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Tag: Kota Futaki

  • Season Preview 2020 – Opening Day Pitching Staff

    Season Preview 2020 – Opening Day Pitching Staff

    The practice games are over and the regular season is getting started this Friday, June 19. Let’s take a look at how Our Marines will be facing this abbreviated, fan-less, 120 game 2020 season, starting with the pitchers.

    Opening Day Starting Rotation

    1. Ayumu Ishikawa – 8-5, 3.64 ERA, 1.32 WHIP in 2019 (32, 7th year)
    2. Atsushi Taneichi – – 8-2, 3.24 ERA, 1.41 WHIP (21, 4th year)
    3. Manabu Mima – 8-5, 4.01 ERA, 1.18 WHIP (33, 10th year – 1st on Lotte)
    4. Kota Futaki – 7-10, 4.41 ERA, 1.22 WHIP (24, 7th year)
    5. Kazuya Ojima – 3-5, 4.31 ERA, 1.38 WHIP (23, 2nd year)
    6. Daiki Iwashita – 5-3, 3.64 ERA, 1.32 WHIP (23, 6th year)

    Veteran Ayumu Ishikawa get the opening day nod for the second year in a row. Watchers of the first half of the season might find this surprising as he struggled mightily for months, getting hit hard even as his velocity was at a career high. He returned to form in the last 2 months of the season, and in the offseason announced his desire to pursue a position in MLB at season’s end. He will be interesting to watch in 2020.

    Third year fireballer Atsushi Taneichi is a clear future candidate for Lotte Staff Ace as in his second season – first as a full time starter – he proved both durable and dangerous, striking out a Senga-like 10.41 batters per 9. He tends to put too many guys on base which limits how deep he goes into outings, but as he is still just 21 I would expect this to improve under the tutelage of pitching coach Yoshii.

    Former Rakuten veteran Manabu Mima was the biggest acquisition of a very busy free agent season, bringing a reliable arm to the middle of the rotation. Last season Mima neared career bests in WHIP and K/9 rate, and as he is still in his prime years I would expect him to provide similar with the move to Makuhari.

    The back of the rotation is manned by the young trio of Kota Futaki, Kazuya Ojima, and Daiki Iwashita. Futaki should be in that front of the rotation as in his prime starts he pitches as well as anyone in the league but among those great starts are some utterly baffling garbage appearances, even resulting in a ni-gun demotion last season. Ojima makes the rotation as the only lefty, but even beyond that he’s shown he is worthy of a shot in this strange preseason. Iwashita was originally not slated to start in the rotation despite a rather nice 2019 in his first season as a starter, but a sudden injury to Yuji Nishino this month (possibly out for the season) opened up a spot.

    Should another starter be needed, we could see spot appearances from young lefty Kakeru Narita, ni-gun all star Keita Watanabe, injured in 2019 Yuki Ariyoshi, or should-be-a-top-line-starter-but-isn’t Chihaya Sasaki. Rookie first round pick Roki Sasaki is the top prospect in Japan but I don’t expect to see him except for possibly a late season appearance.

    Opening Day Bullpen

    Middle/Long Relief

    • Taiki Tojo – 52.1 IP, 16H, 3.78 ERA, 1.39 WHIP in 2019 (28, 5th year)
    • Tsuyoshi Ishizaki – Only 3.1 IP in 2019 (29, 6th year)
    • Fumiya Ono – 18.2 IP, 6.27 ERA, 1.66 WHIP (323, 6th year – 1st on Lotte)
    • Yasuhiro Tanaka – 39.2 IP, 2 H, 2.72 ERA, 1.36 WHIP (32, 15th year)
    • Toshiya Nakamura (L) – 25.0 IP, 3 H, 4.32 ERA, 1.24 WHIP (23, 2nd year)
    • Kuan-Yu Chen (L) – 57.0 IP, 5 H, 3.63 ERA, 1.42 WHIP (29, 10th year)

    Setup/Closer

    • Frank Herrmann – 47.1 IP, 21 H, 3.04 ERA, 0.99 WHIP (36, 4th year – 1st on Lotte)
    • Jay Jackson – 30.1 IP, 4.45 ERA, 1.319 ERA in MLB (32, 4th year – 1st on Lotte)
    • Naoya Masuda – 58.2 IP, 12 H, 27 S, 2.15 ERA, 0.99 WHIP (30, 9th year)

    The strength of this bullpen is in the back end. Naoya Masuda has been one of the most reliable relievers in his 9 years with Lotte, and he just signed a free agent deal that will keep in Chiba through his prime years. I’m a huge fan of both foreign FA signings in Frank Herrmann (from Rakuten) and Jay Jackson (from MLB’s Brewers, previously Carp). We’ve seen a lot of Herrmann in his previous three years in Japan and quite frankly I’ve hated to see him, because it seems he can rarely be hit. Jackson had a nice season on a playoff MLB team last season and had 2 solid seasons in Hiroshima before that. They’ll be setting up Masuda’s 9th inning. One thing I like about both signings is they are guys who know what they are getting into in NPB (always a big adjustment) and are proven performers in a Japanese baseball context.

    Taiki Tojo moves from a setup spot to more of a middle reliever role. MANY fans were shocked that he was apparently protected in the FA compensation for the Mima signing instead of Tomohito Sakai (whom Rakuten chose) as Sakai is more-or-less “Tojo with more upside”. But he’s a decent arm. Yashuhiro Tanaka and Kuan-Yu Chen have frequently taken on 2 and 3 inning relief challenges (Chen as the lone long lefty) and I would expect them to be effective again this season. Toshiya Nakamura had a solid rookie campaign in 2019 and is given a chance to perform this year as well. Fumiya Ono and Tsuyoshi Ishizaki are much more of a roll of the dice. Ono arrived as compensation from Rakuten for the Daichi signing – he is still quite young but did not perform well at all last season. Ishizaki came over from Hanshin in the Takano trade last year, but barely pitched on the top team. From what I have seen this Spring, his pitches were quite sharp, so hopefully that continues.

