It’s hard to remember a June that went well for the Hanshin Tigers. Interleague is simply not our friend, and I have a theory about that, but I’ll save it for another time. Anyhow, the team also often struggles out of the gates and in the short stretch between interleague and the all-star break. This year was no exception to any of those general trends.
First, let’s look at some of the brighter spots on the month. There aren’t many, so this shouldn’t take too long.
Fumihito Haraguchi made his triumphant return from cancer to the top squad at the beginning of interleague play. His first plate appearance was in Chiba against the Marines, and he hit a hard double off the wall, slid headfirst into second base, and was replaced by a pinch runner. Incredible moment.
He outdid himself that same week at home against the Nippon Ham Fighters. With the game tied and two runners in scoring position, he deposited a single into shallow center for a walkoff single. Storybook stuff.
They started the following week fairly well, holding their own against the dynasty of the decade (particularly in interleague play), the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. Randy Messenger was an out from a complete game, but the Hawks tied the game up. Still, the relievers held fort and the team got itself a tie. Then a huge win the next game, with super-slugger (haha) Kai Ueda launching his first career home run into the right-field stands. He had received plenty of criticism for his inability to get anything done from the left side of the plate, but that one at-bat shut up a ton of his critics.
The pitching was excellent on almost all fronts. Honestly, the rotation is an unexpected crew (including veteran southpaw Minoru Iwata and sophomore lefty Haruto Takahashi) but they’ve held strong. Despite missing Pierce Johnson badly while he rested due to fatigue, the bullpen was still among the stronger in NPB during interleague.
The rest of the month was mostly lowlights. Yes, the Tigers took two of three against the Saitama Seibu Lions, but that was all. Lots and lots of games should have been won, but instead went down as disappointing losses. Of note:
Koji Chikamoto has lost his mojo. Opposing pitchers have figured him out (.179 / 24 K on the month), and he has yet to make the proper adjustments. Since he has not shown the ability to walk his way on base, his greatest asset (oh, those legs!) have been completely neutralized.
Despite Ryutaro Umeno leading the team with four home runs on the month, his average also plummeted (.215 in June) and he added to his league-top total of double plays (his total is 14 and we’re barely half finished the season). On the bright side, he stole 5 bases on the month, including third base two times, to lead the team in that category.
The month can be summed up by looking at the porous defense. Yusuke Ohyama had six errors on the month (and leads the league with 14 on the year). Seiya Kinami and Fumiya Hojoh platooned at short and combined for six errors, too. That doesn’t even include all the plays that they messed up but did not make the record books. Keep in mind, those twelve errors were committed by two positions. There were a ton of other defensive blunders on the month, and although the pitchers’ numbers weren’t necessarily adversely affected by the errors, their pitch counts went up, and several games that could have been wins, ended in losses.
There’s one more factor that I think cost the team a few games, but I’ll save some of my commentary for the next episode of the podcast. Stay tuned.
The Tigers were as many as six games over .500 (as they were on June 6) but are now a game below mediocrity. They need to flip the calendar, never look back, and produce better results in July.