The Greatest MLB Showdown Project: 2022 NPB Central League

While the cards in this post will focus on the Central League, I wanted to briefly discuss the 2022 NPB season as a whole before we get into it. Not unlike the MLB, offense was way down across the board. In April, Roki Sasaki had a 19 strikeout perfect game and then followed it up with another 8 perfect innings (and 14 strike outs) before being pulled due to pitch count. There were 4 other no-hitters, the first time there have been 5 in a season since 1940. The others were by Nao Higashihama of the Hawks, Shota Imanaga of the BayStars, Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Buffaloes, and American Cody Ponce of the Fighters.

The Orix Buffaloes won their first championship since 1996 (back when they were the Orix Blue Waves and Ichiro was leading the team). They defeated the defending champions, Tokyo Yakult Swallows, in four straight games after being down 0-2-1 (yes, there was a tie in Game 2).

Speaking of the Swallows, the player that kicked off my fascination (read: obsession) with the NPB all those years ago, Munetaka Murakami, put up a season for the ages. He broke the Japanese-born single-season home run record set by the legendary Sadaharu Oh (if you don't know him by now, please refer to the super seasons card post). He hit an astounding 56 home runs on the season (The Dragons as a team hit 62). He actually had a chance to get the single season overall record, but after tying Oh, the pressure seemed to get to him and he slumped, going 48 straight at-bats without a home run before hitting number 56 on the final day of the season. For good measure, he won the Triple Crown. It was the first offensive triple crown in the NPB since 2004, first in the Central League since 1986 (Randy Bass)Nobuhiko Matsunaka), and he was the youngest to ever win it at 22 years old. He won Central League MVP unanimously as well. This offseason he singed a 3-year deal with the Swallows, which stipulates that he will be posted to the MLB after the 2025 season. So 3 more years of NPB cards, before we see what the Showdown Bot has for him!

Quick Note: Generally Pennant Run is for cards that had less than ~250 PAs, and partial seasons for pitchers.

First place Tokyo Yakult Swallows 80-59-4. Lost to Orix Buffaloes in the Japan Series

I won't go on about Murakami anymore here, although I will mention that he's the best hitter in the set by far. Masataka Yoshida (now a member of the Boston Red Sox) is the next closest at 530 points. The offense overall is very solid. They had 2 other Best 9 winners besides Murakami, with Jose Osuna and Yuhei Nakamura. Tetsuto Yamada is no longer the behemoth he once was, but still hits for solid power. Yasutaka Shiomi built off his breakout 2021 with another great season, you'll see him in the WBC. Domingo Santana is a power threat from a set that has very few.

Foils: Munetaka Murakami, Tetsuto Yamada, Domingo Santana, Noboru Shimizu, Keiji Takahashi

Probable WBC participants for Japan: Murakami, Yamada, Shiomi, Nakamura, Takahashi

Pennant Run

Pitching: The rotation leaves something to be desired, but the bullpen is legit. The rotation behind ace Keiji Takahashi is just okay. You can see that it's the offense that makes this team go.

Alt. cards

Second place Yokohama DeNA BayStars 73-68-2. Lost to the Tigers in the first stage

Shugo Maki's excellent rookie season was followed up with an almost identical card, and this year he won the Best 9 award. Keita Sano continues to be one of the more consistent and solid hitters, winning his second career Best 9. It's a pretty deep lineup overall, and I could see almost all of them getting drafted. Quick note on the summer jerseys. They were too ugly to make as the main card, so they are just alternatives.

Foils: Shugo Maki, Keita Sano, Shota Imanaga, Yasuaki Yamasaki

Probable WBC participants for Japan: Maki, Imanaga

Pennant Run

Alts

Pitching: Shota Imanaga is a legit ace. It will be fun to see how his 3 control 19 out card plays. Similarly curious to see how Yamasaki's 4 control 19 out card plays. Former NY Met, Robert Gsellman, had a nice little shortened debut to earn a pennant run card. Lots of good arms to draft from this squad.

Pennant Run

Third place Hanshin Tigers 68-71-4. Lost to Swallows in the Climax Series.

After starting 1-19, for the Tigers to crawl back and be only 3 under .500 and win a playoffs series was quite the accomplishment. According to Baseball-references' Pythagorean W-L they should have been 78-61, and I think their cards reflect that.

After bursting onto the scene last year as a rookie, and then slumping hard in the second half, Teruaki Sato, showed he's a legit player this year and made improvements in OB and strikeouts while maintaining good pop. It'll be interesting to see if he has another level he can get to, as he's still only 23. Koji Chikamoto won his second straight Best 9 award. And shortstop, Takumu Nakano, took home the Best 9 in his second season. I always like Yusuke Ohyama's cards, he's consistently a solid OB and power bat. The legendary Yoshio Itoi's career is coming to a close, but you could do a lot worse for 50 points.

Foils: Yusuke Ohyama, Teruaki Sato, Koji Chikamoto, Koyo Aoyagi, Masashi Itoh, Hiroto Saiki

Probable WBC participants for Japan: Sato, Chikamoto, Nakano, Atsuki Yuasa

Pennant Run

Alt. Cards

Pitching: This is where the Tigers really shine. A big part of their turn around after that brutal start was Koyo Aoyagi's return from injury. Their top 5 pitchers by IP all had ERAs under 2.75, with Aoyagi leadng the way at 2.05. As a staff they had 7 shutouts (2 each from Aoyagi, Yuki Nishi, and Masashi Itoh, and 1 from Hiroto Saiki). Aoyagi earned the Best 9 award for his efforts. The bullpen isn't overwhelming, but has more than enough when you consider how good and how many innings the rotation will throw.