    Other guys you may/will see – Takahiro Matsunaga is THE reliable lefty out of the pen but he’s not on the opening day roster, and I am not sure why. Tatsuya Uchi is still nursing injuries and is throwing in ni-gun, but I am unsure when he will return to ichi-gun action. Masaki Minami is healthy again and available, Yuki Karakawa will see some action as a long reliever or spot starter, and the above mentioned Narita and Ariyoshi are also possibilities for ichi-gun bullpen action.

  • Lotte vs Seibu, 14-16 April 2017

    Lotte vs Seibu, 14-16 April 2017

    logo_allforchiba-sm The weekend series vs cross-Kanto rivals Seibu represented a chance for Our Marines to get back to .500, as well as a taste of the only Pacific League team we’ve yet to see. Ultimately, what we learned is much the same as what the previous four series taught us – when the pitching is good, Chiba has a good opportunity to win, but right now scoring runs is so difficult that poor pitching means the team is doomed.

    Game 1

    Seibu 3, Lotte 2
    WP: Ohishi   LP: Masuda

    Game 2

    Seibu 0, Lotte 1
    WP: Wakui   LP: Nogami

    Game 3

    Seibu 10, Lotte 2
    WP: Wolfe   LP: Karakawa

    If I were a Seibu fan I would say that Friday’s Game 1 was an amazingly entertaining game, and even as a fan who sat through that vicious uppercut to the jaw of a loss, I must admit the same. Official Favorite Young Pitcher of This Fan Site Kota Futaki got the call for his first start of the year vs nominal Seibu ace Yusei Kikuchi. Young Futaki (still just 21) turned in probably the best start of his career and certainly the strongest start by a Lotte arm this year* – 7 innings, 9 punchouts vs 0 walks and 4 hits, the only run scoring on an Okawari-kun homer in the 7th. Electric stuff, plenty good enough to win, but. But.

    *Yes, I realize I just said the same re: Nishino in the previous game – Futaki was even better.

    Alas, Mejia happened. Shota Ishimine put Our Marines ahead in the 7th inning with a one-out timely single. Uchi took over for Futaki in the 8th and delivered a quick 15-pitch hold through the bottom of the order, leaving the closing to Masuda. Masuda yielded a leadoff single to Asamura before punching out Okawari-kun (swinging) and Saitoh (looking), getting to 2 strikes vs Ernesto Mejia before Mejia launched a huge homer to left center. Oh my.

    That 3-2 Seibu lead was a real back-breaker, but Chiba had a huge chance in bottom 9 – bases loaded, 1 out for pinch hitter FUKUURA with Captain Daichi on deck, but unfortunately the Narashino legend grounded into a game ending double play, a crushing loss for so early in the season.

    Itoh-kantoku sent Hideaki Wakui to the hill in terribly windy conditions (even by Makuhari standards) for Saturday’s game 2, and The Dour Faced Ace delivered the third straight stellar start, going a strong 7 on 4 hits with 8 strikeouts and no runs. Yet again the bats would struggle, mustering but three hits vs the not-exactly-imposing Nogami, who went the distance on just 92 pitches. But with such strong pitching, those three hits were all that were needed – namely, a 2-out AJA double in the fourth, scoring on a shallow Hosoya (KEI!) single to left. Seeing the rather immense Inoue motor his bulk full tilt home on a shallow single was a rather amazing sight to see in person, I must say, but the run was both exceptional and necessary, providing the margin of victory. Masuda had a chance for redemption just 18 hours after blowing the previous game, and the crowd roared as he secured a 1-0 Lotte win.

    The Baby-Faced Killer got the call for Sunday’s Game 3, and, well, um.

    A terrible start from the very beginning for Karakawa – he was pulled in the middle of the third after getting beat up for 5 runs, 11 baserunners, and one massive Yamakawa jack. With the way Our Marines are scoring right now, a 5 run deficit seems a pretty deep hole to climb out of. In fact, though, there were some chances – 2 on for Aja in the first (ground out) and bases loaded again for Aja in the 8th (line out) – but we can’t expect to win many games subsisting on only Aja and Daichi heroics. Ultimately, not only were those chances not converted into more runs, but in the 9th inning Takano + Matsunaga got knocked around for 4 more runs, confirming this one’s stinker status.

    Notes
    • How bad has the start to the season been? Among all NPB teams, Chiba’s statistical rankings are: BA .195 (12th), HR 5 (12th), Steals 1 (12th), Runs Scored 38 (10th!), Runs Allowed 66 (12th), ERA 4.43 (12th). It’s rather amazing the record is as good as 5-9 (9th overall).
    • It was revealed that Kakunaka’s injury to his right flank will take 4-6 weeks to heal.
    • As of this writing, Karakawa is indeed still on the ichi-gun roster, but Kiyota is not, having been sent to Urawa today after a terrible start to the season.
    • Next series is a three game set at Zozomarine vs the hated Hawks of Daiei.

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  • After a Sneak Peak, A Season Preview

    After a Sneak Peak, A Season Preview

    The 2017 Chiba Lotte Marines season is about to get underway – time for us to take a look at how Itoh-kantoku’s guys are shaping up.

    I can hear your comments already – “Steve, isn’t it cheating to write a season preview after the first week of the season has already been played?”  I must admit – Well, yeah, of course it is.  In this case, though, nothing much has changed now versus what I would have written a week ago, so please go with me and pretend that this is dated 31 March, OK?

    Great, thanks.
     

    Starting Pitching

    The pitching staff led by coach Eiji Ochiai is unquestionably the strength of this team.  Six-time All-Star Hideaki Wakui is back for another season and is set as the team’s ace and opening day starter.  Fourth year starter Ayumu Ishikawa is fresh off his first ERA title and Samurai Japan appearance – pencil him in as the second ace (quite a luxury!)  From there the rotation understandably fades a bit: Yuji Nishino moves back to the rotation after 3 years out of the pen.  The Baby-Faced Killer blossomed late last season after 3 consecutive terrible seasons – Ochiai will be relying on him as the 3rd or 4th starter.

    Jason Standridge was coaxed out of retirement to rejoin the team for one last season – he’s in the opening day rotation (and was rather ineffective on Wednesday).  I think this is a mistake, and he’s a better option in long relief or as a replacement starter.  The 6th starter is rookie Chihaya Sasaki, expected to make a big impact out of Oberlin University (and in fact, winner of his first career start).

