Won 1    Last 5: DWLDW

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

After a desperately disappointing series in Yokohama at the weekend, Tokyo looked to keep alive their faint hopes of a playoff spot against the 2010 CL’s other doormat outfit. And keep those hopes alive they did, but boy, did they do it the hard way.

Tonight’s lineup saw a rare start for Jamie D’Antona, who replaced Whitesell at first and in the cleanup spot:

1. Aoki (CF)
2. Tanaka (2B)
3. Ihara (RF)
4. D’Antona (1B)
5. Hatakeyama (LF)
6. Aikawa (C)
7. Miyamoto (3B)
8. Kawabata (SS)
9. Muranaka (P)

After giving up seven runs in his last start, Muranaka had another one to forget this evening as he allowed the Carp to get ahead early. A double, two walks and a timely single put two on the board for Hiroshima in the 1st, and a 3rd inning solo homer made it 3-0 Hiroshima.

Meanwhile Carp starter Shinoda kept the Swallows bats quiet until the 4th. Ihara reached on an error from third baseman Kurihara and D’Antona marked his return to the first nine with a huge one to centre to put Tokyo back in it. 3-2.

But Muranaka allowed the gap to widen again in the top of the 5th, with his third walk of the game followed by a Kimura double which put the score at 4-2. That would be the last inning for Muranaka (5IP/5H/4K/3BB/4ER), but fortunately for him, his teamates would spare him his 8th loss of the year.

In the bottom of the 7th, after two scoreless innings in relief from Masubuchi (2.58) back-to-back doubles from Aoki (after which Shinoda was replaced by Chulk) and Tanaka pulled one back for 4-3. Ihara then walked, but D’Antona struck out on three pitches leaving the runners stranded. Jamie appeared to be flustered by the first called strike, on a ball way low and way inside, and he then whiffed on two high fastballs.

Oshimoto (3.35) allowed a solo homer from Kurihara in the 8th which again gave the Carp a two run cushion, 5-3, but this Swallows team just don’t lie down to die like the Takada version, and they fought back in the 8th.

A Hatake single, a grazed hand for Aikawa from a pitch inside and a Miyamoto sacbunt put two men in scoring position for Kawabata. He deftly chipped one up the middle to narrow the score to 5-4, and then pinch hitter Whitesell hit to right to bring home the tying run for 5-5.

Lim (1.33) worked a one hit scoreless 9th before Ihara capped off the comeback with a sayonara solo homer to the backscreen, and it ended at 6-5 Tokyo Final. Cue D’Antona racing for the drinks cooler and Ihara being drenched on his return to homeplate. Job done.

Lim took the his 1st win of the season to go with his 2 losses and 28 saves.

D’Antona had a good return to the starting lineup going 2 for 3 with a walk and his 2RBIs and is now batting .223. Having an in-form D’Antona to go alongside Whitesell should be invaluable down the stretch.

Tokyo will look to maintain the pressure on third placed Yomiuri as they continue the Carp series tomorrow night. With a tricky (to say the least) away series at Koshien coming up this weekend, we really could do with a sweep of this very poor Hiroshima side before that.

There was much cause for celebration in the month of June

How We Got There

The Swallows came into June fresh off the Takada firing, and were only 4 games into the Ogawa regime. The Birds were looking to build on the 1-2-1 record they had compiled under Ogawa, by exacting revenge on the Pacific League teams that had swept them in May.

How We Did

Interleague Revenge Tour

After having been swept by SoftBank, Seibu, and Lotte in May, the new look Swallows looked to return the favor to start off June. While the Swallows managed to take the first game of each revenge series, they couldn’t close the deal, ending with 1-3 records against the latter three teams. But at this point, the fact that the Birds were winning games and not losing two straight were big improvement. So after matching their May win total (3) in only 6 games, the Swallows faced the Darvish-less Nippon Ham Fighters for the first time. The Fighters did not put up too much of a fight and were swept by the Swallows. This series sweep represented the first back-to-back wins the Swallows had recorded in 2 over months. Not content to stop there, the Swallows proceeded to sweep Rakuten and take the first game of the rain-rescheduled games against Nippon Ham. That five game winning streak was the longest winning streak for the Birds this season, and helped the team achieve an overall record of 9-14-1 during Interleague play. A record that, despite a 10 game losing streak, was not too far off the “bad” scenario I laid out in our Interleague preview.