Quick mention of Shintaro Fujinami: he has been posted with the chance to sign with the MLB, but is unsigned as of the writing of this post. He was a huge prospect out of high school, and in the 2012 draft he was selected by 4 teams (they do the draft differently there and multiple teams can select a player, it's then a lottery for that player). Meanwhile, Shohei Ohtani and Tomoyuki Sugano both were only drafted by a single team, respectively. That gives you an idea of how sought after Fujinami was. Anyway, he put up some strong numbers early on in his career, but never was very consistent. He still has plus stuff (fastball in the upper 90s and can hit 101), so it'll be interesting to see if an MLB team can unlock his full potential.

Pennant Run

Fourth place Yomiuri Giants 68-72-3 missed playoffs

A very disappointing year for the powerhouse Giants. They still have a lot of talent, but it's starting to age and the pitching was not enough for them to make the playoffs (not to mention their OF defense!). They got shut out on Best 9 awards, which is very unusual for them. Kazuma Okamoto continues to be one of the best power bats in Japan, but hasn't reached that next level, he's still only 26 though. Yoshihiro Maru is consistently one of the best bats and at 33 isn't showing too many signs of slowing down. Hayato Sakamoto only had 352 PAs on the year, and had his usually good defense, OB, and average, but the power was limited. We'll see if he can bounce back next season, but age may be catching up with him. Former Pirate, Geregory Polanco, had a nice, but not spectacular NPB debut. And long-time minor leaguer, Adam Walker, put up good power numbers in his debut, but only had 18 walks (and a .306 OBP) on the season.

Foils: Sho Nakata, Yoshihiro Maru, Kazuma Okamoto, Hayato Sakamoto, Takumi Oshiro, Shosei Togo, Taisei Ota

Probable WBC participants for Japan: Okamoto, Shosei Togo, Taisei Ota

Pennant Run

Alt cards

Pitching: This is where the team faltered. Taisei Ota won rookie of the year (and may be the WBC closer) and Shosei Togo is only 22 and had a very strong campaign. But beyond that it's not great. The legendary, Tomoyuki Sugano, seems mortal these days and isn't getting any younger. Matt Shoemaker's debut in Japan after a long, mostly solid MLB career, left something to be desired (lack of beard too).

Fifth place Hiroshima Toyo Carp 66-74-3. Missed playoffs

Their first season without superstar, Seiya Suzuki, and the carp floundered (sorry). They still have some talent, but losing Suzuki was too large of a hole to fill. Shogo Akiyama returned to Japan after an unsuccessful try in the US, and was solid in his limited action, but is already 34 years old. Shogo Sakakura (who won MVP in our Showdown 2021 league) put up another solid season. And Ryoma Nishikawa always puts together a really well-rounded card.

Foils: Ryoma Nishikawa, Shogo Sakakura, Ryoji Kuribayashi, Hiroki Tokoda

Probable WBC participants for Japan: Ryoma Nishikawa, Daisuke Moriura (I don't get this selection, especially when Kuribayashi is one the best pitchers in Japan)

Pennant Run

Pitching: Actually some solid arms on this staff. Led by 25 year old second-year star, Ryoji Kuribayashi. His card last year was almost identical. He actually dramatically cut down on his walks (and WHIP), so 2 walks is probably not super accurate, but since his H/9 was 4.1 and he gave up 0 HRs on the year, it was tough not to make him a Tier 0 control 6. Masato Morishita is an innings eater at age 24 (and declined a WBC roster spot), but his WHIP is a bit too high to be an ace. Daisuke Moriura is on the WBC roster, and I really don't understand why. I know someone is drafting that Nik Turley card.

Pennant Run

6th place Chunichi Dragons 66-75-2 missed playoffs.

As previously mentioned, they just barely outhomered Murakami as a team. So if you are looking for impact bats, look elsewhere. 20-year old, Yuki Okabayashi, won Best 9 in his rookie season (he had some cups of coffee in the two prior seasons). He played an outstanding outfield, stole some bases, hit for a high average, but hit 0 home runs(he did hit 25 doubles, and 10 triples though), and didn't get on base at an especially high rate. I still see him getting drafted early though. Viciedo continues his run of solid cards, and Ariel Martinez will get some play too. I think most of their other players get rostered as decent punt options too.

Foils: Yohei Ohshima, Yuki Okabayashi, Raidel Martinez, Yudai Ohno, Hiroto Takahashi

Probable WBC participants for Japan: Hiroto Takahashi

Pennant Run

Pitching: The Dragons pitching is what kept this team afloat. Perennial ace, Yudai Ohno, put up another very good season. His usual number 2, Yuya Yanagi, took a step back this season, unfortunately. However, there was the emergence of Hiroto Takahashi. Turning 20 in August, this was his first full season and he has shown to be a legit ace already. Expect to see him in the WBC. The bullpen has good arms as well. Raidel Martinez continues his run of dominance in Japan. Tatsuya Shimizu and Yariel Rodriguez both get drafted, for sure.