2024 Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) season

Japan in comparison to the east coast of the United States.

Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) is the highest level of baseball in Japan.
Within the borders it is referred to as simply Puro Yakyū (Professional Baseball).

In recent years NPB has gained more popularity in the United States, mostly thanks to the influx of quality Japanese talent making the move to MLB.

No guarantees but I will try my best to keep this thread updated with daily scores and selected highlights.



While this year represents the 75th season of NPB and the two league system (Central and Pacific), officials are celebrating 2024 as the 90th anniversary of professional baseball in Japan.

The pro game began in 1934 with the creation of The Great Japan Tokyo Baseball Club, a collection of the best talent throughout Japan that toured the United States playing minor league teams.
In the 1947 the team changed their name to the Yomiuri Giants and the club are, likewise, celebrating the 90th anniversary of their founding this year.

Opening Day 2024 is set for Friday 29 March.

 

While the game is generally the same, NPB has quite a few characteristics that MLB fans may find strange.



• Company Ownership
11 of the 12 NPB clubs are mainly owned by large corporations, and teams incorporate the companies' name as their own.
It's been said that the goal of the company owners is not to make profit, but rather to create goodwill and market themselves. (Imagine the St. Louis Anheuser-Busch Cardinals or Seattle Amazon Mariners)
Only the Hiroshima Carp are primarily owned privately. The Matsuda family, led by Hajime Matsuda, a descendant of Mazda Motor Corporation founder Jujiro Matsuda, owns roughly 60% of the ballclub. Mazda is the largest single shareholder at just over 34%.

• Pitching Rotation
NPB teams normally employ 6-man pitching rotations.
Usually pitching just once a week, starting pitchers will often pitch deep into games, routinely throwing over 100 pitches.
In 2023 there were 73 complete games thrown in NPB (35 in MLB).

• Ace Number
Uniform numbers 17 and (especially) 18 are often reserved for the team’s best pitcher.

• 'Gaijin' Player Limit
For each regular season game, NPB clubs have 29-man rosters. (ichi-gun, or first team)
Although teams are free to sign as many foreign players as they desire, only 4 'gaijin' players can be on the active NPB roster on game day. And of the four players, at least one must be a pitcher and at least one must be a fielder. This is to ensure Japanese talent are not pushed out of the game by foreign players.

• Scheduling
The NPB regular season consists of 143 games per team.
With the 12 teams divided into two leagues (Central and Pacific) each team plays each of its five league opponents 25 times (125 total games) and each of the six teams from the opposite league 3 times (18 games).
In most weeks all teams typically have Mondays off, then play a 3-game weeknight series (Tuesday-Thursday) followed by a 3-game weekend set (Friday-Sunday)
Evening games often start at 6:00pm (Japan time) while first pitch for weekend games are normally at 2:00pm.



• The Ball
NPB baseballs are made by Mizuno and are slightly smaller and less slippery as they are pre-tacked, which eliminates the need for sticky substances MLB pitchers have been abusing forever.

• Ceremonial first pitch
Before most NPB games, the ceremonial first pitch is often thrown by a celebrity, much like they do in MLB.
NPB has the added feature of a batter (usually the leadoff batter from the visiting/opposing team) standing in the batter's box and conducting a swinging strike no matter how bad the throw is.

• Pitchers Hit
With MLB's National League having adopted the designated hitter in 2022, NPB’s Central League is the last top professional league that does not employ the DH.
In 2023 NPB pitchers hit a combined 2 home runs with a .240 OPS.

• Bunting
The Japanese game still embraces the small ball style of manufacturing runs. Often in close games, if the batter leading off the inning gets on base, the next batter will attempt to sacrifice him to second base. It can happen as early as the first inning.
NPB teams use the sacrifice bunt roughly 3x more often than MLB in just a 1/3 of the games.



• Lucky 7
Japan's version of the 7th inning stretch is called Lucky 7.
Following the bottom half of the 6th inning, the fight anthem of the visiting team is played over the tannoy regardless of the opponent.
The same is done for the home team in the middle of the 7th inning. A few teams (Carp, Hawks, Tigers) have the added spectacle of its fans releasing (interesting-looking) jet balloons after their fight anthem concludes.

• Modasho
Modasho (猛打賞) translates as "fierce hitter award".
Unique to Japan, a modasho is a prize/award given out in NPB by game sponsors to any player who records at least 3 hits in a single game.
Although the award was established in 1949, the first player retroactively credited with achieving three hits in a professional game was Takeo Kimata, who went 3-for-5 with 1 RBI on April 29, 1936.
Isao Harimoto (1959-1981) is the all time NPB career leader in this category with 251.
35 year old Hayato Sakamoto of the Yomiuri Giants is the current active leader with 184.
While MLB does not keep track of such a stat, Japanese record keepers list Ichiro Suzuki as the all-time world career leader with 379 (120 in NPB, 259 in MLB).

• No Hitter
In Japan a no-hitter is considered official only if the starting pitcher hurls a complete game shutout while allowing no base hits. If the opposing team scores a run without registering a base hit, NPB does not consider it an official no-hitter.
As such, the term "no hit no run" is used to describe official NPB no hitters.
Combined no hitters (where more than one pitcher is used) are also not considered official by Japanese baseball standards.

