You've got to tip your cap to the way Shinnosuke Abe has managed the Central League-leading Yomiuri Giants in his first season at the helm.
The Giants (72-55-7) are bidding to win their first league pennant since 2020 under the leadership of the former catcher. As of this writing on Friday, September 20, the Giants are three games ahead of the Hanshin Tigers in the standings with nine games remaining.
Yomiuri missed the postseason for the last two seasons under former manager Tatsunori Hara, something that was hard to swallow for Japan's most storied franchise. Hara stepped down after the 2023 season.
Under Abe, the Giants have done a lot to improve.
They have the fewest errors of any team in the Central League (52). By comparison, the Yokohama DeNA BayStars have the most with 87.
A Knack for Handling the Pitchers
Abe, 45, has done a masterful job handling his pitchers, which should come as no surprise considering his background as a catcher.
That ability to read pitchers was on display in a game against the Chunichi Dragons on Sunday, September 15.
Abe went out to the mound in the sixth inning and removed starter Tomoyuki Sugano with the Giants leading 3-2 and runners on.
Sugano had thrown 93 pitches at the time. High, but not exceedingly high for Japan.
But Abe had made his decision. Sugano was coming out.
Yomiuri's next pitcher, Yuhei Takanashi, gave up the tying run (charged to Sugano) and Sugano's chances of winning the game were gone.
But Takanashi and three more relievers held Chunichi scoreless the rest of the way and Yomiuri won the game 6-3.
Sugano is having a spectacular season at 14-2 so far. He is 34 years old now so it makes perfect sense to handle him with appropriate expectations.
Bold Leadership for the Yomiuri Giants
Writing for Nikkan Sports, former Yomiuri player turned analyst Koichi Ogata commented on the decision to take Sugano out.
"In his last start, he was taken out after 57 pitches in the fifth inning but the opponent was [the] Hiroshima [Carp], a team competing for the top spot so he must have been under a lot of pressure," Ogata wrote. "Given his age, the deciding factor in this game was his condition."
Taking out an established veteran like Sugano is not the easiest thing to do, but Abe has shown that he is not about to let egos get in the way of making the right move.
Yomiuri pitchers have NPB's second-lowest ERA (2.52) this season. The Giants finished the 2023 season with the second-highest ERA (3.39). It's clear that Abe has helped the staff gain confidence, just as he did when he was an All-Star catcher for the Giants.
Kiyomiya Coming Through
It looks like Kotaro Kiyomiya is finally living up to expectations.
You may recall that the 25-year-old Kiyomiya drew international attention at the 2012 Little League World Series where, at the age of just 13, he threw an 80-mph fastball and helped Japan to a 12-2 win over the team from the United States.
Kiyomiya then went to Waseda Jitsugyo High School where he set the Japanese high school baseball record for home runs with 111 over three seasons in high school (a record later broken by Rintaro Sasaki).
A total of seven teams chose Kiyomiya in the first round of the NPB draft in 2017 with the Hokkaido Nipponham Fighters winning the rights to negotiate with the highly coveted player through the lottery.
The Tokyo Yakult Swallows were one of those seven teams. And the Tokyo-based team didn't feel too bad about losing out on Kiyomiya as they also chose future Triple Crown winner Munetaka Murakami in the second round.
As is the case with many talented youngsters, the transition to the big leagues was not an easy one for Kiyomiya.
His first year with the top team was a difficult one. He played in just 53 games, had a .200 batting average with 18 RBIs and just seven home runs and 60 strikeouts.
Over the next three years, Kiyomiya would put up similar numbers as he shuttled between the top team and the farm. There were concerns that he would never be able to live up to the lofty expectations.
Things got a little better in 2022 when he belted 18 homers. Then, in 2023, he lifted his batting average to .244 and had 10 home runs and 41 RBIs in 99 games.
Patience Pays Off for the Fighters
To their credit, the Fighters were patient with Kiyomiya and he is now having his best season ever.
Through games of Friday, September 20, Kiyomiya is batting .302 with 12 homers and 46 RBIs. He has only 48 strikeouts through 77 games and has an impressive .385 on-base percentage.
Kioyamiya is also a fan favorite at Es Con Field Hokkaido where the Fighters are set to make the postseason for the first time under manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo.
It's inspirational to see a player come through adversity and live up to expectations in the way that Kiyomiya has this year.
Reyes on Song for the Fighters
Another player having an outstanding season for the Fighters is first-year import Franmil Reyes of the Dominican Republic.
The towering outfielder, who stands 6-foot-4 (196 cm) and weighs 264 pounds (120 kg) has also become a fan favorite with good reason.
Through 92 games this season, Reyes is batting .294 with 62 RBIs and 23 homers.
Reyes further endeared himself to the Es Con Field faithful when he belted a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning on Wednesday, September 11 to lift the Fighters to a 3-2 sayonara victory over the Saitama Seibu Lions.
As a bonus, Reyes serenaded the sold-out crowd with his own version of Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" during the hero interview.
It wasn't a bad rendition but let's just say Reyes should keep his day job.
Prior to coming to Japan, Reyes played for the San Diego Padres, the Cleveland Guardians, the Chicago Cubs and the Kansas City Royals.
Tatsunami Stepping Down
Dragons manager Kazuyoshi Tatsunami announced on Wednesday, September 18 that he will step down at the end of this season.
The announcement came the same day after the Dragons gave up four runs in the top of ninth at their home stadium to lose by a score of 8-3 to the Hanshin Tigers.
Despite getting off to a decent start this season, the Nagoya-based team has floundered and finds itself in last place in the Central League standings with a disappointing record of 55 wins, 72 losses and eight ties for a .433 winning percentage.
Tatsunami, a former star infielder with the Dragons, is in his third season at the helm.
"The third year was a make-or-break year and I couldn't produce any results," the 55-year-old Tatsunami said, according to Sports Nippon. "I will take responsibility and resign."
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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.
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