    Other starter options include:

    • The very promising Kota Futaki, who has been extremely effective in ni-gun this season and should be in the starting rotation in ichi-gun (IMO)
    • Number 2 draft pick Tomohito Sakai from Osaka Gas in the industrial leagues.  He was projected as first round talent in last year’s draft, and we can expect to see him sooner rather than later with the big team
    • Second-year righty Ryota Sekiya, who showed moments of brilliance in his rookie campaign
    • Chen Kuan-Yu, nursing some injuries now but certain to see some starts if for no other reason than he’s the only real lefty starting option

    Relief Pitching

    Other than a dearth of lefty arms, the Lotte pen is really solid. With Nishino’s move back to the rotation, closing duties fall to Naoya Masuda, former closer and All-Star last year.  I like the move, Masuda doesn’t have the out pitch that Uchi or Nishino does but he is reliable and throws strikes (2.4 BB/9 last year).  Speaking of who, Tatsuya Uchi is the setup guy, and probably would be the closer if not for perpetual health issues.   Takahiro Matsunaga is the lefty fireman and in fact the only lefty option after former first round pick and current middle reliever Takahiro Fujioka was shipped to Urawa after a pair of poor outings this week.  Tomohisa Otani is back at full health and should be in the solid form he has displayed the past three years.

    The other setupper is Masaki Minami, who had a bit of a breakout year in 2016 but is currently fighting a minor shoulder ailment in ni-gun.  Yuta Ohmine continues to bounce from role to role, but he was perfect in preseason action out of the middle of the pen and will probably stick there all season unless the need for a starter comes up.  The real wild cards are second year righty Taiki Tojo (ignore his ERA from 2016, it’s heavily distorted by one outing) – utterly dominant in the preseason and so far with 7 punchouts in 4 innings of work this season – and rookie Yuki Ariyoshi.  Ariyoshi was picked in the fifth round last year out of the industrial leagues, is originally from Togane, Chiba (not terribly far from Marine Stadium), and has yet to allow a professional run through both preseason and the first week of the season.

    *I’ll discuss a bit more in a separate post, but through the first 6 games the pitching overall ended up a bit below expectations but overall not bad.

    Position Players

    Three Lotte players made the Pa-League Best 9, led by Katsuya Kakunaka and his second career batting title.  He was joined by Captain Daichi, who narrowly won his second Best 9 at SS but will be moving to 2B for the 2017 season.  The third winner was Tatsuhiro Tamura, who emerged as clearly the best catcher in the PL if not all NPB.

    Those guys are great, and there’s no reason to believe they aren’t going to repeat that success for the 2017 campaign.  After them, though – hmm.  Despa is gone, poached by the evil Hawks against his wishes (and I am not being dramatic here, by all accounts he wanted to re-sign in Chiba but the Cuban government dictated his shift to Kyushu.  Well, that and a massive payday.)  The front office signed a pair of foreign players to take over his production, Astros farmhand Matt E Duffy (starting the season at third base after a productive preseason) and Jimmy Paredes (DH and occasionally in the OF).  Itoh has been batting Paredes in the cleanup spot, which seemed mystifying given his minor league track record (80 HR in 4400-ish career ABs across all levels) and looks really dodgy at this point in the regular.

    The infield looks pretty good to my eyes, though where everyone actually plays is more than a little up in the air.  First base is fan favorite Seiya “Aja” Inoue, he of the perpetually great spring and little opportunity during the regular (great news – he’s tearing the cover off the ball so far this season).  As I mentioned, Daichi moves to second which seems like a better position for him to me.  Starting shortstop is Shogo Nakamura, which sounded like madness before the season started as he a) fell off a cliff offensively in the second half last year b) looked TERRIBLE at the move to short this spring.  I hate to say it but that view looks to be an accurate one as he’s not only not starting but is back in ni-gun as of this writing. Starting SS SHOULD be Taiga Hirasawa and he will get plenty of chances, though for now it looks like he’ll be splitting work with Shota Ohmine and Ryo Miki. The mystifying thing is that Kei Hosoya is not on the ichi-gun roster, though the way he is tearing it up in ni-gun, that will change very quickly.

    Outside of Kakunaka, the outfield is staffed by Ikuhiro Kiyota (looking to rebound after an utter disaster of a 2016), T OGINO (unfortunately for yours truly, already in ni-gun after 5 miserable ichi-gun games), Shota Ishimine (always looks like he should be better than the results he actually gets), Shohei Katoh (see Ishimine, though I still feel his talent has got to translate to ichi-gun performance at some point), and Yoshifumi Okada (defensive wiz but a black hole offensively).  There ain’t a whole lot of relief in the pipeline either – Ryuzo Hijii is the most likely candidate as he’s shown lots of power in Urawa and is just 21.  Katoh and/or Kiyota really, really need to step up.

    I don’t really need to say much about catcher – Tamura is locked in for years there, I would imagine – but his backups are the very capable Naoya Emura and the very disappointing Yuta Yoshida (he of the 0-30 2016 at the plate and dodgy defense).

    Outlook

    The vast majority of prognosticators have Our Marines somewhere around 3rd this year.  That’s reasonable, after all that’s how they finished the past two season, but I think the upside is much higher than that.  The pitching is up there with the best of the PL (aka Daiei) due to the sheer depth of the quality arms available, though outside the big names the dominant arms are not there as they are in Fukuoka.  Lotte to my eyes clearly has no worse than the second best staff in the PL, which given how pitching-friendly Zozomarine is, should keep the guys in almost every game.

    The main problem is with the bats.  Despa’s 24 homers isn’t that much to replace in theory, but it’s way more than anyone else still on the roster provided last year.  The only other player with a ton of power is Inoue, and he’s both inexperienced and a line drive hitter rather than a home run hitter.  I expect Duffy could hit 20, Hosoya can hit double digits as well when he finally makes it to the roster, but more power is needed from… someone.