• Tie games
Traditionally, a NPB game is recorded as a tie after three extra innings (12 innings total) have been played with neither team winning.
Ties exist for the benefit of fans attending games so that they can catch the trains back home. Stadiums have very few, if any, parking spaces for automobiles and traveling is mainly done via the Shinkansen 'bullet trains' which usually stop running at midnight.
And yes, ties exist in post-season playoff games.



• Countryside Games
Japan is just under 378,000 square kilometers with a population of roughly 125 million. But 92% of inhabitants live in the urban areas of the country.
With the goal of the company owners focused more on goodwill and marketing themselves to the public, teams will occasionally play home games in regional rural venues besides their normal home ballpark.
In 2024, there will be 29 NPB games played at 'countryside' venues in order to give every part of Japan the experience of big-league games and connect with fanbases across the nation.

• Interleague Play
Amidst much controversy, Interleague Play was introduced by NPB in 2005, 8 years after MLB began the practice.
Today, Interleague Play (teams from the Central League vs teams from the Pacific League) has become a much anticipated part of the schedule and lasts for three weeks beginning in late-May.
Each team plays a 3-game series against each of the six teams from the 'other' league and standings are kept, resulting in an Interleague champion in mid-June after all 108 games have been played. An Interleague MVP is also named.

• All-Star Series
NBP's version of the 'Midsummer Classic' usually consists of two games (sometimes three) with each game taking place at different ballparks.
The two games for 2024 will take place on July 23 at Es Con Field Hokkaido in the northern city of Kitahiroshima and on July 24 at Meiji Jingu Stadium in Tokyo.

• Hero Interview
A staple of every postgame in NPB, a 'Hero of the Game' is voted on and gets on a podium to answer questions in front of the ballpark crowd, regardless of whether the Hero is from the home or away team.

• Winning The Pennant
Unlike MLB where the league pennant is won during the post-season playoffs, the champions of the Central and Pacific Leagues are declared by finishing in first place following the 143-game regular season.
The argument for this is that the marathon 6+ month long regular season is given more value over the 2-week long post-season series in deciding which is the best team in the league.
Despite this view, it is the winner of the post-season Climax Series that advances to play in the Japan Series. So the possibility exists that a pennant-winning team could not be involved in the Nippon Series.
Additionally, the two teams that win their league pennants each receive a champions parade days or even weeks after the Japan Series has concluded, regardless of how they performed in the post-season.

• Post-season playoffs
The Climax Series is the post-season playoff tournament to decide which teams will meet in the Nippon Series.
The top three teams in each League qualify for the Climax Series which is played over two stages.
The first stage is a best-of-three series involving the regular season's second and third placed finishers, with all games played at the second-place team's home field.
The winner of the first stage advances to the final stage to face the League's pennant winner (who received a bye from the first stage). This series is best-of-six, with the league champion hosting the entire series while also being awarded a one-win advantage from the start.
Since NPB games can end in a tie if there is no winner after 12 innings of play, a Climax Series could end up tied after all games have been played. In this scenario, the higher-seeded team advances.
The winning teams from the Central and Pacific league's Climax Series advance to the Nippon (Japan) Series in a best-of-seven series. One team must win four games to claim the title. Only games 1 through 7 are allowed to end in ties after 12 innings. If more games are required after Game 7, each additional game is played with unlimited innings until a winner is decided. So theoretically, the Japan Series can take as many as 13 games to decide the champion.

• Award Voting
The MVP award in Japan basically comes down to who was the best player on the best team. This has been the case the past 20 years as the winners have all come from first place teams.
2013 was the lone exception when Wladimir Balentien broke the single season home run record (60 HR) while his club, the Yakult Swallows, finished last in the Central League standings.



• Draft Format
The first round of the NPB Draft is not based on the team's win-loss record. Instead, all 12 teams simultaneously pick the player they want.
If more than one team selects the same player, the winner is decided by lottery. The winner of the lottery receives the player and the losing team(s) select another player with the process repeating until all 12 teams have selected a player.

• No Tanking
Due to the league's draft system (as well as external pressure) there is zero benefit to teams not trying to win, unlike in MLB where teams with worst records gain a favorable draft pick.
This makes for unrivaled parity, where every team believes they have a chance to get that first selection.

 

In December the Japan Baseball Rules Committee added three new rules that were adopted by MLB in 2023.
- Larger bases
- Extra innings 'ghost runner' on second base
- Ban on defensive shifts

Three other items were also discussed but no agreement was reached:
- Eliminating tie games
- Pitch clock
- limit on pickoff throws to runners on base

It must be noted that these were only added to the rulebook of the Japan Baseball Rules Committee, which includes the amateur game as well as the professional game.
It was left up to NPB and Central/Pacific League officials on whether or not they wished to implement them, which they apparently voted not to for the 2024 season.

So it appears the new rules were added in case NPB eventually decides to put them into practice. (Possibly in 2025)

Regarding tie games, using the 'ghost runner' in extra innings would certainly reduce the number of them.

 

A staple of many baseball fields in Japan are all-dirt infields. Many fields throughout Japan feature them and mainly in NPB do you see traditional grass infield baseball diamonds (including a few 'countryside' ballparks).

Only one NPB venue features an all-dirt infield: Hanshin Koshien Stadium located in the Koshien neighborhood of Nishinomiya, Hyōgo.

Home to the 2023 Japan Series champion Hanshin Tigers, Koshien is the oldest baseball stadium in Japan having been built in 1924. At the time, it was the largest baseball park in Asia with a seating capacity of 55,000. The stadium is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2024.



