NPB 2021 Central League

 With the 2021 MLB set release also comes the 2021 NPB set (spring training has already started over in Japan)! It was a more normal season than the Covid shortened 2020 season. Although some special Covid rules still applied (there were no extra inning games), and there was a break mid-season to accommodate the Olympic games. Which, I'm sure if you're reading this then you probably already know that Japan won the Gold medal, albeit against a very watered down field, as the MLB obviously didn't take a break. 

The Japan Series featured 2 teams that went from worst to first between 2020 and 2021, the Tokyo Yakult Swallows and the Orix Buffaloes. The Swallows beat the Buffaloes in 6 games to take the championship, their first since 2001. I won't recap the whole series, but a fun note is that former MLBer, Adam Jones, hit a pinch-hit game-winning home run in the 9th inning of Game 5. Catcher for the Swallows, Yuhei Nakamura, took home series MVP.

Quick note about card design, I decided to add the "Best 9" logo to the eighteen winners of the award (nine in each league). The Best 9 award is essentially the equivalent of the All-MLB team, except only with one pitcher rather than seven. I borrowed the design of the logo from Jason M, who some may be familiar with from Discord. I really love his card designs and highly recommend you check them out. Here is a link to his blog. 

Another note before we get to the cards is about the new (—) On-Base position players. While making the set I noticed a handful of players with large amounts of games played, but very few at bats. Koshiro Wada of the Marines is a perfect example. 96 games played (9th most on the team), 24 PAs, and 25 stolen bases, and 25 runs scored. He was a pinch runner and defensive replacement extraordinaire. I wanted a way to bring these players in to the set. The special rule for them is they function like a pitcher hitting. They never have the advantage. We shall see how much of an impact they make in league play. As you will soon find out there's quite a few good bats with speed and/or defensive liabilities. I think the Null On-Base players will be usable.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 73-52-18 (1st place in Central League, Japan Series Champions)

The aforementioned worst to first Swallows had a magical turnaround and season. They had the HR leader and MVP of the league in 21 year old superstar (Munetaka Murakami), four Best 9 winners (tied for the most with the Buffaloes), two Olympians (Murakami and Tetsuto Yamada), and most importantly the Holds leader (Noboru Shimizu). 

Murakami has a monster card for the second season in a row and seems like he's only getting better.  Yamada has a great card although not as great as some of his recent 30-30 seasons. He's still the best second baseman by 60 points, and he won the Olympic MVP Award. Yasutaka Shiomi played his first real full season and put up some great numbers. And Yuhei Nakamura rounds out their Best 9 winners with another solid catcher card. Special mention to fomer MLBers, Nori Aoki (who came back down to earth a bit after a huge 2020 campaign), Domingo Santana, José Osuna, and closer Scott McGough.

While the offense is pretty loaded, the young pitching coming through was really what propelled their turnaround. Yasunobu Okugawa put up a great season at 20 years old. And 24 year old Keiji Takahashi went from a 10 point card in 2019, no card in 2020 (although he was mediocre in his 48 innings), to a delightful 550 point card that is sure to get drafted. And he spun a 133-pitch complete game shut out in Game 2 of the Japan Series. There was also 20 year veteran, Masanori Ishikawa, who provided some steady innings as usual. He's pitched so long that he's faced original Showdown set foil, Tony Batista, when Batista played in Japan. And it led to this incredible clip 

Best 9 winners: Munetaka Murakami, Tetsuto Yamada, Yasutaka Shiomi, Yuhei Nakamura

Foils: Munetaka Murakami, Tetsuto Yamada, Yasutaka Shiomi, Keiji Takahashi, Yasunobu Okugawa, Yuhei Nakamura

2020/1 Olympians: Munetaka Murakami, Tetsuto Yamada

Hanshin Tigers 77-56-20 (2nd place Central League, Lost to the Yomiuri Giants in the first round)

They actually had more wins than the Swallows, but finished with a worse winning percentage due to ties. The Tigers season eas backed by great starting pitching, an elite closer, and a well-rounded offense with speed. Former big leaguer, Jefry Marté, put up another strong season to take the Best 9 award at first base. Koji Chikamoto had another chart-filling season and earned Best 9 and his first gold glove for center field. No one stood out too much on offense, but most guys hovered around .750-.800 OPS for a deep lineup.

