What the pundits think

Of a Daily Sports survey of 11 baseball experts on their predictions for the final standings in the season most are predicting a third place finish for the Tigers (7 in all). On the strength of the performances against the Mariners and Athletics there are good grounds for this but we need to see how Tigers handle the daily grind and how Wada acquits himself. Two surprisingly are predicting first place finishes but based on batting strengths backed up by a good rotation. The remaining two suggest either second (also would be welcome) and a single 5th place. So 10 out of 11 are predicting A class finish.

[Edited by: Christopher on Mar 28, 2012 8:21 PM]

Who are these experts?

Jason Coskrey also picked the Tigers 4th in the Japan Times season preview. Despite some issues we have, I still think we can manage an A-class finish. Except for the Giants, I'm not sure how stiff the competition is in the CL this year.

Their names Mizutani, Fujita, Nishiyama, Nakata, Koyama, Oka, Aniya, Takahashi, Sekimoto, Hamanaka and Wakou

I guess what I am asking along with who these pundits are is what is their expertise to make such predictions?

Various ex-players, commentators and journalists. Hamanaka for example is Osamu Hamanaka who used to play for Tigers.