Nippon Professional Baseball League Predictions

By Chris Horton

04 Aug 2022

Chris Horton 04 Aug 2022

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This week's Nippon Professional Baseball League predictions
Nippon Professional Baseball League stats
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles at Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Yomiuri Giants at Tokyo Yakult Swallows

Inform your Nippon Professional Baseball league predictions ahead of this week's biggest matches with Pinnacle's weekly update, including analysis, team news, and the latest baseball odds.

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles at Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks

The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles and the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks have each topped the Pacific League at different points in the season but both are now on the outside looking in after the Saitama Seibu Lions took the top spot in the league in the past week. The Eagles and the Hawks take on each other on Saturday and will both be looking to return to the summit.

Fukuoka sport a 47-1-42 record at the time of writing and have been overtaken by the Lions after losing four of their last five games.

Starting pitcher Koudai Senga continues to lead the way for the Hawks, with a 2.05 ERA that ranks third in the Pacific League and 115 strikeouts, which ranks second.

Rakuten, who have a 46-2-43 record at the time of writing, have been the top-scorers in the Pacific League with 338 runs. Hiroaki Shimauchi has been key to their success and boasts a .289 batting average as well as a league-leading 23 doubles, which gives him a slugging percentage of .431.

In the ultra-competitive race for the Pacific League’s playoff spots, Rakuten somehow find themselves outside of the postseason places and will need wins in games like this to climb back into contention.

Fukuoka will be looking to return to the top of the League after Seibu overtook them, making this a clash with plenty of postseason repercussions.

Yomiuri Giants at Tokyo Yakult Swallows

The Tokyo Yakult Swallows continue to hold a huge lead at the head of the Central League and they face the Yomiuri Giants, who will be desperately trying to stay in playoff contention when the two sides meet on Saturday.

The Swallows have a 57-1-36 record at the time of writing, which has been aided by the most explosive hitter in the NPB, Munetaka Murakami. Murakami hit three home runs in one game against the Hanshin Tigers last week, taking his tally to 37 homers for the year, while he also sports a slugging percentage of .599 and an on-base percentage of .449, helped by his NPB-leading 76 walks.

Containing Murakami will be a key part of the Giants’ strategy, who have a 45-1-50 record at the time of writing.

However, Yomiuri have conceded an NPB-high 436 runs this season, despite the efforts of closer Taisei Ota, who has a 2.02 ERA and 25 saves so far this campaign.

Keeping the Swallows’ offence at bay will be key for the Giants, who are currently situated in fifth place and need to make up ground on the teams ahead of them.

Hanshin Tigers at Hiroshima Toyo Carp

The Central League places behind the Yakult Swallows have been tightly contested all season and the teams currently in second and third, the Hanshin Tigers and the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, face each other on Saturday.

The Tigers are the only other team above .500 in the section with a record of 48-2-47 at the time of writing while the Carp are a spot behind them with a 46-3-49 tally, after losing four games in a row.

Closer Suguru Iwazaki has been an integral part of the Tigers’ success this season, with a 1.91 ERA and 22 saves. In fact, Hanshin have conceded the fewest runs of any team in the NPB this year, 271.

For the Carp, Shogo Sakakura’s .299 batting average leads the team standings and his 110 hits are among the most of any player in the Central League.

With the end of the season nearing, both of these teams will be looking to cement their place behind the runaway leaders in the playoff places.

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