Back to Regularly Scheduled Programming

The Swallows re-started their Central League schedule against Hiroshima in a rain-shortened two game series. Unfortunately the team ran into Kenta Maeda, the Central League’s hottest pitcher, and took a loss to re-open their Central League campaign. Things were not looking good in game 2 of the series, but the Swallows managed a late comeback to even the series. Unfortunately the dramatic win didn’t translate into momentum, as the team faced their cross town rivals at Jingu stadium and lost the opening game. The Swallows won the middle game, but couldn’t take the series, as they lost handily in Game 3. The lack of positive momentum carried into Game 1 of the team’s next series against Hanshin. After that loss, the Swallows debuted their new offensive weapon, Josh Whitesell. The new-look Swallows came from behind to beat the Tigers in Game 2, and took the series with a 8-4 thrashing in Game 3. The Swallows took the show on the road with a two game series against the Yokohama BayStars in Okinawa. The people of Okinawa got to see the Swallows shutout the BayStars in Game 1, and earn a nail-biting win  in Game 2. Thus the Swallows ended June on a 4 game winning streak, and a 14-8 record for the month. The Swallows also managed to avoid losing to the same team twice in a row.

Trends

Offensive Resurgence

The first thing that pops out at you when you look at the Swallows’ June stats is the increased offensive production. Of the 7 players that made at least 68 plate appearances (the minimum needed for batting title considerations this month), 4 had an OPS of over .900. The four players were Aikawa (1.062!), Iihara (.978), Aoki (.930), and Tanaka (.910). All four players have pulled their season batting averages to above .300. Also making a big splash in limited plate appearances were Hatakeyama and Kawamoto, who combined for 10 hits and 1 walk in only 21 plate appearances. Josh Whitesell rounds out the players with eye-popping numbers with 5 hits (including 2 homes and a triple) and 3 walks in 15 plate appearances, more on him later.

Not on the Bandwagon:

The 3 players not to have a .900+ OPS despite 68+ plate appearances were Guiel (.680), D’Antona (.617) and Miyamoto (.612). Guiel and D’Antona had eerily similar stat lines for the month, with the big difference coming from Aaron’s 2 extra walks and 4 beanings. Miyamoto on the other hand, struggled for most of the month, but may be on the way out of his prolonged slump. 8 of Miyamoto’s 19 hits have come in the last 7 games.

I think it goes without saying that Guiel and D’Antona shared the team lead with their 18 strikeouts, Aikawa was a distant third with 11.

Coming Up Short

Also underwhelming was the shortstop platoon of Fujimoto and Onizaki. The two players got most of the starts at shortstop in June, but neither player made any lasting impact on the team. Fujimoto and Onizaki both earned sub-.250 OBPs (.232 and .115 respectively) and had pitiful slugging percentages (.275 and .231). The rookie Takahiro Araki was also given 3 starts at short, but managed only 2 strikeouts and 1 sac bunt in his 8 plate appearances. While I do not expect superstar numbers to come out of the shortstop position, I do hope someone gets into a groove and manages an OPS of above .600.

Aoki the Leadoff Man

Prior to this season, Aoki’s fight song had a line calling him a spray hitting leadoff man. But as he got moved to the three hole and was asked to use his spray hitting prowess to drive in runners, the lyrics were changed to call him a shining number 1 of the world. But Aoki struggled in the role of run producer in May, so he spent most of June in the leadoff spot once again. Using his skill of putting the bat to the ball, and his legs, Aoki managed to produce 39 hits in June. Thanks to the offensive resurgence behind him, Aoki managed to come around to score a team leading 16 times. While Aoki did not hit any homeruns, he still demonstrated drive by hitting a team leading 8 doubles. Aoki was also a perfect 2-for-2 in his steal attempts in June. It would have been nice if Aoki threatened to steal more often rather than being Tak-bunted over to second by Tanaka, something that happened 7 times in the month. The hot-hitting Hiroyasu would probably have seen more fastballs to hit, and more importantly would not have wasted valuable outs. But all in all a successful June for Aoki!

