NPB: Nippon Professional Baseball League Predictions for October 8-10

A late run of three wins and a draw from their last four games of the regular season saw the Hanshin Tigers sneak into the final playoff place in the Central League, pipping the Yomiuri Giants and Hiroshima Toyo Carp to that position. The Tigers’ final record of 68-4-71 was marginally better than the Giants’ 68-3-72.

Hanshin face the Yokohama DeNa BayStars in a best-of-three series in the first stage of the Climax Series and will be hoping to overcome their poor recent record against their opponents – the Tigers have lost eight of the last nine head-to-heads between the pair.

The Tigers are likely to rely heavily on their starting pitching; their 428 runs conceded was the fewest in the NPB regular season, thanks in part to their starters Koyo Aoyagi and Yuki Nishi, who ranked first and second in the Central League respectively with ERA figures of 2.05 and 2.18.

Their primary aim will be to quiet the bats of the BayStars, particularly Keita Sano and Toshiro Miyazaki, who rank third (.307) and fourth (.300) respectively in the division for batting average. The pair also have 38 home runs between them so stopping them will be key to the Tigers’ chances.

Whoever comes out on top in that round will face the Central League pennant winners, the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. The Swallows finished with a record of 79-4-59 after a dominant season in which they took an early division lead that they never looked like relinquishing. Key to that was their star hitter Munetaka Murakami who finished the season with the Central’s Triple Crown, having the highest batting average (.317), the most home runs (55), and the most RBIs (132).

The 22-year-old has already established himself as the most valuable player in the NPB and will be aiming to have a similar effect during the playoffs.

The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks held the Pacific League lead for the majority of the season but two losses from their final two matches, coupled with a pair of wins for the Orix Buffaloes, saw the Buffaloes pip the Hawks to the Pacific League pennant.

The pair finished with matching records of 76-2-65 but the Buffaloes’ 15-10 advantage in the head-to-head battle this season led to them winning the title.

The Hawks will have to pick themselves up ahead of their Climax Series first-stage matchup against the Saitama Seibu Lions, who finished the campaign with a regular season record of 72-3-68.

The Pacific League Climax Series looks set to be a situation in which starting pitching will come to the fore. Starter Kona Takahashi has been the key man for the Lions this season, with a 2.20 ERA that ranks fourth in the Pacific League, coupled with 128 strikeouts from 175.2 innings of work.

The Hawks’ top starter has been Koudai Senga who ranks second in the Pacific League with a 1.90 ERA and 156 strikeouts.

However, better than both of those is the Buffaloes’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto, whose 1.68 ERA and 205 strikeouts is the most in the division.

Whether or not the Hawks can put the disappointment of missing out on the Pacific League title behind them will be the key question of the Climax Series, while the Orix Buffaloes will be hoping to continue their fine form into the playoffs.