Midori no Ya! An *** Expansion Dynasty

[tehsuigi]

2045 Japan Series

The Hiroshima Carp, the other pennant winner, will be the opposition for the Arrows. There was a rumour of a trade between these two teams at the deadline that would've seen CF Junji Tokuda head to Shizuoka, but that fell through. Familiar faces in Carp red include left fielder Akihisa Katayama, first baseman Tomosaburo Morioka, and pitchers Juan Birriel and Yasunaga Suzuki.

Roster move for the Arrows - Koichi Yoshinaga heads down to make room for Keisuke Nakanishi returning to the rotation, with Takatomi Fukuda heading to the bullpen.
The Carp will get home field advantage as it's an odd year.

Game 1: Hiroshima 7, Shizuoka 5
The Carp built up a 7-run lead against Arrows starter Tsuyashi Endo, with CF Junji Tokuda going 3-for-4 with a home run. The Arrows offense got to the game late, but forced across five runs in the seventh and eighth to make it closer. Carp starter Toyoshige Hayashi left the game in the 4th with an apparent injury, resulting in a tired bullpen.

Game 2: Hiroshima 3, Shizuoka 0
Maybe calling up Keisuke Nakanishi was a bad call. Over 5 innings, he allowed 2 runs on 4 hits, which was enough to sink the Arrows. Likely Sawamura award winner Masakuni Kurakawa pitched 7 sterling innings with 8 Ks, with Juan Perez getting the 2-inning save.

Game 3: Hiroshima 6, Shizuoka 4 (11 innings)
Are the Arrows finally snakebit in the Japan Series? That's seven straight losses in the series. This one should've been a win, but Alfredo Ramos yielded a 3-run game-tying home run to Hiroshima RF Tsurayuki Tanimoto in the 8th, and Isamu Ochi gave up a 2-run bong to second baseman Tango Sato in the 11th to put the visitors on the cusp of a championship.

Game 4: Hiroshima 10, Shizuoka 4
Kim Chae-bong would prefer to forget this postseason, as he again failed to get out of the 4th, yielding 7 runs (4 earned), and the Arrows couldn't recover. Every Carp batter got a hit, with 16 in total.

And so for the first time in 21 years, the Carp are champions of Japan.
Carp left fielder Akihisa Katayama and his .385/.556/.846 slash line (2 HRs) earned series MVP in the abbreviated series.

(you know what, is Luis Alejandrez still free?)

[tehsuigi]

2045 Season Summary

I gotta figure out what the secret sauce is to get over the hump. Next season's the last that'll have both Matsumoto and Kim under contract. Then we have some VERY tough decisions to make.
Adding de la Cruz and Kobayashi have been great elements of the youth movement, and with Mikio Yasuda and Eishin Shibazaki joining the squad next year, the fruits of our farm system are ripening.

We've got another gear, I'm sure of it. I just hope we find it before I retire.

[tehsuigi]

2045-46 Offseason

Arbitration and Early FA
* The Shizuoka Arrows announced that fan-favourite and dominant closer Yasunaga Suzuki would have his number 99 retired. 173 saves in double-green, plus another 219 across Tiger pinstripes, Giants orange, and Hiroshima red.
* RHP Seigo Kinjo actually signed a 2-year/4.72M contract extension to keep him in Shizuoka a little past arbitration. The expectation is Kinjo will fill the sixth spot in the rotation or longman in the bullpen.
* Heading to free agency are center fielder Eisaku Aihara, shortstop Yukio Kanno, left-handed pitcher Keisuke Nakanishi, and right-handed pitcher Isamu Ochi.
* The Arrows made a pair of deals to get rid of some arbitration declinations, sending RHP Moritake Hara and RHP Eisuke Tsumura to the Eagles for LF Shigen Yamashta, and C Shunzho Oshta and 2B Nobuhiro Saito to the Hawks for CF Taichiro Aoyama.

Awards Season
* Catcher Kiyonori Nakashima and third baseman Willie de la Cruz were honoured with Golden Glove awards.
* Right fielder Yoshikuni Yokota and DH Teruhide Hirata were named to the PL Best Nine.
* de la Cruz earned a near-unanimous Rookie of the Year Award, with teammate Masahisa Kobayashi in second place.
* Paul Paez is running out of room in his trophy cabinet for Manager of the Year Awards
* This is getting comedic - Shigejiro Matsumoto wins his FOURTH consecutive Eiji Sawamura Award, even in a down-year for him. Rotation-mate Kim Chae-bong got two first place votes and finished 2nd, with Tsuyashi Endo clocking in at fifth.
* Orix's center fielder Tomohiro Iwahashi rightfully earned PL MVP this season with a 52 HR, 118 RBI, .274/.364/.589 season. Matsumoto finished 4th, Yokota 8th, Kim 9th, Hirata 10th, de la Cruz 10th, and left fielder Tomoki Yamauchi 12th.

