April 24th Shimoyanagi v Yamamoto - More disappointment for Tigers

The Tigers poor batting performance continues. Of course the focus is Kanemoto and his inability to hit but apart from Arai and Shunsuke no one is really performing at the level they are capable of. It is early in the season but the inability of Tigers to hit is worrying. They really should have made more of the many opportunities against Yamamoto who is not a particularly fearsome pitcher. Supposedly, one of the most potent batting lineups in Japanese baseball, Tigers were only able to generate 2 hits over seven innings of Yamamoto's session. Of the home run batters only Murton and Lin have hit these which this far into the season is very disturbing. A total of four home runs is not what one expects from this team at this stage. Whilst, Kanemoto is not the only culprit he is the worst and coupled with his poor fielding one needs to drop him down to the second team. It is time for Lin to take over at left on a more permanent basis. But the coaches also need to do something about Tigers long ball issues. When a non-home run batter like Watanabe can hit a home run at Koshien and Tigers star power hitters can't you know something is wrong. Pitching quality is not the issue here, Tigers batters have faced some poor stuff but haven't taken advantage at all. Scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
BayStars  1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 7 0
Tigers    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 6 0

Starting lineups

BayStars
1. Ishikawa (Short)
2. Watanabe (Second)
3. Sledge (Left)
4. Murata (Third)
5. Harper (First)
6. Morimoto (Centre)
7. Yoshimura (Right)
8. Takeyama (Catcher)
9. Yamamoto (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Murton (Right)
2. Hirano (Second)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Arai (Third)
5. Brazell (First)
6. Kanemoto (Left)
7. Johjima (Catcher)
8. Shunsuke (Centre)
9. Shimoyanagi (Pitcher)

Shimoyanagi started very poorly but somehow only gave up one run. He walked Ishikawa who was bunted to second by Watanabe. Then Sledge walked and BayStars had runners on first and second. Murata drove neatly into centre bringing a runner home 1-0 BayStars, runners on first and second. Harper flew out but then Shimoyanagi walked Morimoto to load the bases. This was not inspiring pitching. However, Yoshimura flew out to left and Tigers had escaped. Murton led off Tigers first with a hit to centre. Once again he was bunted to second by Hirano and this failure of imagination and daring is indicative of Tigers play under Mayumi. Still there were two chances to bring the runner home which were squandered. Neither Toritani nor Arai hit and the innings was scoreless. BayStars second saw Shimoyanagi reasonably secure against the bottom of BayStars batting order. In Tigers second the three batters fell in order. Then Shimoyanagi served up a poor slider which Watanabe leading off the BayStars third drilled into the left stand 2-0 BayStars and a very generous gift from the Tigers pitcher. Tigers third was like the second with no runner getting on base.

In BayStars fourth Takeyama hit with two out but with Yamamoto next it was clear that nothing would come of this and so it was. Tigers fourth saw signs of life. Toritani hit his first pitch into left. As Arai struck out he stole second. Brazell drew a walk which brought up Kanemoto. He flew out to centre to end the chance. Whilst the other Tigers batting hasn't exactly been inspiring, Kanemoto has wasted too many scoring chances. BayStars fifth was quiet but they were controlling the pace of the game and so this was not a real issue for them. Tigers fifth was also quiet as the batting failed again. The sixth was a non event with batters from both sides falling easily. BayStars hadn't exactly been dominating with the bat either and Shimoyanagi was pitching quite proficiently but they had taken their chances well.

The surprising thing is that this season Mayumi is using Shimoyanagi for seven innings. Normally he can only go five or six and so one does rather think that he will burn out mid season at this rate. Yoshimura led off the BayStars seventh with a hit and was bunted to second by Takeyama. Yamamoto grounded out which took Yoshimura to third but Ishikawa couldn't convert and the innings was over. Tigers seventh saw Kanemoto draw a walk but Johjima couldn't convert either flying out to end the innings. At this stage of Yamamoto's session and he could be pretty pleased with his performance - only two hits and two walks given up and no runs. Shimoyanagi didn't return for the eighth - he also had done quite reasonably but had given up two runs. He was replaced by Enokida and whilst it is nice to see young pitchers getting a run one wonders if Enokida is up to pitching in the top team. He started with a hit to Watanabe - this was a centre hit which is more what we expect of this batter. Two outs followed but then Harper hit to centre to set up runners on first and third. Morimoto was next and hitting into centre brought Watanabe home 3-0 BayStars, runners on first and third. Finally, Yoshimura grounded out to end the innings. By now Tigers fans were getting restless - this wasn't what they'd paid to see. Yamamoto returned for Tigers eighth and was immediately in trouble. Shunsuke hit to left and then Sekimoto (pinch hitter) hit to right. Tigers had runners on first and second with no outs. Yamamoto left the mound to be replaced by Ejiri. He struck out Murton and then was replaced by Satoh. The latter had trouble, Hirano driving his first pitch right for a timely hit 3-1 BayStars, runners on first and second. This brought up Toritani who hit into a double play to end the innings. More disappointment. Fukuhara pitched BayStars ninth and was secure this innings retiring the batters in order. Tigers ninth was another wasted opportunity. Yamaguchi was the pitcher and he walked Arai. Brazell hit to set up runners on first and second which brought Kanemoto to the plate. Once again he failed miserably and the photographs in the press this morning said it all. Johjima also failed and there were two outs. Shunsuke walked to load the bases but Lin (pinch hitter) struck out swinging and the innings was over. BayStars victory.

An abject batting performance by so many talented batters is not necessarily a serious issue. Sometimes these things happen but the regularity with which this is currently happening to the Tigers is a serious issue. A dead long ball game is also worrying - this is supposed to be a potent lineup. Mayumi needs to think about how to get this team kick started. Still this shouldn't take anything away from the BayStars - they had worked hard for their victory and taken their chances well. Tigers though have some serious thinking to do and their coaching team needs to take quick action.

Let's keep in mind that the season is a marathon and not a sprint. I'm certain that the long ball and power hitters will perform as expected this season.

After several players had career years last year, I expected a drop off in hitting. Still, I didn't expect this much of a drop off! But yes, it is a marathon, and hitting is contagious. This team will collectively get hot before long. Although most players obviously won't match their numbers of last year, we shouldn't have problems scoring runs.

As much fun as it was to watch, I do feel Hirano's .350 batting average last year was the biggest aberration. I'd be really surprised if he bats over .300 again in his career. Not knocking the guy, just my realistic prediction.

Indeed it is a marathon but even so there is an issue which needs to be dealt with here. If your 3, 4, 5, 6 (assuming regular six is Kanemoto), 7 have yet to produce a single home run this far into the season then things are not good. I have no doubt that the team will get into stride but the coaches do need to be proactive.