    So what are my calls? Here we go:

    • Sasaki will be in the running for rookie of the year all season.
    • Kakunaka will not win another batting title, but will bat .300 with continued defensive improvement.
    • Taiga will see 200+ at-bats and hit 6-8 HRs and for decent average.
    • Tamura makes All-Star again and wins another Best 9.
    • Aja finally gets his breakout season – let’s say .800+ OPS.
    • Futaki puts up a sub-3.00 ERA and 9 K/9.
    • Finally, Chiba surprises many by taking second in the PL and hosting a home Climax Series for the first time since 2007.

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  • Those Bullpen Blues: Part II

    Those Bullpen Blues: Part II

    July promotional poster from Marines.co.jp
    July promotional poster from Marines.co.jp
    July hasn’t always been the kindest month to Our Marines. The summer collapse has become somewhat of a tradition around here. Maybe it’s due to some unique home field advantage we get from the brutal early-season Marine Field conditions, but it always seems that our PL opponents hit their strides and overtake us the weather warms up.

    This year’s team is different though. It’s no wonder considering we saw 7 Marines participate in this month’s All-Star festivities, our most since 2005. There’s been no Great Regression in the Lotte economy, just a slight trade deficit in the wins/losses sector. We went 9-12 in July, 8-11 since our last post here on WLM. Two July losing streaks of 6 and 4 games sure felt like certain doom, but we are still 9 games above .500 coming out of the month. Yes, we’re 10 games out of first place, but we have an 11 game lead for the final post-season spot.

    That brings us to the title of this post. Unlike years past, our only really glaring problem this year is the bullpen. This is especially rich considering that was our only constant strength for the last half-decade. The series this past weekend serves as an example. Our bullpen spoiled a scoreless pitcher’s duel on Friday, giving up a combined 9 runs in the 8th and 9th innings to fall to Rakuten 9-0. The next night, our closer Nishino couldn’t hold a 4-2 lead in the 9th, eventually resulting in a 5-4 Eagles win in the 11th. Nishino had a particularly terrible 8.10 ERA in 8 July games, but has really looked shaky since late spring. Ohtani took the 11th inning loss after Nishino’s blown save, as last year’s 8th inning man has gone the same way as his closing companion, sporting an inflated 3.81 ERA himself on the season.

    There are some positives in the bullpen though. 2012 Rookie of the Year and 2013 PL saves leader Naoya Masuda appears poised to possibly fill the closer’s role, sporting a 1.40 ERA, with 14 holds, 3 wins, and 4 saves while looking the best he has in 3 years. Masaki Minami has also put together a 1.85 ERA in 43 2/3 IP of late relief. If we get Uchi back from the injured list soon, we may have enough depth to keep this bullpen stitched together.

    Our All Star Marines with Mar-kun and Itoh-kantoku, from marines.co.jp
    Our All Star Marines with Mar-kun and Itoh-kantoku, from marines.co.jp
    On the other hand, the starting pitching is actually in the best shape I’ve ever seen it in 5 years as a Lotte fan. Ishikawa (10-3, 1.69 ERA) and Wakui (9-4 2.36) are doing just fine being their awesome selves. Karakawa is coming around, having given up just 4 ER in 21 IP over his last 3 starts. Young Futaki (6-7, 4.94 ERA) went through a bit of a rough patch at the end of June and early July, but has recovered to keep his place in the rotation. Minus the two starts during said rough patch (8 IP, 16 runs allowed), he has a 6-6 record and 3.69 ERA. Ryota Sekiya is putting together a splendid rookie campaign, going 3-1 with a 3.66 ERA in 9 starts. Eyes are on Jason Standridge to fill out the rotation, hopefully showing us more of his early season form (2.08 ERA in his first 47 2/3 IP) after some mid-season struggles and injury issues.

    We started with the bullpen, but let’s finish with the bats. I saved the best for last here. Our offense is tied for tops in the PL with the Fighters for total runs scored. 2012 batting champ, and perennial OBP machine Kakunaka (.333 BA) currently leads the PL batting title race by 26 points. Captain Daichi is 5th in the PL with a .303 BA, but his .808 OPS is topped by Despaigne’s .814 OPS and team-leading 15 HR. June’s PL Player of the Month Tamura is batting .331 over the past 2 months, and is reliable as ever calling games and throwing dudes out from behind the plate.

    Despite the overall successes, the other 5 day-to-day positions are a bit in flux. With Kiyota struggling down on the farm, T.Ogino, Katoh, and Okada have been platooning in center field and right. Navarro was getting hot coming into the month, peaking with a sayonara RBI in a sweep of the Lions the first week of July. Since then, he’s cooled off considerably to the point of sitting on the bench going into August. With Navarro’s struggles and our revolving door at 1B, the infield lineup has become anyone’s guess on a daily basis. Hosoya has been the most consistent, getting the majority of playing time at 3B. Otherwise, it’s been a mix of Iguchi, Nemoto, Fukuura, Shogo, with a dash of Miki and maybe soon the recently called up rookie Taiga Hirasawa as well.

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  • Limping into Interleague

    Limping into Interleague

    Celebrating the opening of the Hokkaido Shinkansen last Thursday in Hakodate and Marines Fest on Sunday. photos from Twitter users @azunyan_photo & @chiba_lotte
    Celebrating the opening of the Hokkaido Shinkansen last Thursday in Hakodate and Marines Fest on Sunday. photos from Twitter users @azunyan_photo & @chiba_lotte
    Our Marines went 2-3 on a week that started with a bang, but ended with a whimper – and even some boos. Lotte fell to 6 games back of the first place Hawks, but still hold onto 2nd over the Fighters by 1.5 games, and A-class status over Seibu by 5 games.