The stadium was built to host the National High School Baseball Championship, the largest scale amateur sporting event in Japan.
Commonly referred to as "Summer Koshien", the tournament takes place every August and involves 49 schools representing the regional champions of each of the prefectures of Japan (with two teams each from Hokkaidō and Tokyo).
Koshien's dirt infield is so legendary that high school players scoop dirt into plastic baggies to take home as a remembrance of their participation following an arduous qualifying journey to the tournament.



The stadium also hosts the National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament, or "Spring Koshien".
In Japan the tournament is referred to as "Senbatsu" and takes place every March with 32 schools competing.

Both Senbatsu and Summer Koshien have priority at Koshien and forces the Hanshin Tigers to play home games at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka while the tournaments are taking place.

🌸 #第96回選抜高等学校野球大会 🌸

大会第1日、ご来場ありがとうございました⚾️

本日の開会式〜第一試合の様子をお届けいたします🎥#高校野球 #センバツ #甲子園#甲子園100周年 pic.twitter.com/htY8CCobGw

— 【公式】阪神甲子園球場 (@enjoy_koshien) March 18, 2024

The 96th edition of Senbatsu is currently taking place having begun on Monday (18 March).
Barring weather delays the tournament is scheduled to conclude on March 30.
Here are a couple of links if you're interested in watching.
Games normally start around 9:00am Japan (8:00pm Eastern U.S.)
https://sportsbull.jp/senbatsu/
https://sports.yahoo.co.jp/livestream/senbatsulive/hsb/games/live

96th Japanese High School Baseball Invitational Tournament draw result and schedule (time in JST/GMT +9)

a thread🧵 pic.twitter.com/Kaj1uIySn3

— Highschool Baseball in Japan (高校野球) (@HS_baseballJP) March 8, 2024

 

Intercity Baseball Tournament

Also referred to as "Summer All-Star", this is an amateur adult tournament that normally takes place every July at the Tokyo Dome involving industrial company teams from independent leagues.

Many players who were not selected during the NPB Draft will often play in the industrial leagues hoping to showcase themselves to NPB scouts who always turn up at this tournament searching for diamonds in the rough.

A few current NPB players who impressed in this tournament which helped lead them to the big leagues include Shuhei Fukuda (Buffaloes), Yudai Fujioka (Marines), Hiroto Kobukata (Eagles), Kōji Chikamoto (Tigers) and Sosuke Genda (Lions).

 

The victory by Samurai Japan at the 2023 World Baseball Classic continues to be celebrated throughout the country.

Following the success of the documentary film “Samurai Beyond Admiration: A Record of Becoming the World’s #1” which featured behind-the-scenes footage of the team as a whole, the 6-part documentary "The Truth Behind the WBC Championship” was released on March 1 exclusively on Amazon Prime Japan.
The series focuses on individual players including Yu Darvish, Lars Nootbaar, Sosuke Genda, Munetaka Murakami, Shohei Ohtani and manager Hideki Kuriyama who discusses key decisions made throughout the tournament from pre-tournament player selection to Ohtani pitching the final inning against the United States.

I don't have Amazon Prime and I'm hoping the series will be released on DVD.
But it looks like it's available in the U.S. If you're interested and able to watch. Keep in mind that the commentary is all in Japanese (except perhaps Nootbaar's segments).
Amazon Prime Video

 

On March 6 and 7 Samurai Japan played a "Europe All-Stars" selection in a two-game series called the Global Baseball Games at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka.

Manager Hirokazu Ibata decided to have an interesting roster mix of established NPB superstars, up-and-coming NPB talent, and top college prospects.



PITCHERS
11 Shunpeita Yamashita (Orix Buffaloes)
13 Hiroya Miyagi (Orix Buffaloes) LHP
15 Shinya Matsuyama (Chunichi Dragons)
16 Atsuki Taneichi (Lotte Marines)
18 Masato Morishita (Hiroshima Carp)
19 Yumeto Kanemaru (Kansai University) LHP
20 Ryoji Kuribayashi (Hiroshima Carp)
21 Chihiro Sumida (Seibu Lions) LHP
23 Shota Watanabe (Rakuten Golden Eagles)
28 Yuto Nakamura (Aichi Institute of Technology)
59 Haruka Nemoto (Nippon-Ham Fighters)
61 Kaima Taira (Seibu Lions)

CATCHERS
22 Yuto Koga (Seibu Lions)
31 Shogo Sakakura (Hiroshima Carp)
50 Yuudai Yamamoto (Yokohama BayStars)

INFIELDERS
6 Sosuke Genda (Seibu Lions)
7 Takumu Nakano (Hanshin Tigers)
10 Rui Muneyama (Meiji University)
24 Kotaro Kurebayashi (Orix Buffaloes)
25 Takaya Ishikawa (Chunichi Dragons)
51 Kaito Kozono (Hiroshima Carp)
55 Munetaka Murakami (Yakult Swallows)

OUTFIELDERS
1 Shota Morishita (Hanshin Tigers)
3 Misho Nishikawa (Aoyama Gakuin University)
8 Kensuke Kondoh (SoftBank Hawks)
9 Yasutaka Shiomi (Yakult Swallows)
60 Shunsuke Tamura (Hiroshima Carp)
66 Chusei Mannami (Nippon-Ham Fighters)

Europe All-stars roster


Game 1




Game 2



Recap from Yakyu Cosmopolitan.

 

With baseball not part of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, attention will now focus to November and the Premier12 competition.