2045 First-Year Draft
Once again, Shizuoka's drafting at the end of the first round. They selected left-handed starter Yasushi Higashi from Hosei University with that pick. However, negotiations broke down when Higashi requested a major league contract, and walked.
2. Masato Suenaga, a right-handed high school pitcher. He profiles as a long-man with great control. He's got a shot at being a Matsumoto-type if his changeup improves...
3. Koichi Nakagawa, college 3B who could probably shift to SS too.
4. Akanori Nakaoka, college SS (I have a bit of a dearth of them!)
5. Kyozo Kumagai, right-handed outfielder. Could play CF, but he's got the arm for RF too. Decent bat too.
6. Keishi Goto, high schooler probably destined for DH or RF.
7. Shihei Shimatani, high school CF speedster.
8. Sukesaburo Morioka, the usual new catcher.
9. Motoyasu Oyama, let the scouting director pick this one.
10. Shozo Sai, a high school closer.

Winter Meetings
* An old friend returns! RHP Moritake Hara signs a minor-league deal with a 300K major league option to rejoin the Arrows organization after the Eagles also declined him arbitration.
* The Shizuoka Arrows were rumoured to go shopping for a center fielder, but came away with a different deal, sending LF Nesty Delgado and LF Shinjiro Abe to the Chiba Lotte Marines for LF Masuo Hayakawa. He'll be able to play 1B as well, he profiles as a harder-hitting (and better defending) Tomoki Yamauchi. It seems like Shojiro Murakami will indeed keep the starting job in center!
* The Arrows swapped around a bunch of other minor-leaguers during this span - nothing earth-shattering.

Deep Offseason
* The Shizuoka Arrows purchased SS Hakuba Hirao from the Lincoln Saltdogs of the American Association; he is an ex-Giants prospect and is expected to help with the middle infield depth in the farm.
* Yasushi Higashi failed to sign with the Shizuoka Arrows, and so the team will get a compensation pick next season.
* The Shizuoka Arrows made a surprising addition to their bullpen in right-hander Chutaro Ono, signed to a 2-year/1.5M deal as a free agent. Ono had spent the last five years in the Milwaukee Brewers organization after leaving the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, and will help as a setup man to Alfredo Ramos.
* Also joining the organization is Angelo Herrera, who previously was with the Tampa Bay Rays organization. The 24-year-old is joining the Shinano rotation, and his four-pitch mix may work its way into the rotation next season.
* And just in case, the Arrows signed Choei Kodama to a minor-league deal. The 30-year-old center fielder previously played for the Hawks, and will give Murakami a good challenge for CF in spring training.
* With days left in spring training, the Shizuoka Arrows and Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks completed one more deal. RHP Seigo Kinjo and 3B Mamoru Iguchi are headed to SoftBank, with RHP Mitsuhito Ishihara coming back the other way (minus 10% of his salary). Ishihara is going to be a third established pitcher in the rotation, giving Kim and Matsumoto a proven stablemate.

[tehsuigi]

2046 Opening Day Roster

It's the 25th season Shizuoka Arrows baseball! They will be starting their season in Kyoto facing the Kirin Spirit on March 30.

Notable debuts this year include stud leftie starter Mikio Yasuda, rightie reliever Eishin Shibazaki who appeared in last year's playoff run, and backup infielder Shunsho Fujiwara. Hayakawa will start the season in AAA and get first crack at a roster spot if anyone falters.

Expectations are high this year, as it may be the end of the Matsumoto-Kim duo. One is a pending free agent, the other has an opt out...

[tehsuigi]

GM Notebook - May 1, 2046

Some 25th season this is turning into. We started 6-2, then went 6-12. We sit in 5th, 7.5 back of SoftBank.

Our pitching's been fine, even if Ishihara and Endo are having bleh seasons. Yasuda's impressing!
It's the offense that's been stinking, and I'm looking squarely at Tomoki Yamauchi's rough start. His stick stirs this drink, and we can't have a 70 contact guy batting .182 atop the lineup.

He gets one month before I swap him for Hayakawa, and maybe start to look to more drastic moves too.

