[NPB NOTEBOOK] Tsuyoshi Shinjo Has the Nipponham Fighters Believing in Themselves

A lot has happened in Nippon Professional Baseball since our attention was focused on the highly successful and entertaining Paris Olympics. For one thing, the Hokkaido Nipponham Fighters have gone on a bit of a tear.

With a 6-1 victory over the Chiba Lotte Marines on Thursday, August 15, the Fighters picked up their eighth win in nine nine games. 

That winning streak allowed Tsuyoshi Shinjo's team to move into second place in the Pacific League standings, just percentage points ahead of third-place Lotte through games of Saturday, August 17.

While the Fighters (55-45-7) are still 12 games back of the front-running Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (69-35-3), they are six games ahead of the fourth-place Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles and seem almost certain to make the playoffs for the first time since 2018.

Nipponham Fighters Dugout Boss Shinjo Provides an Element of Surprise

One trademark of Shinjo, going back to the days when he was a player and famously stole home in an All-Star Game, is that he is not afraid to think outside the box.

That was the case in a 4-1 win over the visiting Marines on August 14 at Es Con Field Hokkaido.

With runners at second and third in the second inning, Shinjo called for a squeeze bunt that successfully plated the runner from third as the baserunner on second advanced.

Not content to sit back and wait for a run, Shinjo called for another squeeze bunt that scored another run. Few managers in NPB would have the nerve to pull off back-to-back suicide squeezes.

Nipponham Fighters starting pitcher Sachiya Yamasaki picked up the win and improved to 8-3 after allowing a run on six hits over 7⅓ innings. After the game, Yamasaki was appreciative of his manager's bold move.

"We squeezed twice in a row," Yamasaki said, according to Nikkan Sports. "I could tell from that move that we were really going for the win."

He added, "I was pitching the whole time with determination that I was going to hold them down no matter what."

Mannami, Reyes Helping to Ignite the Offense

On offense, the Nipponham Fighters are getting another solid season from star outfielder Chusei Mannami, who has 16 homers, 50 RBIs and a .247 batting average.

Former major leaguer Franmil Reyes has found his swing, connecting for 12 homers, including his fourth in five games in Thursday's win.

Making the postseason would be a big boost for the Fighters, who finished last in the previous two seasons under Shinjo. 

The last time they finished in the top three, the so-called A-Class to qualify for the postseason, was in 2018 when they were third.

Ownership has shown patience with Shinjo. When he took over the team in 2022, he had a reputation as a showman with his outlandish fashion and the moniker "Big Boss" on the back of his jersey.

All that seems in the distant past and Shinjo himself has matured as a manager.

Sasaki's Struggles

In Thursday's game against the Fighters at Es Con Field, Roki Sasaki was knocked out of his start when he took a batted ball off his left ankle in the second inning.

Lotte manager Masato Yoshii said after the game he wasn't sure when Sasaki would be back. It was just the latest setback for Sasaki, who has struggled mightily with injuries this season.

The ball hit Sasaki's Achilles tendon in his pivot foot and Yoshii said he was taken out to prevent any further injury.

"He said he could continue, the ball hit his Achilles tendon," Yoshii said. "He could throw, but if he had to run there was a possibility of serious injury. At this point, it doesn't look like it's a big injury."

The 22-year-old right-hander has only made 12 mound appearances this season and is 6-3 with a 2.15 ERA and 83 strikeouts. Decent numbers, but he continues to struggle to put in a complete season.

His magical season of 2022 when he threw a perfect game and tied the NPB record for strikeouts (19) in one game and set a new record for consecutive strikeouts seems a long way off.

Can Sasaki regain that form? Will his current struggles affect his market value among MLB teams? 

It's hard to say but he needs something to change. 

There was speculation that his team's refusal to make him available to MLB through the posting system has affected his motivation. But that won't sit well with major league scouts if true.

Yamakawa's Revenge

Haws slugger Hotaka Yamakawa returned to his former home,  Belluna Dome, on Thursday and hit three home runs against his old team.

Yamakawa, who left Seibu as a free agent in the offseason, gave the Hawks a 2-0 lead with a two-run shot in the first inning. He added two more two-run homers in the fifth and seventh innings to bring his season-total to a Pacific League-leading 26.

It was the second time in his career that he hit three homers in one game. The last time he did so was on August 2, 2017, when he played for the Lions.

Speaking of the Hawks, they continue to soar in the PL and it doesn't look like anyone will catch them. Their magic number to clinch the PL pennant is 25.

On Friday, Kohei Arihara threw a four-hit shutout as the Hawks blanked the visiting Marines 4-0 in Fukuoka.

Arihara struck out three and gave up just one walk in a 103-pitch complete-game win to pick up his PL-leading 11th win of the season.

Tatsuru Yanagimachi hit a two-run homer in the first and Yamakawa followed with a solo shot to bring his season total to 27.

Central League Pennant is Up for Grabs

While the Hawks are running away in the Pacific League, the Central League is the exact opposite with the Hiroshima Carp, Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers in a heated battle.

The Giants (57-45-6 through August 17) thrashed the Yokohama DeNA BayStars 11-1 on Saturday to pull into a virtual tie with the Hiroshima Carp (55-43-5), who were slightly ahead on winning percentage heading into the next day's games.

On the same day, the Carp lost 6-3 to the Tokyo Yakult Swallows while the defending Japan Series champion Tigers (54-50-6) were four games back after a 5-5 tie with the Chunichi Dragons.

The CL flag is still very much up for grabs and the final month and a half should provide plenty of drama.

In addition, the Giants have really impressed under first-year manager Shinnosuke Abe. Few would have predicted they would make this much progress in the first season under the rookie manager.

RELATED:

• Nipponham Fighters Showing Signs of Progress Under Popular Manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo
• [NPB NOTEBOOK] Marines Sign Former Cy Young Award Recipient Dallas Keuchel

Author: Jim Armstrong

The author is a longtime journalist who has covered sports in Japan for over 25 years. You can find his articles on SportsLook.