June 6th Shimoyanagi v Terahara - Welcome to the 1990s

Before getting onto the game I'd like to take a look at Kubota (and unknown guest, your second post was deleted because I want to move the discussion here - please repost). I've claimed that he is one of Tigers elite pitchers which on his ability and quality I do think is justified. However, others think not and in earlier years I did run a Kubota log (as well as a Williams log) listing his blown games so my view has changed. Why do I value Kubota? Because he frequently gets the job done especially late season. Certainly he's flakey and prone to nerves - I remember him blowing one game against Rakuten when he was Tigers closer which was purely due to nerves. He was part of the JFK trio and (this was when he was younger) played a significant and honourable part especially when moved to set up. If you remember JFK frequently the opposition gave up when the game reached this stage. Kubota though began to be overpitched as Jeff Williams began to fade. Okada was the culprit here and there was the misconceived idea of making him a starter which was stillborn. Injuries have also played their part in this but he is still a good pitcher. This year he has been used in penny amounts though. Mayumi has strange ideas about pitching and loves to display his favourites. Currently, his No. 1 is Enokida who has made a good start but has had a lot of luck. Another favourite is Kobayashi who has not yet shown the temperament to be a set up man. Kubota has been rather sidelined which is not going to do anything for his confidence. However, no pitcher who can take on two innings of middle relief with a pathetic catcher and strike out six batters in a row can be said to be anything but an elite pitcher. Furthermore, people do need to remember that some players do take longer to get going and players go through slumps as well. This whole team is currently not performing and as such Kubota is not such a standout. The Sunday game was an indication of just how good he can be (the best pitcher on the field in that game) and hopefully a sign that he is beginning to get going.

Now to the game - once again for reasons unknown Mayumi decided to start the useless Fujii who incidentally has yet to win a game. He was totally worthless yet again and paired with the fading Shimoyanagi was a disaster. It was depressing enough that Shimoyanagi was brought up to pitch again when he clearly isn't capable of it but pitchers like Akiyama are injured. The question has to be asked, why are Tigers young signings getting injured so frequently? Is the coaching that bad that it messes up these young players? Anyway the 1990s are back again - Tigers are bottom, players aren't making the effort, worthless timeservers are in the first team and the management and coaching team haven't a clue and are so passive you'ld think that an amoeba was more active. Terahara is normally a pitcher Tigers happily knock around, he used to fall apart by the sixth innings but not this game. He carried a complete game shutout into the ninth and almost made it. Scores

           1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Buffaloes  0 1 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 6 11 1
Tigers     0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1  6 2

Starting lineups

Buffaloes
1. Sakaguchi (Centre)
2. Taguchi (Right)
3. Gotoh (Second)
4. T. Okada (Left)
5. Kitagawa (First)
6. Baldris (Third)
7. Ohbiki (Short)
8. Itoh (Catcher)
9. Terahara (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Murton (Right)
2. Hirano (Second)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Arai (Third)
5. Brazell (First)
6. Kanemoto (Left)
7. Shibata (Centre)
8. Fujii (Catcher)
9. Shimoyanagi (Pitcher)

Things started smoothly with the Buffaloes failing to get a base runner in their first. This state of affairs wasn't to last long though. Murton started Tigers first with a hit to left and made second on Hirano's ground out to short. Surprisingly the bunt wasn't signaled which makes a nice change. Neither Arai nor Toritani could do anything, Arai in particular having a poor game. Everything unraveled in the Buffaloes second. Fujii could not call the game properly and Shimoyanagi did not look particularly pleased to be pitching to him. With one out Kitagawa hit a two base to right. Baldris hit to left to set up runners on the corners and then Ohbiki walked. Itoh hit a sacrifice fly to right 1-0 Buffaloes, runners on second and third but the final batter was Terahara who grounded out to Shimoyanagi to end the innings. Auspicious it was not. Still Brazell led off Tigers second with a hit. Kanemoto hung around a bit longer but flew out to right and then Shibata hit into a straightforward double play to end the innings. So much for that. Buffaloes third was a gift. Sakaguchi led off with a hit. Taguchi drove right. Gotoh hit to right as well and Sakaguchi was home from second 2-0 Buffaloes, runners on first and third. Okada flew out to Fujii (about the only thing he did right all night). Kitagawa hit into centre where Shibata fumbled the ball allowing the runner on third to get home 3-0 Buffaloes, runners on second and third. This was the end of Shimoyanagi who was replaced by Fukuhara - at least Mayumi got that right. Fukuhara faced Baldris who swung at his third pitch. Fujii took the ball and tried to pick off second but missed entirely and the runner third was home 4-0 Buffaloes. Baldris walked but Fukuhara then struck out the next two batters to end the innings. Shimoyanagi hadn't done well but then with Fujii calling one shouldn't be surprised. Tigers third was quiet as the batters fell in order.