[tehsuigi]

GM Notebook - June 4, 2046

Well, that's a start! Sending Yamauchi and Hirata down to AAA gave us a chance to bring Hayakawa and Reijiro Tsukamoto up, and sure enough the team's rebounding. 15-11 in May, and now we're a game above .500 heading into interleague!

...we still have a negative run differential, which frustrates me to no end.
No idea what's going on with Yo-Yo Mash, but he's taken a serious backslide. Hopefully the move to DH will help.

That said, Eishin Shibazaki won Rookie of the Month for his work last month, so that's something.
One can only hope the turnaround continues.

[tehsuigi]

The Shizuoka Volley - July 2, 2046
Arrows updates, quick and on target!

* KIM STAYS. The Korean phenom signed a 6-year/30.63M contract early in June, and will be a stablemate of Shigejiro Matsumoto (if he doesn't opt out). Better yet, he loses his foreign player tag next season!
* Another 15-11 month, including a 15-9 run through interleague, has the Arrows sitting 4th, a game and a half back of 3rd and 2.5 back of 2nd. The Hawks basically have the pennant sewn up, and they won the interleague title at 17-7...
* Welcome to the team, Taichi Sakamoto! The new DH joins the squad to replace Tsukamoto.
* We were a bit surprised to see Hirata and Yamauchi down in AA, but the AAA squad's on their split-season break. Here's hoping they can figure things out quick, Hirata's a pending FA!

[tehsuigi]

All-Stars
And they're showing off the new "lime cola" summer jerseys for the Arrows this summer! These will be worn after the break and until the end of August for all home games, honouring the Arrows' original jersey logo.
* RHP Shigejiro Matsumoto has been on fire this year, with an 8-4 record, 1.90 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, and 12.9 K/9 over 108 2/3 IP
* RHP Kim Chae-bong isn't far behind, at 6-6, 2.674 ERA, 1.13 WIP in 95 1/3 IP
* C Kiyonori Nakashima is a surprise nomination thanks to his .240/.328/.433 slash line and 8 HRs. It's his first nomination!
* 3B Willie de la Cruz makes it again thanks to his superlative defensive work and .304/.345/.418 slash line and 32 SB.

Future Stars
* 20-year-old RHP Yutaka Ikeda has improved at AAA, from previous years, now 2-4 with a 4.89 ERA
* LHP Tatsuo Mochizuki is a surprise pick until you look at his 2.33 ERA and 0.70 WHIP over 27 IP. Solid relief work!
* 3B Ricky Mendez is likely making his last appearance here, with a .283/.344/.434 slash line
* LF Koji Sakakibara has impressed with a .312/.339/.399 slash line at AAA
* 20-year-old CF Shosaku Aoki has made substantial leaps in his second pro season, slashing .374/.459/.614 in the batter-happy AA league. More importantly, 11 HRs and 25 SB.
* Also 20 years old, CF Shinshuu Komatsu has shown potential at AAA slashing .318/.348/.416.

[tehsuigi]

The Shizuoka Volley - August 1, 2046

* A 12-4 July has the Arrows safely ensconced in 2nd place, 9 back of SoftBank but 3 head of Seibu
* Congratulations to our PL Rookie of the Month Mikio Yasuda! He pitched a 12-K no-hitter against Seibu back on July 15 (one walk away from perfection!!).
* Welcome back to Shizuoka, Shigeo Tanigawa! The big bopper on his expiring deal joined the Arrows along with SS Daisuke Inouye and RHP Ryuzaburo Yamasaki, with 3B Ricky Mendez and RHP Angelo Herrera heading to the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in exchange. That should be a much-needed shot in the arm to the Arrows offense.
* That and a more offense-focused infield with 2B Atsushi Nakamura getting more starts at 2B, moving Masahisa Kobayashi to SS.

[tehsuigi]

GM Notebook - September 1, 2046

As much as I appreciate the fans asking to keep the lime cola jerseys because they represented our team's return to the playoff hunt, I think their juice has run out. 16-10 in August is good, though.

We're still second, 7.5 back of SoftBank, but Seibu's now breathing down our necks. BNN has our playoff chances above 90%, so as long as the squad keeps it up, we should be OK. Tanigawa broke his foot shortly after I traded for him, so glad to see he's back and slugging dingers for the psotseason drive.

As good as our bullpen is, it's frustrating that we still have blown save issues everywhere. I will need to address that in the offseason.