Starter Inconsistency

June was a bumpy ride for most of the Swallows’ starting pitchers. Swallows’ starters pitched gems like Tateyama’s 8 inning 1 run performance against the Fighters, Muranaka’s 8 innings of shutout ball against the BayStars, and Barnette’s 1 run 6 K performance against the Lions. Unfortunately they also let games get away like Tateyama’s 8 runs given up in 5 inning against the Fighters, and Barnette’s 7 runs given up in 2 and 2/3 innings. Overall, the Swallows starting pitchers compiled a 11-8 record (every Swallows lost was tagged to the starters), with an ERA of 4.40, a RIP of 1.50, 6.63 Ks per 9 innings, and 3.14 BB per 9innings, all over 129 innings. Only 4 of the Swallows 22 starts managed to last 7 or more innings. While the numbers are not horrible, the ERA and RIP numbers are of some concern.

Good To Be Lucky?

The one pitcher in the starting rotation that had a stellar record in June was the young Yoshinori. Yoshinori only allowed 5 earned runs over his 4 starts to earn a 3-0 record for the month. However, Yoshinori also managed to walk 19 batters in his 25 and 2/3 innings of work. Yoshinori has single-handedly walked almost a third of the batters that the Swallows walked in June. I worry whether Yoshinori can continue to get away with giving so many batter a free pass to first.

Sweet Relief

With no starter being able to finish games, the bullpen was called into action quite often. Masubuchi (13 games), Matsuoka (12), Oshimoto (11), and Lim (10) all made over 10 appearances in June. Masubuchi was often the first one off the bench after a starter was pulled. He inherited a total of 12 runners in relief and allowed only 4 to score. Oshimoto was called into pitch late-middle innings like Masubuchi and did fine work, recording 10 strikeouts and no walks in 9 and 1/3 innings. Matsuoka played the role of ace setup man, and he had a 10 appearance shutout streak going prior to a Kanemoto 2-run homer in his 11th appearance. Despite the blip, Matsuoka still had 14 strikeouts with a 0.55 RIP and a 1.64 ERA in 11 innings of relief, and he picked up a win and a save. Finally, Lim was once again a dominating closer in June. He was 8-for-8 in save situations, giving up only 3 hits without surrendering a run or walk. He also picked up 13 strikeouts in 10 innings. This bullpen quartet combined for a 1.98 ERA, 0.73 RIP, 10.32 strikeouts per 9 innings, and 0.66 walks per 9 innings.

Major Events

The Whitesell Signing

On June 7, the Swallows announced the signing of Josh Whitesell. Whitesell made his Swallows debut on the 26th of the month, and made a splash by homering in his first game. The signing still leaves some question as to how the team plans to proceed with its foreign players.

Tateyama Injury

On June 23rd, the veteran Tateyama looked to be bouncing back his previous bad outing by holding the Giants to 3 runs and striking out a season high 8 batters. At the bottom of the 6th inning Tateyama came up to bat, and proceeded to hit a double. Unfortunately Tateyama was caught in a awkward situation trying to get back to base on a liner to second. Tateyama did not pitch the next inning, and it was announced that he had fractured his right toe and that he would be out 3-4 weeks. The loss of Tateyama leaves the starting rotation shorthanded, especially with the demotion of Tony Barnette.

Player of the Month

My Player of the Month

Hiroyasu Tanaka and Ryoji Aikawa are my two candidates for Player of the Month. Both players swung an incredibly hot bat in June. Tanaka played every inning of every game in June, lead the team with 18 RBIs, and was the only player on the team to have more walks than strikeouts. Aikawa lead the team with 5 homeruns, and had the highest slugging percentage (.620) and OPS (1.06) among qualifying batters on the team. You can compare their numbers in the table below.

As you can see, both players has a great June, and one wonders what kind of damage Tanaka would have wreaked if he didn’t have to bunt those 7 times. In the end I give the nod to Aikawa for giving us another power threat in the lineup. But really it could have gone to either player. Honorable mentions go out to Aoki, Iihara, Matsuoka, and Lim.

