July 26th Standridge v Fujii - The Fujii issue (Part 2)

This is not related to Tigers own failing catcher but rather their failure to deal with a mediocre pitcher. An indifferent performance by the BayStars starter was not punished as it should have been and he was able to produce a rather mundane complete game. Wada later expressed his anger but whilst it is partially the players responsibility this kind of failure in four out of the last five appearances indicates that management action needs to be taken. The fact that the situation still exists actually points to management and coaching failure and it is no use blaming the players for this. Worryingly for Tigers, Nishioka has a troubling knee injury which kept him out of this game and may keep him out of the next one. Scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
BayStars  1 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 5 13 1
Tigers    0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1  7 0

Starting Lineups

BayStars
1. Ishikawa (Second)
2. Yamazaki (Short)
3. Morgan (Centre)
4. Blanco (First)
5. Nakamura (Third)
6. Aranami (Right)
7. Kinjoh (Left)
8. Tsuruoka (Catcher)
9. Fujii (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Yamato (Centre)
2. Shunsuke (Right)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Murton (Left)
5. Takahiro Arai (First)
6. Saka (Second)
7. Ryota Arai (Third)
8. Fujii (Catcher)
9. Standridge (Pitcher)

Standridge started rustily and a bit too casually walking Ishikawa. Yamazaki bunted him to second and then Morgan singled to centre. This brought the runner home 1-0 BayStars, runner on first and a rare example of a bunt working. Blanco singled left and BayStars had runners on first and second. This became first and third with Nakamura's ground out to second - the force out coming off but not the double play. Aranami flew out to Ryota in foul ground to end the innings. The BayStars could be happy with their start but had restricted themselves to only one run. Tigers then wasted their chance. With one out Shunsuke drove into centre. He went to steal second and BayStars messed up the throw allowing him to take third. An ideal opportunity to quickly even the score. Fujii walked Toritani on a full count which brought up Murton. The problem with having him at No. 4 has always been consistency. He has driven in more runs than anyone because of his opportunities but has blown hot and cold a bit too frequently. This was one of the cold occasions and Murton hit into an innings ending double play. It wasn't satisfactory but it was only the first innings and there was only a one run margin. BayStars second was much steadier by Standridge and no one got on base. Tigers second saw Fujii assert himself and the three batters also failed to get on base. This also happened in BayStars third with Morgan striking out swinging to end the innings. Fujii led off Tigers third with a single to left breaking a slight barren period for him. He was bunted to second by Standridge but the bunt was one of the more conventional ones - it didn't result in a run. Yamato was judged to have swung that bit too far and struck out and then Shunsuke flew out to right to end the innings.

Blanco and Nakamura presented no problems for Standridge in BayStars fourth but then Aranami singled. Kinjoh who has the calling patterns pretty well figured also singled putting runners on first and third. Tsuruoka didn't figure things and struck out swinging. Murton as if to atone for his failure in the first singled with one out in Tigers fourth. This time Arai hit into the double play this one going to short and ending that chance. Having seen enough of Standridge BayStars were now hitting regularly but being BayStars results were difficult. With one out in BayStars fifth Ishikawa singled to centre. We saw the usual stupid bunt taking him to second but putting up two outs. Morgan then grounded out to short to end the innings. Ryota fell to a fine jumping throw by Ishikawa in Tigers fifth - he was the second out and Fujii went to a very good diving catch by Aranami for the final out. BayStars were having a fair amount of luck as well. Finally, in their sixth they managed to put something together - but once again it could and should have been more. Standridge was getting tired but of course Fujii's calling didn't take account of this. Blanco led the innings off with a single. Nakamura struck out looking but then Aranami walked - runners on first and second. Kinjoh singled right which loaded the bases and then Tsuruoka hit into centre for a sacrifice fly 2-0 BayStars, runners on first and third with Aranami touching up as well. Standridge then managed to dead ball Fujii to load the bases again. Ishikawa should have made more of his chance but struck out to end the innings. Standridge was immediately replaced by Asai as a pinch hitter but he led off Tigers sixth with a fly out. Yamato and Shunsuke also failed to do anything but even a 2-0 lead was not a major issue at this point. However, the batting to Fujii was pretty terrible and that was a worry.

