Latest news with #MasahiroTanaka
Japan Times
7 hours ago
- Sport
- Japan Times
Candidates preparing to make final pitches for Sawamura Award
The Sawamura Award is the top honor for NPB pitchers, but there are not that many players active in Japanese baseball who have actually won it. The only Sawamura winners active in Japan are Hideaki Wakui, who won in 2009 while with the Seibu Lions, Masahiro Tanaka; a two-time winner (2011 and 2013) during his tenure with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, and the Chunichi Dragons' Yudai Ono, the 2020 winner. The rest are either retired or in MLB. The winners are chosen by a panel of retired pitchers. There is, however, no guarantee of that happening every year. The panel did not deem anyone worthy last year and simply did not give out the award. It was not awarded in 2019 either. The Sawamura committee bases its selections on seven criteria: at least 25 appearances, 10 complete games, 15 wins, a .600 winning percentage, 200 innings pitched, 150 strikeouts and an ERA below 2.50. These are guidelines, not requirements. The criteria have come under fire in recent years for being out of sync with the way pitchers are used today, with starters pitching fewer innings. In response, the committee began to give weight to starts of at least seven innings with three or fewer runs allowed. The last time anyone even cleared all seven benchmarks was when the Orix Buffaloes' Chihiro Kaneko did in 2013 and, somewhat ironically, did not win the award. As the season reaches its latter stages — no team has more than 40 games left — this year's candidates have a few more chances to catch the committee's eye. Three were in action on Sunday. One pitcher who will be hard to ignore is Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks left-hander Livan Moinelo (10-2), who took the mound against the Chiba Lotte Marines and struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings. 'He was as expected,' said Hiroki Kokubo, the manager of the Pacific League leaders. 'He threw a shutout in his last game (Moinelo fanned 13 against the second-place Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters on Aug. 10), and there is another game against Nippon Ham next week. We talked about taking him out after six innings today, but he pitched so well.' The Cuban hurler lowered his NPB-best ERA to 1.13 — an eye-catching number even in a depressed offensive environment — over 135⅓ innings. Among the other six NPB pitchers with sub-2.00 ERAs, the Hawks' Tomohisa Ozeki is the closest to Moinelo, at 1.53, though in 117⅔ frames. Moinelo, currently on a run of 21 consecutive scoreless innings, has been on top of his game all season. He has pitched at least six innings in 17 of 19 starts and has just three games with two or more runs allowed. He leads NPB with an 0.857 WHIP and an .833 winning percentage and is second with 144 strikeouts and a 9.58 strikeout rate (among qualified pitchers). Moinelo pitched one of the best games of the season on June 6, when he finished with 18 strikeouts over eight shutout innings against the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. Moinelo's strikeout total was tied for the third-highest in a single game and was the most by a foreign pitcher. He pitched a 13-strikeout shutout in his next start. The 29-year-old is only in his second season as a starter. Moinelo made his debut with SoftBank in 2017 and was one of Japan's top relief arms a few seasons later. He had consecutive years with at least 30 holds in 2019 and 2020 and recorded 24 saves in 2022, when he was an All-Star. He moved into a starting role last season and went 11-5 while leading the PL with a 1.88 ERA and 0.94 WHIP. While Moinelo likely won't clear all seven benchmarks, his performance puts him in strong contention. The committee may also feel a little more pressure to name a winner, as the award has never gone vacant in consecutive years. If Moinelo claims the Sawamura, he would become just the third foreign winner. The first was the Hanshin Tigers' Gene Bacque in 1964. Fellow American Kris Johnson of the Hiroshima Carp won in 2016. Fighters ace Hiromi Ito, however, is the NPB leader in wins (12), innings (145⅔ ) and strikeouts (146) after allowing a pair of runs over seven innings against the Eagles on Sunday. The right-hander is also tied for the most complete games in Japan, with five. Various members of the Sawamura committee have decried the fact that pitchers do not throw as much as they did in past years. While Ito is not exactly a throwback, his workload and win total so far make him a highly attractive candidate. For Moinelo and Ito, whose teams are separated by three games in the standings, pitching in the middle of a tight pennant race may give them an extra boost down the stretch. The Hanshin Tigers' Hiroto Saiki threw five innings against the Giants at Tokyo Dome on Sunday, allowing one run. Saiki improved to 11-5 and has a 1.57 ERA in 126⅓ innings. He has 100 strikeouts and a 1.07 WHIP. Another Hanshin hurler with a case is Shoki Murakami (10-3), who struck out nine in a two-hit shutout against the Giants on Saturday. Murakami also has impressive numbers with a 1.91 ERA across 136⅔ innings and a 0.89 WHIP. He also has 106 strikeouts. Lions ace Tatsuya Imai has been among the more impressive pitchers in Japan this season despite a 7-5 record. Imai is fifth in NPB with a 1.72 ERA. He is third, behind Ito and Moinelo, with 137 strikeouts and boasts a 9.81 strikeout rate. Imai has five double-digit strikeout games, including a brilliant performance on June 17 against the DeNA BayStars, when he struck out 17 without walking a batter in a two-hit shutout. There are still many games to play and a few other candidates, but so far, it seems like the Sawamura Award committee won't be short of choices in its search for a new winner.