Quo Vadimus

July will see the Swallows play every Central league team at least once. The cozy scheduling seen in June because of Interleague play comes to an end. The Swallows will play their first 17 games of the month in 19 days, before the All Star break. With fewer rest days, establishing a winning rotation will be key. Unfortunately without Tateyama or Barnette, the team currently only has 4 established starters on the roster. Takaichi has been rumored as a possible starter, calling up Ryo Kawashima is another option. Another storyline to be watching for in July is how the Whitesell situation settles out. Whitesell has started strong, and hopefully he keeps it up, but one wonders what will happen if/when he slows down. Also, as the weather heats up even more and fatigue settles in, I worry about the state of our bullpen. I hope the team doesn’t overuse the relief quartet, and hopefully another player (newly acquired Kouki Watanabe perhaps?) will step up into a key role. If the team keep improving I think a 14-7 record is very possible.

Hanshin Tigers 4

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 8

Streak: Won 2   Last 5: WLLWW

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

Tokyo won a series against a Central League team for the first time since the beginning of April (4/2-4/4 versus Yokohama).

Today’s lineup:

1. Aoki CF
2. Tanaka 2B
3. Iihara RF
4. D’Antona 1B
5. Whitesell LF
6. Aikawa C
7. Miyamoto 3B
8. Onizaki SS
9. Yoshinori P

Yoshinori had one of his normal, crappy outings on the mound and did not deserve the win today. However, there may be a method to his recurring mediocrity–walking batters is definitely preferable to extra base hits.

But honestly, his inability to locate his pitches is infuriating. How many more seasons are we going to have to deal with this?

The Swallows started the scoring in the bottom of the second with Fossum on the mound for Hanshin. D’Antona fouled off five pitches before parking the 10th pitch of his at-bat, a 3-2 slider, in the reserved seats in left. 1-0 Tokyo.

It was D’Antona’s 11th home run of 2010. And D’Antona added another RBI in the third with a sac fly to right that brought home Aoki who had earlier reached base on a Toritani fielding error. 2-0 Tokyo.

For those keeping track, Tanaka was thankfully not able to properly lay down the Tak-bunt after Aoki reached base. The reason I say this is because he was soon hit in the foot by a pitch with two strikes against him.

But then came the inevitable rough inning for Yoshinori in the fifth. A walk, a botched pickoff attempt at second on a hit and run (Hirano struck out swinging), and another walk meant that it was runners on first and third with one out. Arai then brought home a run and Brazell did the same to level the score. 2-2.

The birds shrugged it off though and put three more runs on the board in the bottom of that inning. Tanaka and Iihara hit back-to-back one out singles before Whitesell cleared the bases with a hard-spinning blooper to shallow left that spun all the way back to the corner after Lin slipped on an invisible banana peel.

Whitesell had himself a stand-up two-RBI triple and his second spot on the hero’s podium in as many days.

Aikawa would later bring Whitesell home from third with a two out single to center. 5-2 Swallows.

In the sixth, Fukuchi had a pinch-hit double and scored on Aoki’s single off the wall in right. 6-2 Tokyo.

Kanemoto’s two run dinger in the eighth made things interesting with Matsuoka on the mound, but that was the end of the scoring for Hanshin. 6-4 Swallows.

Tokyo put two extra insurance runs on the board in the bottom of the eighth. This cancelled out Lim’s chance of getting a save, but whatever. Aikawa led off with a well-hit home run to left, and Miyamoto recorded his third hit of the game to the exact same spot in shallow right to keep things going. Two outs later, Aoki and Tanaka recorded back-to-back singles, the latter resulting in an RBI and a final scoreline of 8-4 Tokyo.

Lim (0.81 ERA) faced four batters and got out of the ninth on 11 pitches.

Yoshinori was only tagged with one of the two runs that crossed home on his watch. He threw 115 pitches in only five innings of work while allowing five hits, striking out four and walking six. The win brought his record to 4-5 while his ERA now sits at 4.06.

Matsuoka struck out the first two batters he faced in the eighth, but then he got a little bit sloppy and left some pitches up. The biggest mistake was that high 2-2 fastball that resulted in a two-run homer. Matsuoka’s ERA jumped from 0.93 to 1.50 in his 32nd appearance of the year. Yes, he’s being used too much. And no, Ogawa will probably not stop using him.

Oshimoto (3.38) and Masubuchi (4.46) pitched one scoreless inning each in relief.