Teruaki Sato was a 22 year old that came out slugging in the first half and got the attention of the league. He seemed like a lock for rookie of the year and led the Tigers in home runs on the year. But he really struggled in the second half including going a record 54 plate appearances by non-pitcher without a hit. He had 173 strikeouts in only 455 PAs (38%!!) and only 25 walks (5.5%) to go along with that. His 6 OB card is fun, however, and he earned himself a foil as an exciting young player. Here's a video from July discussing him and his extreme numbers.  

Here are the first of the new defensive/pinch runners. Kai Ueda's stats for the season were 64 games played, 7 PAs, 15 runs, and 10/11 stolen bases. Takahiro Kunagai had 73 games played, 6 PAs, 13 runs, and 7/8 on stolen bases. 

The starting pitching is deep with four Tier 2 starters, Masashi Itoh, Koyo Aoyagi, Takumi Akiyama, and Joe Gunkel. I probably should have made Olympian Koyo Aoyagi a foil, but then I felt obligated to make Joe Gunkel a foil since his card is almost identical, and I didn't want to do that. Robert Suarez put up a monster season as their closer leading the league in saves (42/43 opportunities) and having a minuscule 1.16 ERA and .77 WHIP. He is one of four Tier 0 relievers. 

Best 9: Jefry Marté, Koji Chikamoto

Foils: Jefry Marté, Koji Chikamoto, Teruaki Sato, Masashi Itoh, Robert Suarez

2020/1 Olympians: Ryutaro Umeno, Suguru Iwazaki, Koyo Aoyagi

Yomiuri Giants 61-62-20 (3rd place Central League, Lost to the Swallows to go to the Japan Series)

A disappointing season for a talented team with lots of recent success. Showdown-wise there is still a lot to like with this team. Hayato Sakamoto had a slightly down year by his standards, but was still the best shortstop in the league by 120 points and took home a 3rd consecutive gold glove. Slugger Kazuma Okamoto tied for the lead in home runs and led the league in RBIs, with 39 and 113, respectively. Tough break for him to not win Best 9 or make the Olympic roster (oddly he did win a gold glove), but his card will provide someone with some big-time power. Yoshihiro Maru has another really good 9 OB card. Special mention to super utility player, Akihiro Wakabayashi. If someone wants to get creative with roster building and defensive replacements late in a game he could be invaluable to provide flexibility. 

The pitching is headlined by Tomoyuki Sugano again. I chose to make him a unique Tier 2 with 2 control and 19 outs. The math seemed to work best, and I thought the 2-18 pitchers in the 2019 set were fun, so I wanted to see how a 2-19 pitcher would do. Kota Nakagawa once again is a great reliever card. Former (and possibly future) MLBer, Thyago Vieira, throws 100+ mph and had a record breaking scoreless streak of 32 appearances without giving up a run (by a non-Japanese pitcher). 

Best 9: Hayato Sakamoto

Foils: Hayato Sakamoto, Yoshihiro Maru, Kazuma Okamoto, Tomoyuki Sugano

2020/1 Olympians: Hayato Sakamoto, Tomoyuki Sugano (named to roster, but declined), Kota Nakagawa (named to roster, but declined) 

Hiroshima Carp 63-68-12 (4th place Central League)

I won't go on about Seiya Suzuki too much here. Plenty has been written about him and plenty more will be soon as he potentially makes the leap to the MLB this off-season. This video gives a great breakdown on Suzuki. He's the best card in the set...again...a 610 monster. I'd be surprised if he wasn't the #1 overall pick in our league draft...again. Shogo Sakakaura is a really good bat, but would probably be relegated to DH duties for most managers. Ryoma Nishikawa has another solid bat, and he is a lock to get drafted with that OF+3. Tsubasa Aizawa battled some injuries and had a down year for him, although still gets a usable card. 