    Lotte @ Fighters, 24 May

    Lotte 3, Fighters 1

    WP: Ayumu Ishikawa S: Yuji Nishino

    LP: Kohei Arihara

    Notables: Alfredo Despaigne 2R-HR (10th HR); Yamaico Navarro 1R-HR (2nd HR); Takuya Takahama 2-4, 2B, 1R; Ayamu Ishikawa 5IP, 0ER

    Lotte @ Fighters, 26 May

    Lotte 2, Fighters 1

    WP: Nishino Yuji S: Naoya Masuda

    LP: Takahashi Hirotoshi

    Notables: Yamaico Navarro 3-4; Kota Futaki 6IP, 1ER, 8K

    Series Notes:

    Our Marines added two games to their lead over fellow A-class opponent the Fighters, taking a Tuesday night game in Saporro and a Thursday maintee in Hakodate. Lotte pitching held Nippon Ham to combined 2 runs over the course of 2 the games. On the offensive side, Despa single-handedly topped that run total knocking in 3 RBI in the series. Despa’s first inning 2-run shot was enough to put Lotte up for good in game 1. Despa then book-ended the series in game 2 with another winning blow, this time an 11th inning go-ahead sac fly driving in Kiyota.

    In addition to the combined 11 innings of 1 run ball from starters Ishikawa (4-2, 1.30) and Futaki (2-5 4.05 with the lowest run support in the PL), the Lotte bullpen contributed 9 innings of 1 run ball in the series.

    SoftBank @ Lotte, 27 May

    SoftBank 1, Lotte 0

    WP: Nao Higashihama S: Dennis Sarfate

    LP: Hideaki Wakui

    Notables: Hideaki Wakui 9IP, 1 ER

    SoftBank @ Lotte, 28 May

    SoftBank 10, Lotte 2

    WP: Kodai Senga

    LP: Jason Standridge

    Notables: Hosoya Kei 2R-HR (2nd HR)

    SoftBank @ Lotte, 29 May

    SoftBank 6, Lotte 4

    WP: Yuito Mori S: Dennis Sarfate

    LP: Yuji Nishino

    Notables: Tadahito Iguchi PH 1-1, 2R-HR (3rd HR); Takuya Takahama 1R-HR (2nd HR)

    Series Notes:

    Our Marines had a chance this past weekend to tie the SoftBank Hawks for first place in the PL. The first place Hawks had other ideas though, sweeping us out of our own building. There’s not much to say about the first two games on the Chiba side of the ledger. We mustered just 4 base runners on 4 scattered hits off of Higashishama in Friday night’s 1-0 loss.

    In game 2, Lotte left 11 runners on base in a 10-2 loss. Chiba’s inability to bring runners home was mostly made moot by Standridge’s starting pitching performance – 2IP, 6ER. It was announced after the game that Jason will be headed down to the farm where we’re optimistic that he’ll work out whatever his recent issues seem to be.

    The series finale on Sunday gave the home crowd plenty to cheer about, but a series of unfortunate events at end the game led some in the crowd to send the team off with boos. Starting pitcher Karakawa was only able to give us 4 innings, but by allowing just 3 runs he did enough to keep us in the game despite his clear struggles.

    Our Marines were down 4-2 after trailing from the top frame all the way through our Lucky 7, after which Iguchi sent the stadium into a frenzy by smashing 2-run pinch hit 2-out blast to tie the game at 4-4! Immediately following that, Chiba put runners on the corners on a Katoh walk and Kiyota single, and Hawks starter Takeda approaching 130 pitches. Takeda’s 131st pitch was a swinging strike 3 by Takahama, unable to follow his earlier home run with a late inning timely, sending the game to the 8th tied at 4.

    Current PL batting leader Kakunaka (.346 BA) led off the bottom of the 8th with a base hit, bringing up clean-up man Despaigne. Despa lined a 1-0 pitch to right-center, where Kidokoro laid out for a stellar —as much as it was timely— across the body grab, robbing Despa of a go-ahead RBI and doubling up Kakunaka would had already rounded third by the time Kidokoro returned to his feet. ZANNEN!

    Little did we know that an even greater tragedy was about to unfold in the top of the 9th off closer Nishino. SoftBank’s Hasegawa got aboard to lead off the inning when Navarro whiffed on a rather routine ball to second. Two pitches later, Matsuda sent a laser beam into the left-field stands to give SoftBank the 6-4 lead. Three batters later, Makihara reached on an infield single, which would have been of little consequence if not for Nishino suffering an awkward looking injury on the play. After all that, SoftBank closer Sarfate struck out 2 in a 1-2-3 bottom of the 9th to complete the Hawks sweep.

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  • Something I Needed to See

    Something I Needed to See

    scoreThere is something I really needed to see on Thursday. The big win you see in the score next to this text? Yes, that, but specifically that 9th inning. What a glorious way to win a game!

    Let’s go back a bit.

    Craig pointed out the mess that was Sunday’s game at the tail end of his optimism fest a few days back. Our Marines looked to shake off that bit of nastiness with a great performance from Ayumu in game 1 of this week’s series in Sendai, and that is exactly what we got – a no run, 7 IP performance. The bats were really held in check by Shiomi of all pitchers, but Navarro Ganbarro eked out a 4th inning RBI that looked to be enough to seal a win. Ishikawa –> Matsunaga –> Masuda, and this held true. But formerly reliable Nishino imploded yet again in the 9th, giving up 3 hits including the walk-off on just 11 pitches. That’s 3 blown saves in the last 5 games for Nishino, 6 ERs yielded in that time, and a full-on bullpen crisis.

    Future young star Kota Futaki hit a little bump in the road to awesomeness in game 2, as he had to leave in the 5th inning after giving up four straight hits culminating in back-to-back Ginji and Wheeler jacks and 5 ER. The pen kept the game close, but the almost entirely Despa-and Shogo-based offense could only get 3 runs off of Mima and the boys, so game 2 ended up as the first 3 game losing streak of the year.

    Game 3

    I can say that without a doubt this is one of the stranger games I’ve ever seen. Lotte Ace Wakui faced new import Jake Brigham, and for innings 1-6 this game looked much like what one would expect a normal baseball game between two professional teams to look like, as first Rakuten took an early 1-0 lead, Chiba tied it on a Katoh (yes!) timely, only for Wheeler to take Wakui deep for a pair of runs, Navarro and Kiyota to tie the game on a pair of timelies… You get the idea, normal game stuff.

