As the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) season progresses, here is a look at the top news and notes from the past week in Japan’s highest level of professional baseball.
Central League Takes Game 1 of All-Star Series 11-6
The Central League scored nine runs in the top of the second inning in Game 1 of Tuesday’s NPB All-Star series. The game was an offensive onslaught, something uncommon in what fans of NPB consider a dead ball era.
Yokohama DeNA BayStars second baseman Shugo Maki was named MVP for Game 1 of the All-Star Series, going 2-for-3 with two home runs and a walk for the Central League.
The Central League put together a historic second inning, breaking the record of six extra-base hits in an NPB All-Star game with seven. According to NPB on Reddit on X, Tokyo Yakult Swallows infielder Munetaka Murakami became the second NPB All-Star Game player to record two extra-base hits in an inning, with a home run and a double in the second. Pacific League starting pitcher Sachiya Yamasaki allowed all nine runs in the second inning, a feat that tied former Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters pitcher Masaru Takeda in 2011.
Starting Pitchers for Game 2 of the All-Star Series Announced
Game 1 of the NPB All-Star Series was held at Es Con Field, Hokkaido, in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaido, and Game 2 will take place on Wednesday at Meiji Jingu Baseball Stadium in Shinjuku, Tokyo.
The starting pitcher for Game 2 of the NPB All-Star Series for the Pacific League will be former Texas Rangers Kohei Arihara. Arihara, 31, has a 2.04 ERA this season for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in 15 starts. 2024 is his third NPB All-Star selection, making previous appearances in 2016 and 2019 with the Fighters.
The starting pitcher for Game 2 of the NPB All-Star series for the Central League will be Kojiro Yoshimura of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. Yoshimura, 26, is playing his second season in NPB with the Swallows, posting a 3.31 ERA in 14 starts leading up to the All-Star break. In 2023, he represented Japan in the Asia Professional Baseball Championship, hosted at the Tokyo Dome.
Kensuke Kondoh Advances to Final Round of Home Run Derby
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks outfielder and catcher Kensuke Kondoh defeated Shugo Maki four home runs to three in the first round of the NPB home run derby on Tuesday to advance to the second round.
In the second round, Kondoh and third baseman Kazuma Okamoto of the Yomiuri Giants hit six home runs each, forcing a tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker round, Kondoh edged Okamoto five home runs to four to advance to tomorrow’s final.
Before hitting 23 dingers in 2023, Kondoh’s previous career high for home runs in a single season was 11 in 2021 while playing for the Fighters. The 30-year-old hit 13 in his first 87 games played before the NPB All-Star Series.
This Day in Japanese Baseball History
On July 23, 2021, former Japanese MLB and NPB player Hideki Matsui accompanied NPB’s all-time home run leader Sadaharu Oh as a torchbearer at the opening ceremony of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The Summer Olympics were delayed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Baseball returned to the Summer Olympics in 2021 for the first time since the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The six national teams competing were Israel, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, the United States, and the Dominican Republic.
Matsui is a member of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame for his outstanding play with the Yomiuri Giants from 1993-2002. He also won World Series MVP with the New York Yankees in 2009, among many other accomplishments that earned him the nickname “Godzilla.”
NPB Standings as of Tuesday, July 23
Central League
Pacific League
You can stream all NPB games on DAZN.
Photo Credit: Infielder Shugo Maki #2 of Japan hits a solo home run in the 5th inning during the Asia Professional Baseball Championship Final between South Korea and Japan at Tokyo Dome on November 19, 2023 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Gene Wang/Getty Images)