Watanabe pitched Buffaloes fourth, Mayumi having used a pinch hitter (Kurose - useless again) in the Tigers third. He did well retiring the batters in order. Terahara had his first scare in Tigers fourth when Hirano led off with a hit to left. Toritani hit to centre and Tigers had runners on first and second with no outs. Arai managed to hit into a double play but Hirano made third. Brazell, though, also hit to short and the innings was over. Tigers brief respite was rapidly over as Fujii got his calls wrong again. Gotoh led off with a two base hit which Okada converted with a hit to centre 5-0 Buffaloes. Then Kitagawa hit to right - he was having a good night - runners on first and second. Baldris flew out and it was Ohbiki's turn to hit into an innings ending double play. Tigers fifth was quiet - by now Terahara had found a nice rhythm and was pitching confidently and well. His final victim was Fujii who struck out swinging cluelessly to a fork. Another innings from Watanabe and this time the bottom of the Buffaloes order which fell 1-2-3. Tigers sixth saw no one reach base. Throughout the game the abuse from the fans was merciless. Tigers fans are not happy at all and want Mayumi out.

Kubota pitched the Buffaloes seventh - would he be too tired? One thing that catchers do need to be aware of his Kubota's propensity to keep low when tired. Fujii wasn't. Taguchi led off with a hit to centre. Fujii was not catching well and was having trouble as Kubota dropped his pitches down. One went past him and Taguchi scrambled to second. Gotoh grounded out and Kubota faced Okada. Another low pitch and Fujii missed it again - Taguchi on third. This was terrible catching and one really can't blame Kubota for this. Okada hit to short where Toritani fielded but couldn't get the throw away in time 6-0 Buffaloes. This re-energised Kubota who worked up to 150 kph striking out the next two batters. Still another run down but if Fujii had been up to his job this likely wouldn't have happened. Toritani responded in Tigers hitting to first and making base safely. Here he stayed and the next three batters did nothing. Kobayashi pitched Buffaloes eighth Mayumi quite simply having run out of pitchers he could use. Kobayashi had an easy time of it and retired all three batters. Unfortunately Tigers eighth was also quiet and Terahara could start contemplating a complete game shutout. For Buffaloes ninth we saw Nishimura making his first appearance this season - he pitched to Komiyama, Fujii having been replaced. This was comfortable with the batters falling in order. Whatever I may think of Komiyama he was an improvement on Fujii. Terahara's big moment came but it wasn't to be. Murton led off with a hit and then Hirano walked, runners on first and second. A wild pitch took the runners to second and third. Toritani grounded out to second which brought Murton home 6-1 Buffaloes, runner on third. Arai hit a grounder to first which was fumbled but Hirano didn't try for home. Tigers had runners on first and third but Brazell hit into a double play to end the game. Buffaloes victory.

Buffaloes had beaten the Tigers 3-1 this year. They had outplayed an apathetic and poorly managed team. After the game Sakai owner who had been watching in the stands had modified his comments about the coaching team. Previously, he had said that there was no chance of replacing the coaches and manager but this time his response was 'Not yet'. However, it needs to be sooner rather than later as Tigers are now sixth and don't seem to have any formula to get off the bottom. Why Fujii started the game is incomprehensible as he was out of his depth. Why Shimoyanagi also started is difficult to fathom. Ladies and gentlemen please continue this way for further installments of our tour - the 1990s Hanshin Tigers with the next games against the Marines.

Again, I guess we're going to agree to disagree on Kubota. I know you have a major soft spot for him, but he's not at all the pitcher he was three years ago - that injury took a good 5kph off his fastball, and without that explosiveness he's very vulnerable. He was impressive on Sunday, but I was at the game yesterday - those two wild pitches were unblockable, and the hits off of him were cleanly hit off of hittable pitches. He just doesn't have what it takes to be a top-flight relief pitcher anymore. He's serviceable in, say, a two-run or three-run game, but as a set-up man he just doesn't cut it. If Kobahiro can get his head on straight I'd love to see a victory relay of Kobayashi - Enokida - Kyuji. I'm sold on Enokida. All the kid does is go out and get batters out. Not sure why you feel he's been lucky, all his metrics point to him being the real deal.

Enokida is new - talented yes but new and that is the thing - it's all new and exciting. As batters get used to him I expect more hits and runs given up.
I never saw Kubota as being explosive, fast yes but not explosive - his strength was actually his placement which can be centimetre perfect. I agree that the hittable pitches were hittable but the wild pitches should have been stopped (and I saw them on TV). Late last season Kubota was throwing 155/6 kph so I don't think he's lost speed.