The Premier12 will include the top 12 countries based on the rankings of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC).

The Premier12 is much like the World Baseball Classic with one major caveat: No MLB players are involved.
While the WBC is a collaboration between MLB and the WBSC, the Premier12 is strictly run by the WBSC, the organization's biggest tournament after the WBC. And since MLB have nothing to do with the organization of the Premier12 they do not clear their players to be involved with the tournament.
But this doesn't mean the Premier12 is not a worthy tournament. Many MLB scouts will attend the tournament searching for the next MLB international star.

Ibata stated after the two-game set against Europe that he plans on naming a similar roster for the tournament including college prospects.

2024 will be the third edition of the Premier12 following the first two tournaments in 2015 (won by Korea) and 2019 (won by Japan).
Players who represented Japan in the two competitions and went on to play in MLB include...
Shogo Akiyama
Shōta Imanaga
Kenta Maeda
Kazuhisa Makita
Yuki Matsui
Shohei Ohtani
Hirokazu Sawamura
Seiya Suzuki
Yoshi Tsutsugo
Shun Yamaguchi
Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Masataka Yoshida

 

TRANSACTIONS

Players come and players go .
This list is by no means complete, but here are some of the more notable player movements that have taken place since the end of the 2023 season
.
The teams listed in parenthesis are the last team they played for (Arrivals) or where they now play (Departures)




CHUNICHI DRAGONS
Arrivals
IF Hiroyuki Nakajima (free agent, Yomiuri Giants)
OF Seiji Uebayashi (free agent, SoftBank Hawks)
OF Alex Dickerson (free agent, Long Island Ducks - ALPB)
IF Sho Nakata (free agent, Yomiuri Giants)
Departures
OF Zoilo Almonte (free agent, Sultanes de Monterrey - LMB)
OF Aristides Aquino (free agent, Diablos Rojos del México - LMB)
P Yariel Rodriguez (free agent, Toronto Blue Jays - MLB)

HANSHIN TIGERS
Arrivals
RHP Javy Guerra (free agent, Tampa Bay Rays/Durham Bulls - MiLB)
Departures
RHP Kyle Keller (free agent, Yomiuri Giants)

HIROSHIMA CARP
Arrivals
IF Matt Reynolds (free agent, Cincinnati Reds - MLB)
UTL Jake Scheiner (free agent, Seatlle Mariners/Tacoma Rainiers - PCL)
RHP Thomas Hatch (free agent, Pittsburgh Pirates - MLB)
LHP Taylor Hearn (free agent, Kansas City Royals - MLB)
RHP Atsumi Hidaka (compensation pick, Orix Buffaloes)
Departures
OF Ryoma Nishikawa (free agent, Orix Buffaloes)
LHP Nik Turley (free agent, Rakuten Eagles)
IF Matt Davidson (free agent, NC Dinos - KBO)
IF Ryan McBroom (free agent)
RHP Drew Anderson (free agent, Detroit Tigers - MiLB contract)

YAKULT SWALLOWS
Arrivals
OF Haruki Nishikawa (free agent - Rakuten Eagles)
LHP Shinya Kayama (free agent, SoftBank Hawks)
IF Shu Masuda (free agent, SoftBank Hawks)
RHP Miguel Yajure (free agent, San Francisco Giants/Sacramento River Cats - MiLB)
RHP José Espada (free agent, San Diego Padres)
Departures
LHP Dillon Peters (free agent)

YOKOHAMA BAYSTARS
Arrivals
RHP Yuito Mori (free agent, SoftBank Hawks)
RHP Rowan Wick (free agent, Toronto Blue Jays/Buffalo Bisons - MiLB)
LHP Anthony Kay (free agent, Oakland Athletics - MLB)
RHP Andre Jackson (free agent, Pittsburgh Pirates - MLB)
Departures
1B Neftalí Soto (free agent, Lotte Marines)
OF Trey Amburgey (free agent)
RHP Trevor Bauer (free agent, Diablos Rojos del México - LMB)
LHP Edwin Escobar (free agent, Chicago Cubs - MiLB contract)
RHP Robert Gsellman (free agent, Washington Nationals - MiLB contract)
LHP Shota Imanaga (posted, Chicago Cubs - MLB)

YOMIURI GIANTS
Arrivals
RHP Rei Takahashi (traded by SoftBank Hawks)
RHP Keisuke Izumi (traded by SoftBank Hawks)
RHP Taisuke Kondoh (traded by Orix Buffaloes)
RHP Kyle Keller (free agent, Hanshin Tigers)
IF Rougned Odor (free agent, San Diego Padres - MLB)
Departures
OF Adam Walker (traded to SoftBank Hawks)
IF Hiroyuki Nakajima (free agent, Chunichi Dragons)
IF Sho Nakata (free agent, Chunichi Dragons)
P Tyler Beede (free agent, Cleveland Guardians - MiLB contract)
P Yoan López (free agent, Algodoneros de Unión Laguna - LMB)
OF Lewis Brinson (free agent)

 

LOTTE MARINES
Arrivals
RHP Jimmy Cordero (free agent, New York Yankees - MLB)
RHP Junior Fernandez (free agent, Washington Nationals/Rochester Red Wings - MiLB)
IF Neftalí Soto (free agent, Yokohama BayStars)
RHP James Dykstra (free agent, Southern Maryland Blue Crabs - ALPB)
Departures
IF Mike Brosseau (free agent, Kansas City Royals - MiLB contract)
RHP Luis Castillo (free agent, Orix Buffaloes)
RHP Luis Perdomo (free agent, Washington Nationals - MiLB contract)