    The lucky 7th is where things got… Interesting. First, Our Marines charged ahead with a pair of runs on a Despa timely and a Navarro sac fly (which was reallllllly close to a grand slam) – wait. I can’t overlook that Despa timely. It was a shallow fly between short and left, both fielders had a play, neither actually wanted to make that play. Should have been no runs and one out, but it was a run, and the Navarro sac fly made it a 5-3 game.

    It needs to be mentioned that Shogo took a pitch off the freaking skull in the middle of all that, but stayed in the game.

    Wakui is usually good for anywhere between 120 and 983 pitches, so it was pretty surprising to see his control gone in the bottom of the frame. Never mind, here comes Matsunaga, who promptly loads the bases with 6 straight balls before getting a punch out. In comes the rock-solid Masuda, who throws a delicious high meatball to a hungry Wheeler, who devoured it for a go-ahead grand slam. Oh boy. That 5-3 Lotte lead rapidly turned into a 7-5 deficit.  

    Top 8, reliable veteran Kam Mickolio takes on the bottom of the Chiba lineup, dispatches Kiyota and pinch hitter Okada (?) by K, before being taken yard by Big Hitter Nemoto (??).  Another Shogo hit (his third of the game) followed plus a swipe of second, allowing Katoh (!!) to tie the game with a single.  CRAZY.

    Uchi takes over bottom 8, good ol Uchi, my favorite pitcher Uchi, Uchi gives Rakuten the lead by allowing a dinger by grizzled vet Kaz Matsui (who is pretty close to finished as a player, except when he plays Lotte, apparently).  Unexpected…

    Young Rakuten closer Yuki Matsui takes over.  Navarro draws a walk with one out, Daichi singles him to third, and KIYOTA ties the game on an infield hit!  Can the bats do more?  Yoshida draws a walk from an 0-2 count to load the bases for Nemoto – no! Iguchi is in to pinch hit AND HE BREAKS THE GAME OPEN with a 2-run single!  Shogo up next, he’s reached in all 5 appearances and may I remind you he got hit in the noggin not 2 innings previous – SWING AND GONE!  a 3-run jack, it’s a 5-run lead now.

    Still just one out, Matsui pulled for rookie Ishibashi.  Katoh at the plate – he smashes one off the fence, just missing another homer.  Despa singles him in because of course he does, Navarro draws another walk, Daichi another, Kiyota another WAIT that’s too many and yet another run!

    Folks, so many times Our Marines looked done in this game only to fight back.  And again.  And again.  But 8 runs, on the road, after massive, repeated bullpen failures – we can never forget that this team can score a ton in a hurry, and even when the pitching is a mess, the bats will give the team a chance at victory.

    Still – 8 runs!  In the 9th!  Against a really good closer!  That alone just about washed the previous three games’ stench away.

    As an Aside

    Now that we’ve played through about 6 weeks of the season, it’s interesting to compare the season so far for our hero for many years Imae, and basically his young replacement, Shogo. Keep in mind that it’s early going.
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    All of us Lotte fans will always love Imae and wish him well, but at this point young Shogo has proven to be a more than capable replacement at the plate. And, Shogo is just 23 to Imae’s 32.

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  • Any Way the Wind Blows

    Any Way the Wind Blows

    Our Marines went 4-1 this past week, sweeping a pair of games in the Seibu Dome and taking two of three in a home set over the Fighters. As you may recall, one Marines blogger (OK, it was me) took a positive approach toward Lotte dropping three of four the week prior to last. Well, it turns out the reasons for my optimism going forward actually played out as expected this past week. Young Futaki proved effective against yet another Pacific League foe; Ayumu Ishikawa threw another solid seven in his second start since returning from injury; and Yamaico Navarro continued living his debut dream sporting a .959 OPS in his first seven games.

    Saturday's heroes Standridge and Nemoto celebrate with young Standridge and the Lotte mascot family. photo form marines.co.jp
    Saturday’s heroes Standridge and Nemoto celebrate with young Standridge and the Lotte mascot family. photo form marines.co.jp
    Lotte took both games against the Lions this week thanks to quality starts by Ishikawa & Futaki, and one big offensive inning in each game. Ishikawa gave us 7 innings of 1 run ball in the first game, improving his record on the year to 2-1 with a 1.69 ERA in 3 starts. Our Marines scored 4 runs in the 4th inning, en route to the 5-2 win. The runs came on a Despa 2-run HR, a Navarro RBI double, and Tamura sac fly.

    Futaki took to the mound in game 2, following his roller coaster start last week against the Hawks. Futaki showed no hangover effect from last week exiting the game with a 5-1 lead after 6 IP, eventually earning the win in a 7-2 Lotte victory. Captain Daichi, Kakunaka, and Shogo Nakamura each knocked in a pair of runs in the winning effort.

    The bats mentioned above have come up big a lot so far this year. Even with Navarro not having enough ABs to quality, Our Marines still have 3 batters in the top 10 in the PL OPS ranks: #2 Captain Daichi .895; #7 Kakunaka .860, #9 Despa .843.

    Things kept on keeping on as Our Marines headed home to VERY WINDY MARINE FIELD for a three game weekend set with the Fighters. A 5th inning 2-run Kiyota HR was the difference in game 1, with Lotte taking the win 4-3. Wakui improved to 5-0 2.59 with 7 innings of 2-run ball. The only worrying part about this game was Nishino’s near blown save, giving up his 4th run in his last 4 innings as closer. Let’s hope he turns it around soon, lest he lose the closer’s duties to Uchi – 1-0, 8 holds, 11 IP, 1 ER, 3H, 2BB, 13K.

    Lotte took the win the next day, claiming game 2 5-1 over Hamu. Nemoto had the big hit of the day, a 2 run double in the 2nd. Nemo finished with 2 hits and 3RBI, with Okada and Navarro each adding RBI singles. Jason Strandridge got the win on 6 2/3 innings, 2 ER. That was just Jason’s 2nd win of the year, as his 2-3 record falls short in representing the true value of that he’s contributed to the rotation so far this year, averaging over 6 2/3 IP per start with a 2.43 ERA.