[tehsuigi]

At Season's End

The Shizuoka Arrows ended September on a hot streak, ultimately finishing at 87-56 and only 3 games back of the PL-champion Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. Mikio Yasuda won the PL Rookie of the Month for September, and may have a case for Rookie of the Year so far. Shizuoka will host the PL Climax Series First Stage, but the participant of said game requires a Game 144 to be played.

The Orix Buffaloes would beat the Saitama Seibu Lions on the road 9-7 in 10 innings to steal 3rd place.

2046 Pacific League Climax Series First Stage

Game 1: Shizuoka 7, Orix 2
Arrows ace Shigejiro Matsumoto was in fine form today, striking out 14 and allowing only two hits (one a solo home run) to pace his team to the win. Shizuoka 3B Willie de la Cruz's 3 run double in the 2nd and DH Masami Matsuura's 2-run bomb in the 4th sealed this one early.

Game 2: Shizuoka 4, Orix 3
Arrows infielder Atsushi Nakamura's had an odd season so far. He's struggled as a starter, slashing .198/.260/.302, but done excellent as a substitution, slashing .258/.343/.645. That was most apparant in today's game, as his 2-out solo home run off Buffaloes starter-in-bullpen Raul Soriano in the bottom of the 9th gave Shizuoka the sweep.

Arrows RF Kenji Ono going 5-for-6 in the two-game series nets him the MVP award.

[tehsuigi]

2046 Pacific League Climax Series Final Stage
The Arrows head to the PayPay Dome to take on the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in this best-of-six. The Arrows played the pennant-winning Hawks well, only losing the season series 8-9.
The Hawks will start with a one-game advantage.

Game 1: Shizuoka 2, Fukuoka SoftBank 0
Have yourself a debut, Mikio Yasuda. The rookie left-handed pitcher went 8 scoreless innings, scattering 6 hits and seven strikeouts. Problem was the Hawks' starter Satoharu Otani also went 7 scoreless, and old friend Isamu Hiratsuka added an eighth. In the top of the 9th inning, though, pinch hitter Yukio Ogawa reached on an error by SoftBank's 2B Koji Yamashta, and the Arrows' 2B Masahisa Kobayashi slugged a 2-run bomb 424 feet into the left field stands to put Shizuoka ahead. Rookie reliever Eishin Shibazaki closed it out striking out the side in the 9th.

Game 2: Fukuoka SoftBank 3, Shizuoka 1
The lone knock against Matsumoto is his propensity for giving up home runs, and SoftBank got a pair off him in the middle innings to take this one. Hawks C Masaichi Ueda and LF Mitsuto Watanabe doing the damage. SoftBank starter Alex Delgado struck out 10 Arrows over his 7 innings of one-run ball.

Game 3: Shizuoka 1, Fukuoka SoftBank 0
Old friends are playing an outsized role this series, with ex-Hawks starter Mitsuhito Ishihara exacting revenge on his old squad to tie the series up, going 7 scoreless innings and striking out 8. The lone RBI all game came off the bat of Arrows 3B Willie de la Cruzs single in the 5th.

Game 4: Shizuoka 5, Fukuoka SoftBank 4 (12 innings)
This was a see-saw of a game, with a lot of intrigue in the box score. The Arrows only had one XBH (from RF Kenji Ono), but still scraped out runs by dint of 2B Masahisa Kobayashi and 1B Shigeo Tanigawa getting 4 bases-on-balls EACH. Hawks starter Seigo Kinjo (an ex-Arrow) accounting for 5 of those in his 3 innings of work. Arrows reliever Sumiki Takeshta gets the win with his 2 innings of scoreless relief - Hawks reliever Danny Jimenez tagged with the loss after walking in a run in the top of the 12th.

Game 5: Shizuoka 4, Fukuoka SoftBank 1
The resiliency this team shows is impressive, and now that they have working power bats, things could be fun in the Japan Series. Hawks starter Shuhei Kasai had spun 5 shutout innings before Arrows DH Teruhide Hirata clubbed a game-tying dinger in the 6th, and LF Yoshikuni Yokota chased him with his own solo shot in the 7th. Hirata added a 2-run bomb in the 8th for good measure. Shizuoka starter Kim Chae-bong rebounded from a rough Game 1 with 7 innings of one-run ball, and Alfredo Ramos picked up a scoreless 2 innings for the save.

For his .333/.440/.476 slash line, Arrows LF Yoshikuni Yokota wins series MVP.