NIPPON-HAM FIGHTERS
Arrivals
RHP Yi-Lei Sun (free agent, Chinese Culture University)
RHP Patrick Murphy (free agent, Minnesota Twins/St. Paul Saints - MiLB)
RHP Yuta Kuroki (traded by Orix Buffaloes)
LHP Sachiya Yamasaki (free agent, Orix Buffaloes)
RHP Aneurys Zabala (free agent, Detroit Tigers/Toledo Mud Hens - MiLB)
OF Andrew Stevenson (free agent, Minnesota Twins - MLB)
RHP Yohei Kagiya (free agent, Yomiuri Giants)
OF Franmil Reyes (free agent, Washington Nationals - MLB)
RHP Drew VerHagen (free agent, St. Louis Cardinals - MLB)
Departures
RHP Kosei Yoshida (traded to Orix Buffaloes)
RHP Cody Ponce (free agent, Rakuten Eagles)
OF Arismendy Alcantara (free agent, Guerreros de Oaxaca - LMB)
RHP James Marvel (free agent)
OF Alen Hanson (free agent, Conspiradores de Querétaro - LMB)
OF Wang Po-Jung (free agent, TSG Hawks - CPBL)
RHP Naoyuki Uwasawa (posted, Tampa Bay Rays - MiLB contract)

ORIX BUFFALOES
Arrivals
RHP Andrés Machado (free agent, Washington Nationals - MLB)
OF Ryoma Nishikawa (free agent, Hiroshima Carp)
RHP Kosei Yoshida (traded by Nippon-Ham Fighters)
RHP Anderson Espinoza (free agent, San Diego Padres - MLB)
OF Cody Thomas (free agent, Oakland Athletics - MLB)
RHP Luis Castillo (free agent, Lotte Marines)
RHP Anderson Espinoza (free agent, San Diego Padres/El Paso Chihuahuas - MiLB)
Departures
RHP Taisuke Kondoh (traded to Yomiuri Giants)
RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (posted, Los Angeles Dodgers - MLB)
RHP Yuta Kuroki (traded to Nippon-Ham Fighters)
LHP Sachiya Yamasaki (free agent, Nippon-Ham Fighters)
RHP Atsumi Hidaka (compensation pick, Hiroshima Carp)
RHP Jacob Waguespack (free agent, Tampa Bay Rays - MiLB contract)

RAKUTEN GOLDEN EAGLES
Arrivals
RHP Cody Ponce (free agent, Nippon-Ham Fighters)
LHP Nik Turley (free agent, Hiroshima Carp)
Departures
C Ginjiro Sumitani (free agent, Seibu Lions)
OF Haruki Nishikawa (free agent, Yakult Swallows)
RHP Tomohisa Anraku (released, Diablos Rojos del México - LMB)
LHP Manny Banuelos (free agent, Rakuten Monkeys - CPBL)
IF Chris Gittens (free agent, Houston Astros - MiLB contract)
LHP Yuki Matsui (international free agent, San Diego Padres - MLB)

SEIBU LIONS
Arrivals
C Ginjiro Sumitani (free agent, Rakuten Eagles)
LHP Jefry Yan (free agent, Miami Marlins/Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp - MiLB)
RHP Albert Abreu (free agent, New York Yankees - MLB)
OF Franchy Cordero (free agent, New York Yankees - MLB)
IF Jesús Aguilar (free agent, Atlanta Braves/Gwinnett Stripers - MiLB)
Departures
IF Hotaka Yamakawa (free agent, SoftBank Hawks)
LHP Dietrich Enns (free agent, LG Twins - KBO)
IF David Mackinnon (free agent, Samsung Lions - KBO)
RHP Jesus Tinoco (free agent, Texas Rangers - MiLB contract)
IF Mark Payton (free agent, Chicago White Sox - MiLB contract)
RHP Brooks Kriske (free agent, Cincinnati Reds - MiLB contract)

SOFTBANK HAWKS
Arrivals
OF Adam Walker (traded by Yomiuri Giants)
IF Hotaka Yamakawa (free agent, Seibu Lions)
Departures
RHP Rei Takahashi (traded to Yomiuri Giants)
RHP Keisuke Izumi (traded to Yomiuri Giants)
OF Seiji Uebayashi (free agent, Chunichi Dragons)
LHP Shinya Kayama (free agent, Yakult Swallows)
IF Shu Masuda (free agent, Yakult Swallows)
RHP Yuito Mori (free agent, Yokohama BayStars)
RHP Joe Gunkel (free agent, Minnesota Twins - MiLB contract)
IF Freddy Galvis (free agent, Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos - LMB)
IF Willians Astudillo (free agent, Saraperos de Saltillo - LMB))
OF Courtney Hawkins (free agent)
OF Alfredo Despaigne (free agent)

 

Yakyu Cosmopolitan: Top 50 Players going into the 2024 season.