Matsuda pitched BayStars seventh and one wouldn't have thought that he was the right pitcher for the occasion and that impression seemed to be born out by Morgan's one out double. Blanco singled left and Morgan went for home but a very good throw by Murton allowed Fujii to catch and tag him out with Blanco on first. Finally, Nakamura flew out. At last Tigers were able to get some traction and result in their seventh. Toritani got a slider for his first pitch and hit it over the fence for a solo home run 2-1 BayStars. One would have expected more from Murton and Arai but both failed. However, Saka singled and something was needed from Ryota. He could only manage to ground out to short and is another who needs to work on his consistency. Still Tigers had reduced the margin and were well placed for a late game surge. The logical pitcher for this situation was Andoh but instead Wada went for Katoh. He is good but of late has been struggling. Even Tsutsui would have been better. So BayStars eighth started with back to back singles to left for Aranami and Kinjoh. They were bunted to second and third by Tsuruoka - BayStars having decided the risk was worthwhile or rather they had no other ideas. Fujii was next and he hit a grounder back to Katoh who went for the double play but only managed the force out 3-1 BayStars, runners on first and third. Then Katoh hit Ishikawa with his first pitch to load the bases. This was it for Katoh and Nishimura took over. Another pitcher who I would not have selected for this particular situation going instead for Tsutsui definitely. Wada was doing his best to lose the match. Yamazaki hit a grounder to short which Saka fired back to Fujii for the force out - bases loaded two out. Then Nishimura messed up to Morgan who hit into right for a timely single - two runners home 5-1 BayStars, runners on first and third. Finally, Blanco grounded out to end the innings. The BayStars had finally managed to convert their hits into runs and had taken a commanding lead. Once again Tigers batting failed. The eighth started with Fujii and Sekimoto (pinch hitter) both grounding out to third - poor batting here. Yamato singled and then so did Shunsuke - runners on first and second. Toritani should have done more and is not really reliable enough in these situations. A tiring ordinary pitcher - instead he struck out swinging to end the innings. Zarate made another first team appearence for BayStars ninth. He didn't exactly impress with a two out double to Kinjoh. Luckily Tsuruoka grounded out ending the innings. Tigers ninth saw Fujii going for the complete game - a typically pointless gesture but he's a BayStars pitcher so over-pitching him doesn't matter to Tigers fans. He started by getting the ineffective Murton to strike out looking in a truly appalling piece of batting. Then Arai worked a walk - this at least was positive. However, Saka struck out swinging. He really isn't suitable to bat ahead of Ryota. Ryota though wasn't any better and flew out to centre to end the game. BayStars victory.

As I mentioned this is a mangement problem - a team that fails so frequently against a pitcher of Fujii's ordinariess really needs a rethink in strategy and tactics. This is the responsibility of the management who quite frankly are coasting and riding on the backs of the players. However, there comes a time when such parasitical behaviour doesn't do any good and the management has to act. This time has arrived but Wada and his crew of lightweights are incapable of doing so. There are also serious issues with Fujii as main catcher as there have been all season. These are also coming more and more to the fore but Tigers are still on course for a second place finish.



[Edited by: Christopher on Jul 28, 2013 8:47 AM]

Balentien singled to left in the first? I think you're still on the previous series page.

And calling Fujii's outing "mediocre" just isn't called for. In five games against Hanshin so far this season, Fujii has won 4 and thrown 3 complete games at Koshien. Losing against him once, you might have a case that he is not up to your Hanshin level of worthy opponent. But 4 out of 5 times? With 3 complete games? Fujii is dominating the Tigers this season.

Thanks Michael - I've corrected that.

On your other point - this is the issue. Tigers shouldn't be losing to a pitcher of the ordinariness of Fujii so frequently. When one looks at his other performances one does not see an ace pitcher but a run of the mill standard NPB pitcher. For Hanshin's batting to fail against him so frequently identifies a weakness in the Tigers batting. It isn't even dominant performances - Ishikawa in the series against Hanshin just before the BayStars was dominant and that performance was on a different level. Tigers batters are just not performing against Fujii and that identifies a problem with Tigers coaching and practice. Fujii's record with other teams is 2-3 because most of his victories are against Hanshin. This does not signal a good pitcher.

I would contend that Fujii is actually better than his record reflects, mainly because of the many no-decisions caused by relief allowing runs and/or offense not doing anything until he was out of the game. Yes, he got roughed up by Lotte at the end of May, then had an awful June. But I feel that he's a pitcher bound to give up around 2 runs an outing, where most of his outings are around 6 innings. That doesn't signal a bad pitcher to me.

It can be argued that Fujii is perhaps hard done by but looking at his record one should not go to overboard on this line. With a concentration of victories against Hanshin - which of course is a welcome bonus for BayStars one rather looks to the deficencies in the Hanshin side not to Fujii's particular brilliance. If he was as good as his figures against Hanshin implied he would have far more victories against other teams. The fact that he doesn't indicates that the Hanshin results are outliers which should be disregarded in an overall evaluation. In Hanshin's case it is Hanshin's flaws rather than Fujii's ability that is the decisive factor here.