Four Tokyo starters had at least two hits.

D’Antona, Whitesell and Aikawa recorded two RBIs each.

Random notes:

Today was Miyamoto’s second three-hit game of the season.

Yoshinori got behind in the count (2-0) to six of the batters he faced. He threw first pitch balls to nearly half of the batters that came to the plate during his five innings of work.

The birds outhit the Tigers 13-9. It was the first time in quite a while that Hanshin wasn’t able to record double-digit hits.

D’Antona and Whitesell, former teammates in Arizona, shared the heroes podium after today’s game.

Whitesell was 1-1 with a triple and two walks.

Following Aikawa’s homer, Onizaki’s Tak-bunt in the eighth failed as Arai threw to second to force Miyamoto out. Miraculously, the birds were still able to score.

]]> http://tokyoswallows.com/2010/06/27/52710-hanshin-home/feed/ 14 http://tokyoswallows.com/2010/06/25/62510-hanshin-home/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=62510-hanshin-home http://tokyoswallows.com/2010/06/25/62510-hanshin-home/#comments Fri, 25 Jun 2010 14:03:20 +0000 Christopher Pellegrini http://tokyoswallows.com/?p=7194 June 25th, 2010

Hanshin Tigers 9

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 4

Streak: Lost 2   Last 5: WLWLL

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

The birds ran headlong into a hot-hitting Hanshin side in Barnette’s return to the top team after a short spell on the farm with gout.

Starting lineup:

1. Aoki CF
2. Tanaka 2B
3. Takeuchi RF
4. D’Antona 1B
5. Iihara LF
6. Aikawa C
7. Hatakeyama 3B
8. Fujimoto SS
9. Barnette P

This one was over before it ever really got started. Barnette gave up four earned runs in the top of the first, one in the second, and two more in the third. 7-0 Hanshin.

The Swallows finally got on the board in the sixth when Fujimoto (HBP) and Kawamoto (double) were plated care of an Aoki double to right. 7-2 Hanshin.

But the visitors got two more of their own off of middle reliever Matsui to make it 9-2.

D’Antona, Iihara and Aikawa would team up for a couple of runs in the eighth, but that was the end of the scoring for the night. 9-4 Final.

Barnette gave up seven earned runs in two and two-thirds innings while taking his fifth loss of the season against three wins. He allowed eight hits and three walks while not striking out a single batter. His ERA climbed to 5.87.

Takaichi (0.00), Matsui (5.63), Watanabe (0.00), and Oshimoto (3.49) also made relief appearances.

On offense, both Aoki and Iihara had three hits while Aikawa reached base twice.

Game two of the series is tomorrow afternoon at Jingu (2PM start).

]]> http://tokyoswallows.com/2010/06/25/62510-hanshin-home/feed/ 2 http://tokyoswallows.com/2010/06/24/the-whitesell-dilemma/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-whitesell-dilemma http://tokyoswallows.com/2010/06/24/the-whitesell-dilemma/#comments Wed, 23 Jun 2010 19:34:53 +0000 Kozo http://tokyoswallows.com/?p=7162 Ever since the Swallows signed Josh Whitesell to a contract, I have been contemplating the various roster adjustments the Swallows could make in order to maximize the talent available to the team. With various news sources reporting that Whitesell will make his Swallows debut on the 25th against Hanshin, I’d like to share some of those scenarios now. But, before I outline some of those scenarios, let me go over some of the roster limitations that are currently in place. Every NPB team can have up to 4 designated foreigners on their active roster at one time. However, teams cannot have more than 3 foreign fielders or pitchers on the active roster at once. Finally, no more than 3 designated foreigners can be on the field at once. Thus, in order to play Whitesell on Friday, the Swallows will have to move Aaron Guiel, Jamie D’Antona, Eulogio De La Cruz, or Lim Chang-yong off the active roster. Tony Barnette, who is currently out with gout, also factors into the equation as reports indicate that he will be brought back up to the first team shortly. The Swallows reportedly prefer to have 2 foreign fielders, and 2 foreign pitchers on the active roster, but I will explore some possibilities that don’t follow this preference. Every possible roster combination I will present will assume that Lim would be the minimum foreign pitcher the Swallows would keep on the roster. Barring injury, there is no reason why Lim should be demoted, as he has been the most consistent foreign player on the squad this year.