Masato Morishita follows up his excellent 2020 rookie campaign with a good, but not excellent 2021 season. Closer Ryoji Kuribayashi burst onto the scene in 2021 and took home Central League Rookie of the Year and a gold medal. He was a perfect 37/37 on save opportunities, had a 0.86 ERA, gave up 1 home run all year, and allowed a measly 4.0 H/9 (although 4.8 BB/9) with 13.9 K/9. He earns the second of the four Tier 0 reliever cards.      

Best 9: Seiya Suzuki

Foils: Seiya Suzuki, Masato Morishita, Shogo Sakakura, Ryoji Kuribayashi

2020/1 Olympians: Seiya Suzuki, Masato Morishita, Ryoji Kuribayashi, Ryosuke Kikuchi, Tsubasa Aizawa (named to roster, but declined)

Chunichi Dragons 55-71-17 (5th place Central League)

The Dragons have a somewhat uninspiring team outside of their two studs at the top of the rotation. Dayan Viciedo has a good card, but at only 290 points it's rough for their best position player. Takuya Kinoshita is an interesting option at catcher. He's the 3rd most expensive catcher, and the two more expensive than him (Sakakura of the Carp and Mori of the Lions who will be in the Pacific League post) have +4 and +2 arms. Former big leaguer, Kosuke Fukudome, was surprisingly decent at 44 years old.     

The pitching is what carried this team to its 55 wins. Yuya Yanagi won the Best 9 award and led the league in ERA (2.20). Yudai Ohno wasn't quite as nasty as usual, but still earned a Tier 2 card with 7 IP. The bullpen has three Tier 1 arms and a nice 6 control Tier 3 option as well. I'd expect all four to make a roster. 

Best 9: Yuya Yanagi

Foils: Yuya Yanagi, Yudai Ohno

2020/1 Olympians: Yudai Ohno, Cristopher Mercedes (for the Dominican Republic)

Yokohama BayStars 54-73-16 (6th place Central League)

Another season and another color change for the BayStars cards! Let me know what you think of the gold look.

The BayStars have some very solid bats led by Tyler Austin's monster card. A 10 OB masher, his only real downside is the C (10) speed. He's backed by Rookie of the Year runner up, Shugo Maki, who had a sensational rookie season. Slashing .314/.356/.534 with 35 doubles and 22 homers. His card is wonderful if you can tolerate the 2B+0 defense. Keita Sano is one of the more consistent hitters in the NPB over the last few seasons, but again you need to be able to deal with his abysmal defense. Masayuki Kuwahara is another really fun bat with bad defense. And I think Toshiro Miyazaki finds his way onto a squad too. 

The pitching is about what you'd expect for a last place team. Haruhiro Hamaguchi is a very playable Tier 4 starter card with 4 control, lots of walks, and no doubles. Yoshiki Sunada is a lovely no doubles Tier 1 reliever. Edwin Escobar will absolutely find his way onto a roster as a value Tier 1 that gives up a homer. Kenta Ishida went from a Tier 2 (2 IP 280 points) card in 2019, to a Tier 3 (170 points) in 2020, but fell all the way to a Tier 7 (10 points) this season. Yasuaki Yamasaki made the Olympic team, although I think he was living mostly off past success as his 2021 season was only okay and 2020 was bad (he had a Tier 1 card in 2019).  

Best 9: None

Foils: Tyler Austin, Shugo Maki

2020/1 Olympians: Yasuaki Yamasaki, Tyler Austin (for USA)

That's it for the Central League! Next part will detail the Pacific League.