Strategy and Tactics - why the Tigers lost.

This post is about the Tigers strategy and tactics during the regular season. Various factors contributed to the second place finish and I have picked the ones I think most significant. There is no particular order and I would welcome others thoughts on why the Tigers failed to hold onto first. Note, these are things I think that the Tigers could have influenced.

Pitching
On paper Tigers had a high potential lineup which failed to deliver. Partially this must be laid at the door of Kubo (pitching coach) and also Okada. What was disappointing was the abscence of young pitchers until late in the season and the extended spells of pitchers who were not up to the task. Kanemura struggled and could not adjust. Sugiyama should never have been used and Vogelsong was indifferent. All of these pitchers had ample time to demonstrate their unsuitablity for the roles they were cast in.
Of the young pitchers Iwata mostly pitched with Noguchi who clearly demonstrated he was not suitable for the catcher's role apart from working with Iwata. This was puzzling but until his last start Iwata did not pitch well to any other Tigers catcher. Uezono who was rookie of the year in 2007 started the season but halfway through was dropped for readjustment. Okada said that Uezono gave up too many leads but given that Sugiyama and Kanemura were persisted with and they did the same the reason seems flimsy. It is probable that Uezono fell foul of the pitching coaches in some way and was punished by being banished to the farm team. If Tigers can talk of bringing back the far less talented Sugiyama then one wonders. Kojima failed to make an appearance either which is also puzzling but once again he possibly fell foul of the managment team. Given this behaviour it is amazing that the pitching staff did as well as they did. Other teams made far better use of their young pitchers (Kenta Maeda for the Carp being particularly impressive) and this is something the new pitching coaches should take note of.
Another part of Tigers strategy was to take MLB relief pitchers and turn them into starters. Andoh had started his career with Tigers as a relief and had made the successful transition to starter but he was a starter with Osaka Gas anyway. Neither Atchison or Resop shone in the starter role though Atchison would prove to be a very competent relief pitcher. This idea can be clearly said to be a failure.
One aspect of the starting pitching that was worrying was the over-pitching of the starters. The most telling example of this was Andoh facing the Swallows. He had pitched superbly but Okada decided that he was due a complete game. Andoh was kept in till the eighth innings throwing over 150 pitches. He won the match but the whole stupid irresponsibility of the exercise takes one's breath away. Andoh was never as good after that game. Mostly the older pitchers did well enough - Shimoyanagi was particularly impressive but Fukuhara never quite returned after his injury.
Tigers pitching relied a lot on the relief but here the strategy was complacent. Okada had over-pitched Kubota the season before and this season Kubota couldn't cope. He really didn't have his old ability and couldn't reach the levels of the previous year. The reliance on the main JFK relief also proved to be a problem. Other sides were figuring them out but also there was no back up. A major failure was the lack of any backup to JFK. Other pitchers didn't match up but no attempt was made to find replacements. By luck Tigers did stumble on some pitchers who have the potential. The superlative Atchison who seems to be replacing Kubota and Abe who has a lot of potential. Once again one hopes the new pitching coach can bring these abilities out. More focus on who is going to replace JFK is needed to continue Tigers relief dominance.

Catching
Once again reliance on old catchers was a problem. Yano is fading in all aspects of his game. Noguchi proved that he wasn't up to being the number one catcher but no real use was made of Komiyama or Kanoh. When Tigers replace Yano they need to give their younger catchers more game time.

Batting
Tigers were disrupted by the Olympics but to be honest they needn't have been. They knew well before the start of the season that the Olympics was going to happen and they had a good idea who Hoshino was going to borrow. Plans were not adequate and the loss of Arai was not really factored in. Neither Takahashi or Katsuragi were given a chance to establish themselves and the whole approach could be said to be confused. The reliance on Kanemoto was also a mistake. There were times where he could have done with a rest or even been dropped to the farm team. He is not as young as he was. Instead the consecutive innings record ruled and even though Kanemoto's personal commitment cannot be doubted one has to ask - was it worth it? The focus on an unimportant record blinded Tigers to the real needs of the team. One can describe Tigers batting as patchy and the failure to develop another power hitter besides Kanemoto also cost the team dearly. For example Giants had Ogaswara, Ramirez, Lee, Takahashi and Abe whilst the Tigers only had Kanemoto.
Base running was also poor and this probably cost Tigers several victories. Wada as third base coach was too conservative and often held up scoring chances. Once the runners were stopped then the chance was often lost. Other teams demonstrated much better awareness and willingness to take chances. The contrast between this side and the 2005 Tigers is striking.
Linked with this is the reliance on the bunt to get Akahoshi to second. This frequently generated an out with no other return. The folly of this was demonstrated by playing Sekimoto at second - a batter with 51 RBIs. A bunt was just a waste of his ability and in one game he bunted four times. This indicates a bankruptcy of tactics. Hirano also bunted frequently as second and one has to ask why weren't Akahoshi's stealing skills used more often. The over-conservative approach of Tigers strategy is laid bare by the bunting.
So Tigers had only one power hitter of note and their other main batsman would be unavailable for a significant and important part of the season. How did they take action to deal with the problem. The answer is they didn't. Certainly they did well with the resources they had but they didn't add more. The young players who had shone the season before didn't make the same impact. Sakurai was anonymous and Lin didn't recover from his surgery sufficiently to make any impact. Batting coaching could be said to be poor and Hirosawa (batting coach) was for the most part disappointing.