[tehsuigi]

2046 Japan Series
A rematch between the red helmets and the double-green, as the Hiroshima Carp bested the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in the CL Climax Series Final Stage in 5 games.

Game 1: Shizuoka 2, Hiroshima 1
The Arrows finally shook their Japan Series losing streak in dramatic fashion, as 1B Shigeo Tanigawa slugged a go-ahead home run in the 8th off Carp closer Juan Perez to give the home side a charge. Shizuoka starter Shigejiro Matsumoto allowed a solo home run in the 1st to Carp LF Noriya Watanabe, but only one other hit after that and struck out 12 Hiroshima batters.

Game 2: Hiroshima 4, Shizuoka 2
The Carp pulled even thanks to a Shizuoka bullpen malfunction - Sumiki Takeshta blew the save in his 2 middle innings, and Alfredo Ramos took the loss by allowing three straight singles, followed by Eishin Shibazaki walking in another run. Hiroshima starter Masahiro Nakamura got player of the game honours for his 6 innings of 2-run ball.

Game 3: Hiroshima 3, Shizuoka 1
The Carp opened up their homestand with a strong win, as CF Junji Tokuda hit the go-ahead single in the 6th against Arrows starter Kim Chae-bong. Carp starter Joe Eldredge went 6 innings allowing only 1 run, which was an RBI single off the bat of Kim himself.

Game 4: Hiroshima 1, Shizuoka 0
Another slow-scoring effort, another late RBI against Alfredo Ramos. This time it was Carp 2B Shinkichi Fukuhara who did the damage with a solo home run. Carp closer Juan Perez got his second win of the series in relief, as both starters were lights-out - Masakuni Murakawa for the Carp with 10 Ks in 6 IP, Mitsuhito Ishihara with only 3 hits in 7 IP.

Game 5: HIroshima 2, Shizuoka 1
Carp 1B Kazuho Kaneshiro's RBI double in the 7th was the decisive blow, spoiling another defensive gem from the Arrows. He earns series MVP honours for that and his .412/.421/.471 slash line. Hiroshima makes it back to back wins.

I am flummoxed.

[tehsuigi]

2046 Season Summary

At least we didn't get swept?

There are two screamingly obvious problems I need to resolve this offseason.
One is the bullpen that keeps blowing saves.
The other is the offense which can't avoid save situations.
This is my last off-season too, so better make it a good one.

[tehsuigi]

2046-47 Offseason Summary

Arbitration and Early FA
* Congratulations to Kim Chae-bong, whose 9 years of *** service have granted him domestic player status!
* Shigejiro Matsumoto will NOT exercise his opt-out, and is staying in Shizuoka for at least the next four seasons. Good luck, opposing pitchers.
* LHP Caleb McAdam, RHP Yuuchi Hayashi, and 1B/DH Taichi Sakamoto were acquired by the Hiroshima Carp in exchange for RF Yoshihiro Ise and LF Kenishi Shimizu. Shimizu may challenge for a roster spot next year, and Ise is expected to be the team's new DH with Hirata leaving in FA.
* Heading to free agency are LF Tomoki Yamauchi (non-tendered), DH Teruhide Hirata, 1B Shigeo Tanigawa, RHP Mitsuhito Ishihara, and RHP Sumiki Takeshta.
* Nov 24, the Arrows added RHP Michiki Tanaka on a minor-league deal. The swingman started 11 games and went 4-6 with the Marines last year. Good be a good budget play.

Awards Season
* Catcher Kiyonori Nakashima, third baseman Willie de la Cruz, and center fielder Choei Kodama won their respective Golden Gloves.
* No Best Nine nominations this year.
* Arrows LHP Mikio Yasuda won PL Rookie of the Year! His 9-8 record was meh, but 175 Ks, .207 oAVG, and 2.73 ERA over 154 2/3 IP give an indication that Shizuoka may have a third ace on their staff.
* Paul Paez continued his run of Manager of the Year awards.
* How many Eiji Sawamura awards does one man need? Shigejiro Matsumoto done it again unanimously. 11-5 record, 1.66 ERA, 252 Ks, .182 oAVG. Kim finished 2nd, Yasuda 4th.
* Matsumoto was also the top MVP vote-getter at 4th, with Yoshio Shimamoto nabbing the award again. 1B Shigeo Tanigawa finished 7th, de la Cruz 9th, Kim 11th.

2046 First Year Draft
Not a strong draft year, just my luck to have two first-round picks. Took OF Kintaro Suzuki 15th overall, and LHP Ryoji Kaneshiro 17th. The rest are just chaff TBH. I won't be around to see them develop.