Possible Roster Moves

Possibility #1: Demote D’Antona

I think this is the most likely possibility, and the one that probably has the greatest upside. Whitesell would be plugged in as the everyday first baseman against all pitchers. He would be able to adjust to play in Japan without having to look over his shoulder, which would hopefully make the transition to Japanese ball easier. As a lefty, if Whitesell proves to be vulnerable to left-handed pitchers, this possibility would leave the first baseman’s slot in the order vulnerable against left-handed pitching, as Whitesell’s backup Takeuchi has had little success against left-handers. However, as left-handed pitching is relatively rare, this factor is probably not a dealbreaker. If Whitesell is able to find early success and manages to play at a consistently high level, this move would probably cruelly spell the end of D’Antona’s tenure with the Swallows. Obviously those are big ifs, and if Whitesell struggles to adjust to Japanese baseball, we could always go back to D’Antona.

Possibility #2: Demote Guiel

With Iihara no longer being a glaring liability in the outfield, it could be argued that Guiel is expendable. I am not one of those people making that argument. Guiel has an interesting combination seniority, power, arm, and locker room presence that makes him worth keeping. Despite his low average, Guiel still sports a .800+ OPS and leads the team in homeruns. Also, Guiel would probably benefit the least from farm team at bats. Losing depth in the outfield in favor of increasing depth at first base doesn’t make much sense from a pure numbers perspective.

Possibility #3: Demote De La Cruz/Barnette

This possibility would make sense if Barnette still had a few weeks before his return. The ineffective De La Cruz could be demoted and D’Antona and Whitesell could compete for the first baseman’s job. Then a determination could be made as to who to keep once Barnette was ready to return. However, with Barnette’s return seemingly imminent, this possibility does not appeal to me. While Barnette has not been the most consistent pitcher, taking him off the active roster means we have to find another  pitcher to add into our rotation. We have plenty of pitchers that can replace De La Cruz in the reliever role, but the same cannot be said about Barnette’s starting role. This possibility is probably not that likely since it goes against the Swallows’ stance of having 2 foreign pitchers.

Possibility #4: Don’t Promote Whitesell

Let D’Antona continue to work stuff out, and keep Whitesell on the farm as a motivating threat. Considering the big deal the team and the media have made over the Whitesell signing, I doubt this will happen.

The D’Antona & Whitesell Options

If the Swallows opt to go with possibilities 2 or 3, the Swallows would have both D’Antona and Whitesell on the roster. With two foreign first basemen on the roster, the Swallows could take a number of approaches in using the two players.

Option #1: Make One the Everyday Starter, Let the Other Come Off the Bench

The first option is similar to possibility #1 outlined above, in that one player would be the undisputed starter for a certain period. The difference is that the other player would be available for pinch hit appearances. While this sounds good in theory, I’m not sure how much I trust the Swallows management to be patient if the named starter doesn’t perform at a high level immediately. Also, you would have to weigh the luxury of keeping the bench player, if he is taking the roster spot of a potential starter. Finally, if D’Antona becomes the bench player, it’s hard to imagine that he’ll be able to work out the issues with his bat with irregular at bats. D’Antona did not perform particularly well coming off the bench when he was in Takada’s dog house. If this is the scenario that plays out, I imagine Whitesell would be the starter.

Option #2: Platoon

While D’Antona’s numbers do not look too good when viewed as a whole, his numbers against left-handed pitchers are very good. In 65 ABs against left-handed pitching, D’Antona has 22 hits, including 6 homeruns, 5 walks, and 18 RBIs. Against right-handers, D’Antona has 23 hits, with 4 homeruns, 19 walks and 19 RBIs in 146 ABs. This would make the righty/lefty duo of D’Antona and Whitesell seem like a natural fit for a righty/lefty platoon, with D’Antona starting against left-handers, and Whitesell starting against right-handers. The advantage of this plan is that both players would get some fairly regular and predictable at bats. Obviously Whitesell would make more starts under this plan, since there are many more right-handed pitchers in the league. (See D’Antona’s AB totals to get an approximate lefty:righty ratio.) If, however, Whitesell is capable of hitting left-handers adequately, the need for this plan goes down significantly, as D’Antona’s diminished value weighed against the other foreign players’ whose spot he would be taking would probably not be favorable.