50 - RHP Raidel Martínez (Chunichi Dragons)
49 - LHP Liván Moinelo (SoftBank Hawks)
48 - OF Hiroaki Shimauchi (Rakuten Golden Eagles)
47 - OF Domingo Santana (Yakult Swallows)
46 - OF Shota Morishita (Hanshin Tigers)
45 - LHP Yūdai Ohno (Chunichi Dragons)
44 - LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara (Chunichi Dragons)
43 - IF Naoki Yoshikawa (Yomiuri Giants)
42 - LHP Chihiro Sumida (Seibu Lions)
41 - LHP Takayuki Kato (Nippon-Ham Fighters)

40 - RHP Masato Morishita (Hiroshima Carp)
39 - OF Yūki Okabayashi (Chunichi Dragons)'
38 - OF Ryosuke Tatsumi (Rakuten Golden Eagles)
37 - RHP Kona Takahashi (Seibu Lions)
36 - LHP Masashi Itoh (Hanshin Tigers)
35 - 2B Takumu Nakano (Hanshin Tigers)
34 - SS Sosuke Genda (Seibu Lions)
33 - 2B Shuta Tonosaki (Seibu Lions)
32 - OF Ryōma Nishikawa (Orix Buffaloes)
31 - 1B Hotaka Yamakawa (SoftBank Hawks)

30 - 3B Toshiro Miyazaki (Yokohama BayStars)
29 - C Shogo Sakakura (Hiroshima Carp)
28 - LHP Katsuki Azuma (Yokohama BayStars)
27 - RHP Atsuki Taneichi (Lotte Marines)
26 - RHP Hiromi Itoh (Nippon-Ham Fighters)
25 - RHP Hiroto Saiki (Hanshin Tigers)
24 - 1B Yuma Tongu (Orix Buffaloes)
23 - OF Yoshihiro Maru (Yomiuri Giants)
22 - C Takumi Ohshiro (Yomiuri Giants)
21 - RHP Shosei Togo (Yomiuri Giants)

20 - 1B Yusuke Ohyama (Hanshin Tigers)
19 - 3B Teruaki Sato (Hanshin Tigers)
18 - OF Chusei Mannami (Nippon-Ham Fighters)
17 - 2B Tetsuto Yamada (Yakult Swallows)
16 - OF Yasutaka Shiomi (Yakult Swallows)
15 - RHP Shoki Murakami (Hanshin Tigers)
14 - LHP Hiroya Miyagi (Orix Buffaloes)
13 - RHP Kaima Taira (Seibu Lions)
12 - RHP Hiroto Takahashi (Chunichi Dragons)
11 - RHP Shunpeita Yamashita (Orix Buffaloes)

10 - 3B Hideto Asamura (Rakuten Golden Eagles)
9 - OF Yuki Yanagita (SoftBank Hawks)
8 - 3B Hayato Sakamoto (Yomiuri Giants)
7 - 1B Kazuma Okamoto (Yomiuri Giants)
6 - OF Koji Chikamoto (Hanshin Tigers)
5 - C Tomoya Mori (Orix Buffaloes)
4 - 2B Shugo Maki (Yokohama BayStars)
3 - OF Kensuke Kondoh (SoftBank Hawks)
2 - 3B Munetaka Murakami (Yakult Swallows)
1 - RHP Roki Sasaki (Lotte Marines)

 

The Cubs and Dodgers have been privately informed that they have been selected to open the 2025 season in Tokyo, per @BNightengale pic.twitter.com/Yn6VNjsrLa

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) March 24, 2024

 

Ranking Starting Pitchers (from Yakyu Cosmopolitan)

Tier 1
Roki Sasaki (Lotte Marines)

Tier 1.5
Shunpeita Yamashita (Orix Buffaloes)
Hiroto Takahashi (Chunichi Dragons)
Kaima Taira (Seibu Lions)
Hiroya Miyagi (Orix Buffaloes)
Shoki Murakami (Hanshin Tigers)

Tier 2
Shosei Togo (Yomiuri Giants)
Hiroto Saiki (Hanshin Tigers)
Hiromi Itoh (Nippon-Ham Fighters)
Atsuki Taneichi (Lotte Marines)
Katsuki Azuma (Yokohama BayStars)

Tier 2.5
Masashi Itoh (Hanshin Tigers)
Kona Takahashi (Seibu Lions)
Masato Morishita (Hiroshima Carp)
Takayuki Katoh (Nippon-Ham Fighters)
Chihiro Sumida (Seibu Lions)



Tier 3
Shinnosuke Ogasawara (Chunichi Dragons)
Iori Yamasaki (Yomiuri Giants)
Tatsuya Imai (Seibu Lions)
Yuya Yanagi (Chunichi Dragons)
Yuji Nishino (Lotte Marines)

Tier 3.5
Kohei Azuma (Orix Buffaloes)
Aren Kuri (Hiroshima Carp)
Kentaro Taira (Yokohama BayStars)
Shinichi Ohnuki (Yokohama BayStars)
Yuji Akahoshi (Yomiuri Giants)

Tier 4
Hiroki Tokoda (Hiroshima Carp)
Koutaro Ohtake (Hanshin Tigers)
Tomoyuki Sugano (Yomiuri Giants)
Kohei Arihara (SoftBank Hawks)
Keiji Takahashi (Yakult Swallows)

 

Ranking Relief Pitchers (from Yakyu Cosmopolitan)

Tier 1
Raidel Martinez (Chunichi Dragons)
Livan Moinelo (SoftBank Hawks)
Roberto Osuna (SoftBank Hawks)

Tier 1.5
Ryoji Kuribayashi (Hiroshima Carp)
Taisei Ota (Yomiuri Giants)
Kazuto Taguchi (Yakult Swallows)
Suguru Iwazaki (Hanshin Tigers)
Atsuki Yuasa (Hanshin Tigers)
Shinya Matsuyama (Chunichi Dragons)
Soichiro Yamazaki (Orix Buffaloes)