Japan Times
4 days ago
- Sport
- Japan Times
Masahiro Tanaka still two giant steps away from Meikyukai
When the announcement came that the Yomiuri Giants were changing pitchers before the top of the sixth inning on Wednesday night, a mixture of surprise and disappointment was evident from the fans clad in orange and black at Tokyo Dome. The fans were hoping to see a Kyojin victory and witness Masahiro Tanaka take a step toward a major milestone. They went home disappointed on both counts after the Chunichi Dragons erased a three-run deficit in the fifth inning and went on to win 4-3. The result left Tanaka stuck on 198 career victories between NPB and MLB. His pursuit of 200 has stalled this season. 'I know that it's not easy,' Tanaka said. 'I've been doing this a long time. I understand that it's hard. I have to pitch in a way that helps the team win.' The prize awaiting Tanaka, 36, is a spot in the Meikyukai (Golden Players Club), a secondary Japanese Hall of Fame for batters who accumulate 2,000 hits or pitchers who reach 200 wins or 250 saves. Entry is open to players born after the beginning of the Showa Era who began their careers in Japan. Before Tanaka can earn win No. 200, however, he needs to get to 199 — and that has not been easy. His 198th career win came in April and was followed by a loss, a no-decision, a nearly 100-day stint off the top team and another start where he did not factor into the decision. He ended up with another no-decision against the Dragons after allowing three unearned runs over five innings. Tanaka struck out five and walked one. All three runs came shortly after an error by second baseman Makoto Kadowaki in the fifth. Kadowaki apologized after the inning, but Tanaka later expressed regret that he could not help his fielders by keeping Chunichi off the scoreboard. 'There was some great defense that helped me throughout today's game,' Tanaka said. 'So after we allowed the first run, I really wanted to cover for (the mistake) and hold down (the Dragons). 'I thought we should have been able to keep the lead. But they caught up, and I think that was a burden for the next pitcher.' While a spot in the Meikyukai will not define the career of a pitcher who was one of the best ever during his first run in Japan before heading to MLB, it is a major milestone. Only 24 pitchers have reached 200 wins in NPB. Just three — Hideo Nomo, Hiroki Kuroda and Yu Darvish — have 200 between NPB and MLB. Tanaka, with 120 NPB wins for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles and the Giants, and 78 for the New York Yankees in MLB, is on the doorstep. When he returned from MLB to join the Eagles before the 2021 season, he seemed destined to pick up the milestone victory with the only NPB club he had played for at the time. Tanaka, though, was 20-33 with a 3.73 ERA from 2021 to 2024 and joined the Giants last offseason after a surprising split with the Eagles. His 2025 campaign has been a series of starts and stops. He was making just his fifth appearance of the year on Wednesday. It was also the first time he made consecutive turns in the rotation, having been removed from the roster following his first three outings. He had a solid performance against the Tokyo Yakult Swallows last week, allowing two runs — one earned — over 5⅔ innings. Tanaka got off to another good start against the Dragons. He pitched a scoreless first inning and watched as Yoshihiro Maru hit a leadoff home run to start a three-run frame for the Giants in the bottom half. Tanaka threw three more scoreless innings before everything fell apart in the fifth. Chunichi's Yuki Okabayashi hit a one-out single, and the next batter, Yasuhiro Yamamoto, hit a grounder to second. Kadowaki fielded the ball and threw to second to try to start a double play. He threw the ball away, however, allowing Okabayashi to score and Yamamoto to reach second. Seiji Uebayashi made the score 3-2 with a double, and Jason Vosler tied it with an RBI single later in the inning. Giants manager Shinnosuke Abe made the pitching change before the start of the sixth. The Dragons then rubbed salt in the wound when Michael Chavis led off the inning with a tiebreaking home run. The Giants have 38 games remaining in the regular season, and it's unknown how many more chances Tanaka will have to finally get over the hump and get a shot at his milestone victory. After his missed opportunity on Wednesday, the wait could stretch into the 2026 season. 'It wasn't bad,' Tanaka said of his latest performance. 'But I feel like there is a lot of work to do to iron out the smaller details. I want to make adjustments so that I can pitch well.'