I still think there's a big difference between someone who IS elite and someone who WAS elite. Kubota is obviously the latter. Sure, he does still have the occasional night where he can come in and blow away the opposition. But he also has just as many nights where you might get a couple wild pitches or even a wild throw to first base and a quick blown lead. Being elite is all about being consistent. Ichiro is elite because he is almost guaranteed to bat over .300 and get 200 hits each year. Despite his post-season performance, Kyuji is an elite reliever. Kubota WAS an elite reliever, but now he only makes me nervous when he's brought in in tight games. I still think he needs to prove that he belongs in that situation and can consistently get it done. This season he hasn't proven that. Or the past several seasons for that matter.

I also like the use of Enokida right now. One of Mayumi's biggest faults is his over-reliance on veterans. So, it's a breath of fresh air that he has put his trust in Enokida. Considering his age, I do fear that he will fade down the stretch. However, when a team is in a rut like the Tigers you have to go with who is performing and try to claw your way back.

I agree with you but still think Kubota has it. We both know that both Kanemoto and Shimoyanagi are in the latter category but Kubota? We have to consider the management of the team and how it affects the pitchers as well. This is not a good environment for the pitching staff who don't seem to be valued or understood. Kubota was the stand out pitcher over the latter half of last season. He was the one getting the job done but this has been quickly forgotten. I would personally be more worried about Kobayashi who hasn't settled in at all. I am not prepared to write off Kubota yet, Sunday showed his quality over two innings - that is not the performance of a pitcher who has fallen by the wayside. Kyuji still has to prove that he can save the games you can't afford to lose - he has to reach the level of Saseki or Iwase and he isn't there yet.

I admit I have a soft spot for Kubota too, but I don't know if you can ever call a flakey pitcher 'elite'. To me, Kubota has too many off days - on his day, he can destroy opposition batting lineups with ease, but I'm not sure those days are frequent enough any more. He started off this season well, but his performance has gone downhill quickly. Notwithstanding Mayumi's hopeless handling of pitchers, I don't think Kubota can really afford to have sulkey days this season when he thinks he's too good for the opposition. An ERA of over 5 doesn't exactly scream 'I'm too good'. I do think he's still got it - hopefully new management would sort him out.

I also think you're giving Enokida a raw deal by calling him Mayumi's favourite or lucky - he might be new and batters don't know him well, but he keeps entering games and not giving up runs. He's getting the job done far better than our other 'elite' pitchers.

Hate to say it, but your memory is off. Kubota only ever hit 156 once, and that was in '03 at Matsuyama. It's the club fastest pitch record, which he took from Fukuhara. Last season he rarely topped 152, and he's been around 150 all year this year. You can say he gets it up for late-season games which are "more important", but a win in April is worth just as much as a win in August. You can say that those wild pitches should have been blocked, but that first one especially bounced ten feet in front of the plate and popped up over Fujii's shoulder. He had no chance. You can say that he has pinpoint control, but so far this season he's walked 7 guys in 16 2/3 innings, for a rate of 9.18 BB/9IP, which is ludicrous. He was a good pitcher - even last year he wound up with a WHIP of 1.09, which is very good - but this year he's been absolutely brutal. Calling him "elite" is just wishing it was 2005 again. He's not the same pitcher.

Blew the math on my BB/9 calculation, haha, stupid calculator and not stopping to think for a second. Still works out to 3.78 BB/9, which is entirely too high for an elite closer (by comparison, Enokida is on 3.27 and Kyuji has 2.55).

Off the Kubota topic for a while...When I checked Yahoo Sports early yesterday, Messenger was slated as the starter, but then Mayumi went with Shimo. Do you know if Messenger was just listed as a ploy or did Mayumi have reason to change to Shimo?

Not that we need another reason to discredit Mayumi, but yesterday was the worst possible timing to pitch Shimo. With the atrocious game Kubo had the day before, a quality and lengthy start was really important to conserve the bullpen. Even on a good day Shimo is probably only going to go 5 or 6 innings, so yet another stupid move. On the other hand, Messenger has actually pitched fairly well this year. Like most Tigers starters, he has suffered from a lack of run support.

By the way, you mentioned the Buffaloes swept the season series. The Tigers did actually win one game against them at Kyocera. But 1-3 against Orix is still unacceptable.

Thanks for that - you're right of course and I've corrected the entry. I don't understand why Shimoyanagi was used. Maybe for the surprise effect though it was more of a surprise to Tigers. He didn't last long though. Messenger would have been the sensible choice though.

On Kubota's speed, Eric is mistaken - he reached 155 kph on 27th July 2010 against BayStars. September 2nd 2010 he reached 154 kph again against BayStars and on September 29th 156 kph against the Giants and these outings also included other pitches over 150kph.