Tier 2
Kouya Fujii (SoftBank Hawks)
Sotaro Shimauchi (Hiroshima Carp)
J.B. Wendelken (Yokohama BayStars)
Yasuaki Yamasaki (Yokohama BayStars)
Noboru Shimizu (Yakult Swallows)
Taisuke Yamaoka (Orix Buffaloes)
Yuki Udagawa (Orix Buffaloes)



Tier 2.5
Kento Fujishima (Chunichi Dragons)
Shota Watanabe (Rakuten Golden Eagles)
Yuki Matsumoto (SoftBank Hawks)
Takuma Kirishiki (Hanshin Tigers)
Masaki Oyokawa (Hanshin Tigers)
Kyle Keller (Hanshin Tigers)
Hiromu Ise (Yokohama BayStars)

Tier 3
Ryusei Kawano (Nippon-Ham Fighters)
Shota Abe (Orix Buffaloes)
Hiroshi Kaino (SoftBank Hawks)
Kota Nakagawa (Yomiuri Giants)
Hiromasa Funabasama (Yomiuri Giants)
Nik Turley (Hiroshima Carp)
Tomoya Hoshi (Yakult Swallows)

tier 3.5
Naoya Masuda (Lotte Marines)
Taisei Irie (Yokohama BayStars)
Seigi Tanaka (Nippon-Ham Fighters)
Yuhei Takanashi (Yomiuri Giants)
Taiki Kikuchi (Yomiuri Giants)
Tatsuya Shimizu (Chunichi Dragons)
Naofumi Kizawa (Yakult Swallows)

 

How To Watch NPB ... in the United States.

For the most part, games usually have two starting times:
Weeknights, 18:00 JT (5:00am US ET / 2:00am US PT)
Weekends, 14:00 JT (1:00am US ET / 10:00pm US PT)

Guess who's back?

Join us Friday, March 29th for Opening Day of Pacific League Baseball!

Watch it ALL SEASON on Dingo TV: https://t.co/Emv2xxcCoL

Dingo TV is available on your preferred devices including iOS, Android, Web, and leading Connected TV applications. pic.twitter.com/LcFkXFbc8m

— Dingo TV (@WatchDingoTV) March 27, 2024

Every game from the Pacific League will be streamed LIVE through Dingo TV.
Last year the games were broadcast without commentary, with only the stadium sounds being heard.

https://watchdingo.com/browse/menu_1/category_2163


For The Fans (FTF) Sports (via Dingo TV) streams same-day delayed coverage of one Pacific League game every gameday, usually around 1:00pm ET/10:00am PT.

https://watchdingo.com/watch/meta/detail_120041


And the Pacific League's English Youtube channel also streams a live broadcast with English commentary roughly once a month.

Here's the first #PacificLeague English YouTube simulcast schedule for 2024! All times EDT. #NPBeng
Sun Mar 31 1am, Marines vs Fighters
Sun Apr 21 12am, Hawks vs Buffaloes
Sun May 19 12am, Buffaloes vs Eagles
Sun July 14 12am, Eagles vs Lions
Sun Aug 25 12am, Fighters vs Hawks

— Gabe Lerman・ラーマン ゲイブ (@gabelerman) March 11, 2024

 

What about watching games from the Central League?

(re-post from last year's thread)

Disclaimer: Not all of this may be 100% accurate.

The two most popular teams in NPB have long been two Central League teams: Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers. Both teams have consistently had the highest attendances whether they play at home or on the road.

In an effort to attract more interest to the Pacific League, the six PL teams established a joint venture called 'Pacific League Marketing' (PLM) in 2007.
They established a centralized website (https://pacificleague.com) which is collectively managed by all six PL clubs and provides both live coverage (via a paid membership subscription service) and edited highlights of every game playing in the PL which is accessible not only in Japan but throughout most of the world.
(The coverage extends to Inter-league play when PL teams are playing at home against CL teams)

They also created their own youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@PacificLeagueTVofficial) which I'll often use to post highlights on this thread.
In addition to this, each PL club has its own website and youtube channel to provide extensive coverage of their own organizations.

In the Central League, each club owns their own broadcasting rights. They have no centralized platform equivalent to PLTV and have shown no desire to create one. I'm guessing the Giants and Tigers enjoy their status as the two most popular teams in the country and see no reason to share their revenue. And it's fairly well known that the other four CL teams often rely strongly on spectator income in games they host against the Giants and Tigers.

Because of this, it is very difficult to watch live games from the Central League outside Japan since there are very few legal platforms available.
As far as I know, only the Hanshin Tigers offer live coverage of their home games outside the country via their website streaming service (Toratele).
With VPN I think you can watch CL games on DAZN Japan although I think there is a monthly fee. (I personally have never tried using it.)
https://www.dazn.com/en-JP/welcome

Each CL club also has their own websites and youtube channels but not all of them offer up highlights of home games on a consistent basis. Hiroshima Carp home game highlights are the toughest to find.

During the covid outbreak in 2020 which shut down much of world sport, ESPN bought the rights to broadcast KBO in the U.S. when the league became one of the first professional baseball leagues to begin play (in May).
NPB's season didn't start until July but when it did many fans in the U.S. wondered why ESPN didn't show their games. The manner in which the Central and Pacific Leagues differ in their approaches to broadcasting rights likely played a big role in the matter.