Winter Meetings & Adjacent
* The Shizuoka Arrows opened the winter meetings with a signing instead of a trade, with RHP Shigekatsu Maeda joining the team on a 6-year/5.4M deal. Maeda struggled last year for the Eagles, but has posted 2.5+ WAR in 3 of his past 5 seasons. He'll flesh out a rotation that looks like the best in the league, and adds leadership to the room too.
* Otherwise, a surprisingly quiet four days in Nagasaki for the Arrows. Maybe too quiet...
* BOOM. It's a happy new year for Arrows fans, as they ink RF Chris Garrett to a 1-year/3M deal. Garrett's slugged over 200 HRs and posted an .817 OPS over nine seasons for the Miami Marlins. He'll slide into the outfield for Shizuoka quite nicely.
* Another bomb from the Arrows, as they land 1B Tony Topete for another 1-year/3M deal. Topete's 10 year career with the Boston Red Sox included 264 HRs and an .835 OPS. He's going to likely push Yukio Ogawa out if he performs well in ST. Well, the Arrows wanted to get offense - they just got it in SPADES this month, filling out their two open FP slots.

[tehsuigi]

2047 Opening Day Roster

Some VERY hard choices here, but we got the set we wanted. The outfield in particular is crowded, with Shimizu, Morimoto, Kenji Ono, Sakakibara, and Shinshuu Komatsu ALL possible playable from there. Also our previous captain Masami Matsuura failed to make the roster (!).
Shigekatsu Maeda becomes the newest Arrows captain.
New faces include the obvious power bats in Garrett and Topete, plus Ise, backup catcher Miyamoto, backup SS Inouye, and two leftie relievers in Mochizuki and Fuchigami.
Alfredo Ramos will rejoin the team next week, and Masaji Hayashi will need a few months.

We've used the term ALL IN to advertise our squad. And now it's true. This is it.

[tehsuigi]

GM Notebook - May 1, 2047

Well that was a damn near disaster of a start. 10-17, an eight-game losing streak wedged in there, and now we sit 8.5 back of Seibu in 7th place. 6 back of a playoff spot.
Topete's performed as expected, but Garrett and Ise have been plugs. The rest of the lineup seems to be figuring it out, at least.
Now I just wish the "Best Rotation in ***" would act like it. Had to change pitching coaches because this was not acceptable.

[tehsuigi]

GM Notebook - June 1, 2047

And here comes the comeback story...15-10 in May, and I think our pitching staff is finally figuring it out. Problem is the offense has cooled off AGAIN. Chris Garrett is back up to try and suss things out.

It's a long way between us and a playoff spot, but we've got a shot at being .500 before interleague rolls in.

[tehsuigi]

GM Notebook - July 1, 2047

Ah, nothing like sweeping the Giants at their place to finish interleague. We went 16-10 in June, 14-10 in IL. Our expansion cousins, the Niigata Komatsu Bears, took the interleague title at 16-8.

So we're 5th in the PL, 4.5 back of a playoff spot. Things are a real clusterbump at the top between SoftBank, Seibu, and Orix all within half a game of each other.

The pitching feels like it's turned a corner thanks to the new coach. Eishin Shibazaki actually won PL Pitcher of the Month, and his 20 saves are among the best in the league. Our recent acquisition from Ehime Honda, Taneo Kawaguchi has been such a helpful get there.

We may make a splash at the deadline for an upgrade at short - Umeda's just not cutting the mustard.

[tehsuigi]

All-Stars
* RHP Shigejiro Matsumoto can't NOT make the big game. He's been the best of the Arrows rotation, with a 9-4 record, 2.40 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, and 13.6 K/9 thru 108 2/3 IP
* 1B Tony Topete has been slugging the ball, with 17 HRs and a .245/.330/.510 slash line to date
* LF Yoshikuni Yokota has had a nice bounceback season, with 17 HRs and a .289/.367/.505 slash line

Future Stars
* RHP Yutaka Ikeda, 4-3 with a 5.08 ERA in AAA
* LHP Ryoji Kaneshiro, last year's 1st rounder who's already in AAA
* RHP Masato Suenaga, 4 saves and a 2.60 ERA in AAA. He's on the fast track to the Arrows' pen.
* RF Shinshuu Komatsu, slashing .331/.415/.488 in AAA so far
* RF Tamon Yoshizawa, slashing .430/.465/.570 in AAA.