Coaching
Okada did well with his resources to some extent but once the pressure mounted the paucity of his approach was exposed. He started with a 13 game lead over the Giants in July which was gradually whittled away. The failure of his team to best B class sides was also worrying. Four more victories against the BayStars and three more against the Carp would have seen Tigers win the pennant. It was almost as if Tigers expected the B class sides to fold up before them and forgot that you had to actually beat them. Certain performances were not worthy of the league leaders and Okada's inability to motivate his team to do well was significant. Okada is not a motivational leader and could be said to scorn this approach. But sometimes this is necessary and his hands off approach was not right for the circumstances.

for clarification, and I am not favoring this pitcher,but Resop was thrust into the relief role then sent down and they have made him a starter. This is a totally different role and when he left the games he started, he had the lead. It was only the one game when he gave up three runs in 4 innings with only 1 run accounted for by his offense.... sounds to me that he is fully capable of starting next season and will be an asset to the Tigers...remembering that the hits given up by Resop were nothing to write home about... little squibbs that barely make it out of the infield...yes some were doubles, and 1 homerun, but the singles were cheap hits...alot of promise in this right arm of Resop...

With regards to the pitching, I think what hurts us is we haven't really had a true ace since Igawa left. Andoh is a solid pitcher, but he doesn't exactly strike fear into other teams. Shimo-chan is a crafty veteran, but he's usually only good for 5 or 6 innings and relies on hitting the corners. (Plus he can't beat the Giants!) It's unfortunate that we missed out on signing Greisenger and Kuroda. Looking to next year, I think our pitching will be solid, but still without a true ace. The strength of our bullpen usually made just a quality start enough to hold up, but with that in decline as well, we might need some stronger starters.

Hey Guys,

All this talk about next season and all is done. The season is still alive. We may have blown the lead and geez 13 games is a big lead but all is not done yet.

That is why we love sport. That is why we love Hanshin. Stranger things have happened.

The fat lady may be warming up on our season but she ain't done yet. You never know with these guys.

Bring on Chunichi then Yomiuri in Tokyo. Last time I checked we "never give up". Call it romantic,call it stupid. Everytime Hanshin makes the big time I am on the first flight out of Sydney.

Cheers

Peter

I'd like to share Peter's optimism for the Climax but the form guide just doesn't add up. I hope I'm wrong, but I can't see us going to the Dome and winning 4 out of 6 against the Giants with Lee and Ramirez.

One thing I will say though: wasn't it great when the Tigers were almost unbeatable in the first few months? What a roll they were on. I'm a Brit so I don't have a clue when it comes to baseball but it seemed to me that whoever was pitching the batters came up with the runs when they were needed.

Arai was unbelievable before the Olympics and his injury. We saw a brief spark of that form last week.

Here's hoping, but the expectation's gone.

Thanks for the reply.

As is the case with all good Australians. Shall we have a small wager.

I bet that Hanshin go 2-0 on the first leg the win the C league 4-1.

I need some odds though!

Cheers

Wow! You really are optimistic.

They could well win the first stage 2-0 but to go to Tokyo and win 4 straight?

Remember that the Giants have a one game start.

I recommend you find a bookie - I'm sure you could get at least 25-1 on that particular double.

Sheer Optimism and having a punt can sometimes be mutually opposite.

I am backing 2 - 1 at Kyocera D and then we head to Tokyo for a 4 - 1 to clinch it.

The sports bookies in Darwin have no idea what I am talking about so this is a good time to have a crack at them. I will see what odds I can get!

We need to get a good start tomorrow. Okada resigning will, I am sure get the boys to show their "Konjyou".

I actually arranged my business trip to coincide with what I thought was going to be a home game at Kyocera D.

Alas, it was not meant to be. I will be in Osaka next Friday staying in Doutonbori. As I spent most of my previous life in Kyoto is there a Tigers pub in Doutonbori to watch the game?

Cheers from D Under.

I agree with your analysis and think Atchison has the making of a phenomenal setup guy!