Option #3: Start Both

When we first announced the Whitesell signing, one commenter suggested that Whitesell could start at first and D’Antona could start at third. I do not think this option is seriously being considered by the Swallows. If the team was considering using D’Antona at third, I would expect reports of D’Antona taking fielding practice at third already. Based on the range D’Antona has displayed at first, I do not expect good things from him at third. For a team that features many starters that rely on getting outs by putting balls into play, defensive weaknesses at the corners (Whitesell has not gotten a favorable review from Ogawa defensively) can lead to the team giving up more runs. Also, if the goal is to get D’Antona humming again offensively, I question whether asking him to defend a position he has not played in 2 years can help him from a mental perspective.

Parting Thoughts

Given management’s propensity for showing impatience with struggling foreigners, I fear that Whitesell and D’Antona will be juggled around in a way that will make neither player particularly effective. I think the uncertainty of his role on the team has contributed to D’Antona’s struggles, and if Whitesell does not produce right away, I can see him being lead down the same path. I have nothing against D’Antona, but if the team is serious about Whitesell I hope they give him ample chances without having to worry too much about getting the quick hook. As such, I am in favor of demoting D’Antona and naming Whitesell the starter. Keeping both on the active roster takes away playing time from players I think are more valuable to the team, and is just asking for management to dick around with the lineup if things don’t go well. The transition into Japanese baseball is never easy, especially mid-season, and having to do it while looking over your shoulder certainly can’t help. Given the roster limitations that are in play, I cannot think of a scenario that can make everyone happy. I honestly think the players we have now, could get the job done, but if we are going to bring in a player I think we ought to give him a fair shake. No matter how I play it out in my head, someone loses. I wish Josh Whitesell all the best, and I hope he can help us win games. I also wish the same to whomever ends up being demoted.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 1

Hiroshima Toyo Carp 5

Streak: Lost 2   Last 5: WWWLL

(Mazda Stadium)

Tokyo had to wait an extra day to re-start their Central League program after yesterday’s game in Hiroshima was rained out.  And for a while their return to CL duties was a tightly contested affair, until a disastrous 6th inning derailed the Swallows efforts.

1. Aoki (CF)
2. Tanaka (2B)
3. Guiel (RF)
4. D’Antona (1B)
5. Ihara (LF)
6. Aikawa (C)
7. Miyamoto (3B)
8. Fujimoto (SS)
9. Ishikawa (P)

Ishikawa started this one and fell behind in the 1st via a leadoff Higashide double and a Shima sacfly one out later for 1-0 Hiroshima.

Facing Carp ace Maeda was never going to be easy for the Swallows, and so it proved, as he largely held the Tokyo bats at bay throughout his 7 innings, giving up just 5 hits. His only major pinch came in the 3rd, as two two-out singles for Aoki and Tanaka, followed by a HBP for Guiel loaded the bases for D’Antona. But Jamie could only strike out and Maeda’s slender lead was safe.

After Ishikawa gave up two hits in the 2nd (but escaped with the Hiroshima lead still at one) he wouldn’t give up another hit until that fateful 6th. An inning in which, with one out on the board, he gave up: A solo homer to Shima (2-0), another solo shot to Huber (3-0), a single to Hirose and then a two-run homer to Akamatsu (5-0). All in consecutive at bats. Ouch.

That was it for Ishikawa as he was replaced by Oshimoto who got the final two outs of the inning.

And indeed that was about all she wrote for this one, with the Swallows adding a run in the 8th via a pinch-hit Hatakeyama solo homer (his first of the year) making it 5-1, but that would be the sum of all the Swallows scoring for the day as it ended 5-1 Final.

Ishikawa took the loss to put his record at 2-8/4.36.

De La Cruz and Takaichi both pitched hitless innings in relief, with the former making his second and latter making his first appearance of the year.

The two teams both registered 7 hits apiece, with that nasty 6th inning being the difference between the sides.

Tokyo return to Mazda ZOOOOOOM ZOOOOOOOOM Stadium tomorrow afternoon for the last game of the rained-shortened series.