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Since becoming a Yankee, Max Fried won my heart — and quite a few games, too
In my time as a New York Yankees fan, I've seen a lot of pitchers take the mound wearing pinstripes. I was born in 2004, so while I didn't have the chance to watch greats like David Cone, Roger 'The Rocket' Clemens, or Orlando 'El Duque' Hernández, I have seen my fair share of great Yankees pitchers, who paved their way into the hearts of fans through great performances, likeable personalities or both. CC Sabathia, Masahiro Tanaka, currently Gerrit Cole, and even the back-end of the careers of Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte shaped my love for Yankees pitching. However, there hasn't been a pitcher that I've been as drawn to within that time as I have been with Max Fried. Advertisement When the Yankees first signed him in the offseason, I had, of course, known who Fried was. The lanky lefty from the Atlanta Braves had a couple of All-Star appearances to his name, a World Series-clinching victory, and even came in second in Cy Young Award voting back in 2022, but I wasn't as familiar with him as I probably should have been. In my defense, he was coming off a just 'OK' season for him, pitching 174.1 innings for a 3.25 ERA — his highest since 2019 when he pitched 165.2 innings and registered a 4.02 ERA. But regardless, I was bound to learn about him at some point. And boy, did I ever. I was expecting a good pitcher, and one who could contribute to another chase for the World Series trophy, but I certainly wasn't expecting what we've received from Fried in his first 13 starts. His 1.78 ERA in 81 innings pitched and impressive 8-1 record (with his only loss being against the always dangerous Dodgers) have not only helped the Yankees to the top of the American League East, but it has also helped make up for the loss of Cole this season. But in addition to all of the statistics, Fried is just a fun pitcher to watch. He has used seven different pitches over the course of his 2025 season, and while his fastball, according to Baseball Savant, has been his best, sitting in the 100th percentile leaguewide, it's still interesting to see how he mixes pitches and uses deception to fool hitters into making contact. His windup is methodical, and he's not a pitcher who is on the right end of many high-strikeout games. But he makes outs and grinds through at-bats, which every baseball fan can respect. Advertisement Just last night, Fried wobbled a bit in the first against Cleveland, as José Ramírez reached on a soft dunker in front of third, moved to second when Ben Rice took an error on a pickoff throw that he couldn't corral, and swiped third. David Fry then walked and stole second himself to put two men on for an near-instant scoring opportunity for the Guardians, who won the night before. The unflappable Fried then battled veteran Carlos Santana for eight pitches with a flurry of fastballs and curves, ultimately getting the popup he needed to end the rally. That fluky infield hit from Ramírez turned out to be the Guardians' only knock of the night against Fried, who fired six scoreless with seven K's in yet another win. I didn't play super high-level baseball growing up, but I pitched for most of the time that I played, so I respect that the position isn't just about throwing hard; it's truly an art. The way that Fried pitches, in my eyes, is art. He works the entire strike zone with a wide array of pitches. He doesn't rush through his windup, and visually, he's hard to read. He strikes out a fair number of batters, but not a high enough amount where it will jump off the page. Instead, he's a guy who grinds, gets outs, and walks away with wins just as he has in pinstripes this season. Fried has been a rock in the Yankees' pitching staff since joining from free agency, and it's been exactly what the doctor ordered. And not only has he had the results, but his entire style of pitching excites me every time I sit in front of the television. The velocity isn't incredibly high and it's not flashy, but it gets the job done. I love a workhorse ace, and the Yankees have one. Advertisement More from