Anyway, that's how I see things based on online searches. Like I said, everything I listed may not be 100% accurate but it should give a general look at why Central League live broadcasts are tough to find.
(There are 'alternative' Asian websites that do stream CL games.)

 

As of this post we are just over 19 hours away from Opening Day (Night).



PROBABLES
Friday 29 March

Yomiuri (Sh. Togo 12-5, 2.38) vs Hanshin (K. Aoyagi 8-6, 4.57)

Yakult (C. Sneed 7-8, 3.67) vs Chunichi (Y. Yanagi 4-11, 2.44)

DeNA (K. Azuma 16-3, 1.98) vs Hiroshima (A. Kuri 8-8, 2.53)


Rakuten (Takahisa Hayakawa 6-7, 3.44) vs Seibu (Tatsuya Imai 10-5, 2.30)

Lotte (K. Ojima 10-6, 3.47) vs Nippon-Ham (H. Itoh 7-10, 3.46)

Orix (H. Miyagi 10-4, 2.27) vs SoftBank (K. Arihara 10-5, 2.31)

 

Order has been shipped to Flushing, USA.

2023-2024 Chiba Lotte Marines Away Baseball Jersey #17 R.Sasaki.
2020-2024 Tokyo Yakult Swallows Home Baseball Jersey #55 Murakami. pic.twitter.com/mIbVY4UT6m

— Japan Baseball Jersey Store (@baseball_shirt) March 5, 2024

NPB merchendise

If you're interested in buying NPB merchandise, there is an online store based out of Osaka that sells jerseys and caps to all four corners of the world. They also have retro jerseys available.
https://japan-baseball-jersey.com/faq/


And since this is mainly a soccer message board, the same source also sells football/soccer shirts of many J-League clubs.
https://japansoccer-jersey.com/faq/

Order has been shipped to Jakarta, Indonesia.

2022-2024 Japan National Team Jersey Home pic.twitter.com/tqU1pEsPe4

— Japan Soccer Jersey (@soccerjersey_jp) March 1, 2024

And if you REALLY want to experience a bit of Japanese culture while watching the games ...
https://japan-snack.com/

 

Friday 29 March

Boxscores:
https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2024-03-29

 

I will try to post a very brief summary along with highlights of one game every gameday.

But for today, this will be one of the rare instances that I post the (nearly) entire episode of the nightly series Pro Yakyu News containing highlights from all six games played on Opening Night.
The series, now in its 63rd year, is broadcast live every night at 11:00pm JT on Fuji TV One.

 

Saturday 30 March

Boxscores:
https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2024-03-30
Swallows-Dragons finished tied after 12 innings

 

After hitting a home run in his debut on Friday, 21 year old rookie outfielder Ryuki Watarai went 4-for-4 with another home run, 2 RBIs and a stolen base as the Yokohama DeNA BayStars defeated the Hiroshima Carp 6-1.

Kentarō Taira nearly went the distance on the mound for the home team going 8-2/3 innings allowing 1 earned run on 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out 6.

Takayoshi Noma went 2-for-4 for Hiroshima while Kaito Kozono drove in the Carp's only run of the game in the 9th.

 

Regarding the distance from home plate to the backstop, it was originally noticed before last season that it measured 15 m.(49 ft).
NPB's official baseball rules stipulated that a distance of at least 18.288 m (60 ft) was "required".
With 95% of the stadium having been built an agreement was made that the stadium would host games in 2023 under the condition that renovations would be made during the off-season to comply with the specifications.

HOWEVER... opinions were raised from various quarters regarding the necessity of renovations.
The main reasoning on how the problem occurred was because the company that designed the stadium was the U.S. company HKS Architects & Designers, which designed the ballpark under MLB rules which "recommended" (not "required") a distance of at least 60 ft from home plate to backstop.

On 29 November 2023, NPB's official rules were revised to match those of MLB. So the stadium now complies with NPB's guidelines and renovations were no longer required. The distance remains 49 ft.
In conjunction with the rules change, an agreement was made that the Fighters ballclub would pay an undisclosed amount to NPB's "baseball promotion cooperation fund". (per Japanese wikipedia).

No idea on any updates regarding F Village or stadium access by public transport.

 

On Sunday (Japan time) the Pacific League's English youtube channel will live stream the first of (a currently scheduled) five games this year.

Chiba Lotte Marines vs Nippon-Ham Fighters
14:00 hrs (Japan)
Tonight: 1:00am Eastern U.S. / 10:00pm Pacific

22 year old fireballer Roki Sasaki will make his first start of the season for Lotte.
30 year old veteran Kenta Uehara starts for the Fighters.

Sasaki created a bit of controversy in December when rumors suggested he asked the Marines to post him with immediate effect.
He eventually agreed to a new contract with Lotte but terms were not disclosed and there have been suggestions that the deal will see Sasaki posted at the end of this season.
It would be a risky move for both player and club. The MLB/NPB posting rules say players under 25 would only receive the league minimum if they are posted and signed.
Once a player reaches 25 there is no limit on how much an MLB team can offer, as we saw with the mega-deal Yoshinobu Yamamoto received with the Los Angeles Dodgers this past winter. And since the player's NPB club receives roughly 15-20% of the money the player signs for, it would be in the best interests of both Sasaki and the Marines if he waited until he turned 25 in 2027 before a posting is asked for and granted. We will see come November.