    The week ended on a less than positive note, as Yuta Ohmine seems headed out of the rotation after being charged with a 5 runs in 1+ IP in the Fighters series finale. Our Marines couldn’t mount a full comeback against Shohei Ohtani, despite tagging him for a 4 run 4th inning on a Tamura 2-run triple, followed by RBI singles from Okada and Navarro. Ohtani went on to retire the final 19 batters of the game, giving Hamu the 9-4 win. Then there was rookie Taiki Tojo’s debut inning pitched, a hitless scoreless 7th inning. So naturally, he stayed out to get tagged for 3 runs in the 8th.

    Annnnnnway, let’s end this on a cheerful note with a little WE ARE! from Saturday’s win. If you listen closely, you may even hear Steve & I in the triumphant chorus of Marines faithful…

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  • No Schism In My Optimism Prism

    No Schism In My Optimism Prism

    Our Marines lost three of four games at home this past week, falling off their first place perch in the process. Lotte dropped both games against the Hawks in a rain shortened weekday set, and then split a short weekend pair with the Buffaloes. Sure, I’m not exactly jumping for joy after winning just one game this week. Still, I have plenty of tingly feelings and positive thoughts after completing our first month of games.

    Two of our losses this week came by just one run, both of which hinged on a stellar 8th inning defensive play by our opponent. Even our worst loss, a 5-0 shutout at the hands of SoftBank, featured another encouraging start from the young Futaki. We can also check another box in the positive column this week thanks to our major off-season acquisition Yamaico Navarro’s memorable debut in Saturday’s win.

    Let’s start off by playing another note on the moral victory trumpet with Ishikawa returning to the rotation from injury on Tuesday, seemingly having not missed a beat. Ayumu was charged with just 2 runs in 7 1/3 innings, leaving with the bases loaded. That second run, the go-ahead run in the game, was walked in by Matsunaga after inheriting the bases loaded situation.

    Still, it looked like Ishikawa would be off the hook for the loss in the home half of the 8th down 2-1. With the bases loaded and 2 out, Kakunaka shot a hard hit ground ball up the middle. However, the potential game winning strike was gloved by a diving Honda at 2B, preserving the lead for the Hawks who went on to win 2-1.

    Our Marines couldn’t rebound in game 2, with the offensive managing to stoop even lower than the previous night’s 1-run performance the only way possible, getting shutout by the Hawks Wada. Still, one can’t help but find some joy in Futaki’s performance against the PL leading 4.95 runs per game producing Hawks. He followed up his first career complete game win (or any kind of win for that matter) last week by starting with 5 perfect innings against SoftBank on Wednesday. The Hawks eventually got to Futaki with a 3-run 6th inning1, leading to their eventual 5-0 win. Still, Futaki persevered through the trying experience of going from perfection to suddenly being on the losing end of a 3-0 deficit, finishing with a quality 8 innings of 3-run work.

    1Steve’s note: And those 3 runs were so unlucky! Only one bad pitch in the bunch. A tiny single up the middle by Hasegawa, a walk to Honda after a sac bunt, then the one bad pitch resulting in a triple. Final run on a sac fly. Those 3 runs on 2 hits, only. Futaki-kun has one heck of a bright future.

    Our Marines saved their lone win of the week for the only game Yours Truly2 could attend, taking the win on Saturday against Orix. Yamaico Navarro was awarded the co-hero’s honors in his debut in a Marines uniform. After previously dazzling the home crowd with some fine plays at 2B, he got the first hit of his NPB career on a first pitch swinging 2-run double to give the Marines a 3-1 lead in the 8th.

    2 Needless to say, Steve is not feeling so chipper this Monday after attending all 4 games and suffering through the 3 losses. At least for all that effort he’s ever so kindly graced us with photo album of pictures he took this weekend.

    Wakui wasn’t able to earn his 5th win in his 5th start, despite tossing 8 innings of 1 run ball. Nishino, very un-Nishino like, blew the 3-1 lead allowing Orix to tie it at 3 with two runs in the 9th. Lotte fired right back in the home half of the 9th, with Okada nailing a 1-out triple to right. Okada, gallantly took it upon himself to spare his teammates the burden of having to lift their bats off their shoulders, scoring on a wild pitch for the 4-3 sayonara win!

    In Sunday’s game, the Marines were down 4-1 early, but stamped back (Yes, stamped back. See: Amazing Facts About Seagulls) on a 2-run Tamura double down the line in left, to make it a 1-run game in the 6th. The Marines had many chances to tie it, abandoning 5 men in scoring position in the closing 4 innings. It certainly seemed like we were going to score the tying run in the 8th when Iguhci lined a gap-shot with a runner on second, only to witness Orix’s Shunta make a diving catch in left-center. In the end, Jason Standrige took the tough 4-3 loss on Marine Fan Festa Day.

    As promised, here’s a few pictures from Saturday’s sayonara win.
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  • Lottocracy Spring

    Lottocracy Spring

    This past week will be remembered for a couple of career firsts for two of Our Young Marines. The week started with Kota Futaki getting his first career win in a complete game effort on Tuesday afternoon in Sendai. Later in the week in Sapporo, Takuya Takahama hit his first career home run on Friday, and then played the hero with a go-ahead hit in the 10th inning on Sunday. Lotte went 4-2 on the week, good enough to maintain their claim to first place in the Pacific League at 12-7-1.

    Futaki celebrating his first W - photo from marines.co.jp
    Futaki celebrating his first W – photo from marines.co.jp
    Tuesday’s matinee game in Sendai was a 7-1 Lotte win. Not only did Futaki go the distance in his first career win, he flirted with a shutout until the Eagles pushed across lowly run on a 9th inning 1-out sac fly. Iguchi’s 2 run double in the 6th and Captain Daichi’s 3 RBI were more than enough support for the 20 year old to get his first of hopefully many victories.

    Rhee Dae-Eun’s first start of the year the following night lasted only 3 and 1/3 innings, but some late offense and shutdown pitching from our bullpen earned us the 5-4 win in game 2 of the series. Kiyota tied the game at 4-4 with a 7th inning single, and Shogo Nakamura drew a based loaded walk to force in the eventual winning run in the 8th.

    Masuda’s shutout 7th inning earned him the win and hero’s honors, as he 4 other relievers combined for 5 and 2/3 innings of shutout ball. Fujioka served the long relief duties, lowering his ERA to 0.77 in 2 and 2/3 scoreless innings. From there, our late inning crew of Masuda-Uchi-Nishino each contributed a shutout inning. To date, the 7th-8th-9th inning combo has allowed just 1 run in 26 2/3 innings.

    Our Marines completed the sweep of Rakuten with a Thursday night 9-2 victory on the back of Wakui, whose 6 innings of 2 run ball earned him his 4th win in 4 starts. 8 of our 9 runs were batted in by the lower half of the lineup, with Captain Daichi plating 2 on a 6th inning single, and Shogo Nakamura delivering his 2nd HR of the year with a 2-run shot in the 8th.

    Following the sweep in Miyagi, Our Marines headed north for a weekend set in Sapporo. The first two games of that series are barely worth mentioning, with the one exception being Takahama’s first career dinger in the first game. Lotte lost 13-3 on Friday night, with Furuya giving up 11 ER in 4 innings. We followed that with a 8-2 loss on Saturday with Ohmine on the hill, who fell behind early thanks to some sloppy first inning defense.

    Our Marines bounced back to salvage a game in the series finale on Sunday, taking a 10 inning affair by a score of 5-3. Jason Standridge gave us his usual 7 innings (4G, 28IP, 2.25 ERA on the season to be precise), and Shogo Nakamura delivered a 2 run double in the 2nd resulting in a 2-1 Lotte lead heading into the 9th. Nishino gave up his first run of the year on a 1-out Kondoh single, as the previously perfect closer blew the save and just avoided the loss striking out Ichikawa with the bases loaded to send the game to extras tied at 2-2.

    Nishino’s teammates were there to pick him up though. Fresh off a game saving grab in the bottom of the 9th, Miki Ryo led off the 10th with a base hit to center, stretching the shallow-gap ground ball into a head-ups double. 1 out and 2 walks later, Takahama was due up with the bases full. Takahama delivered, lining a ball to right for the go-ahead single, 3-2 Lotte! Tamura added some much need insurance with a 2-out 2-run single to center, 5-2 Lotte!! Those insurance runs came in handy in the home half after we gifted the Fighters a run with 2 errors and 2 walks. Not to fear though, as Masuda came in to relieve Matsunaga and got the final out with the bases loaded to save the game 5-3!!! PHEW!!!

  • Sometimes a Tie is a Win

    Sometimes a Tie is a Win

    A quick perusal of Tuesday’s box scores shows a 4-4 tie in Fukuoka for Our Marines. Boring game? No – FAR from it. In my opinion this was the best game of the year, and I think a good indicator of the true character of this Chiba Lotte squad.

    Early Innings

    Daiei starter Wada’s line looks pretty gaudy – 10K in 7 IP – but 9 of those 10 K were in the first 3 2/3, and after the 5th inning this one was all Chiba. Home plate umpire Yoshikawa’s zone was a bit generous in the early going and Wada used every bit of it to outright murder the first go through the lineup – striking out the side swinging in the first, another pair in the second, third, and fourth innings, only broken up by a Despa 4-ball and an Okada single –> CS. With two outs in the fourth, Despa worked a second walk followed by Mr Do It All Kakunaka mashing a ball into the gap. Despa unwisely was sent around and was out at home by 732 feet (approx). Too bad.

    Young Futaki got the call for the start one day early due to a late scratch of Ayumu (removed from the roster due to some pain from sleeping poorly) and this start was the mirror image of the first – plenty of strikes, didn’t fool anyone on the second time through the lineup, pulled early for Fujioka. Futaki really impresses me to be honest, he’s unafraid to challenge batters and he doesn’t seem to get rattled even when getting hit hard, but he’s got a ways to go before he’s going to be a consistent quality starter. His abbreviated stay on the hill resulted in 3 ER in 3.1 pitched, and after Fujioka allowed another run in the next frame1, Hawks led 4-0 after 5.

    1That’s only the third run of the year allowed by the pen so far.

    The Comeback

    Perhaps 2015 was not the Golden Year that 2010 was, but the heroes of 2010 turned this game around completely. Top 6, one out, the man who struck the deciding blow in the Nippon Series that year (Okada, natch) stroked one nicely to center, and after a Hosoya (KEI!) flyout, 2010 hometown rookie Kiyota crushes a Wada offering a bit higher than he did in the 2015 CS, and plenty high to clear the fence! That cut the lead from 4 to 2, and fear of collapse rose to detectable levels in Fukuoka.

    Top 8, Barrios in for Wada, one out, in comes 2010 Super Rookie and Official Favorite Player Of Yours Truly T OGINO to bat for Shogo – all he does is just about mash one over the right field fence, but instead it’s a great double and a big chance. Okada’s on a tear, can he do it again HE CAN! It’s a double to right, T OGINO in easily, 4-3 game now with the equally hot Hosoya (KEI!) at the plate – and he singles as well! Okada holds at third, still just one out – WILD PITCH BARRIOS TIE GAME TIE GAME! With the way Wada started this game did we ever expect to see this? No way. But the game was tied, and it was all up to the bullpens to decide the outcome.

    Holding On

    Daiei’s pen is superb, and over the next four frames Lotte managed 3 baserunners, only one an inning, while the team of Safarte, Igarashi, Morifuku, and Mori struck out 6 Men of Chiba and didn’t allow a realistic scoring chance.

    Chiba’s pen is about the equal of the Hawks’ in my (probably controversial) opinion. We talk about Uchi and Nishino all the time but the other guys are really solid as well. Once Fujioka left the hill after bottom 5, the Matsunaga – Uchi – Nishino – Masuda – Minami combo allowed just 2 hits and 2 walks over those last 7 innings. And when Hawks bats hit balls hard, the D was there to save the game. I mentioned T OGINO for Nakamura? Ryo Miki took over for Shogo at second and delivered a pair of masterful plays, the first a sliding grab-spin-plant-toss to snag a much needed DP in bottom 10, and the second a wonderful stretched-out snag of a hard hit Hasegawa liner.

    This was a really fun, well-played game on both sides but for my money, this tie felt really like a Lotte win.

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