A last place finish will not sit with this Hawks management. New manager Akiyama has his work cut out for him, and while he does have a good core, he needs some more pieces to complete the Japan Series puzzle. These grades are in the order I think the Hawks need help in, from least help, to most help.
Grading the Positions
Starting Pitching: B+
This wasn't too bad for the Hawks last season. As long as Toshiya Sugiuchi and Tsuyoshi Wada are at the top of the rotation, you have 1A and 1B for your starters. Sugiuchi led the league in strikeouts last season and his ERA was under 3.00, while Wada ate innings for lunch despite not being 100% after elbow surgery. The club has stated their intentions to retain DJ Houlton, who was very good starting, but faltered at the end of the season (but then again, who didn't?), and hopefully spectacular rookie Kenji Ohtonari's elbow is healthy as well, so that makes four starters.
The problems come with who's after those four. Team ace Kazumi Saitoh missed all of last season with rotator cuff surgery, so his health will be in question, and his velocity will more than likely be down, which will definitely impact his breaking pitches, especially his vaunted forkball, but either way, that makes five starters for SoftBank.
The other problem is what has plagued SoftBank for the last couple years: who is starter #6? Rick Guttormson seems to be the guy, and he was excellent at the end of the season, but it was before the end of the season that worries me. Still, I love Guttormson, he's a real lunch-pail guy and always seems to want the ball. He did rack up 100 innings in an injury-shortened season, and hopefully he's healthy this season. Barring injuries, which hopefully don't snakebite the Hawks roster like in the past couple years, SoftBank seems primed to once again get near the top of the PL in starter's statistics.
Outfield: B-
This was the most injury-riddled area for the Hawks last season outside of pitching, but when the Opening Day starters were out there, the Hawks were in great shape. Shotaro Ide showed he could get it done with regular at-bats and was good defensively, Hiroshi Shibahara isn't getting any younger, but he was on his way to a career year before his back acted up, and Hitoshi Tamura, despite always being hurt, is still an excellent center fielder defensively. He just needs to put it together for a full season at the plate and (I know I'm tempting fate by saying this) not get hurt.
The backups are definitely able, too. The Hawks made what I thought was a bad trade by dealing Nao Ohmura for former Hawk Arihito Muramatsu. He's still good with the glove, but his bat isn't as good as Ohmura's. Other backups are down on the farm.
Of all the backups that played last year, Kenta Nakanishi looked the best, and Takeshi Tsuji was excellent in clutch situations. Yuya Hasegawa, Hisao Arakane, and part-time outfielder Yusuke Kosai are all serviceable, and Hasegawa and Arakane are great defensively, while Kosai is better with the bat. Nakanishi is pretty good with the bat, and Arakane is fairly good all around. Hasegawa just needs to stop swinging for the fences all the time and he'll be good. The present and the future looks bright for the Hawks in the outfield.
Infield: B-
There's an odd mix of old and young here. The entire infield is anchored by the speedy double-play tandem of Munenori Kawasaki at short and Yuichi Honda at 2nd, both with great range, and Nobuhiro Matsuda broke out with the bat this past season at 3rd base, and that covers the youngsters. Hiroki Kokubo played mostly first base last year, and while Nobuhiko Matsunaka is capable of playing first, he was mostly relegated to DH last season, which helped his balky knees (ironically enough, he did play a fair bit of left field last season, too).
If any of the starters get hurt, the Hawks do have serviceable backups in Tadaatsu Nakazawa, Satoru Morimoto, and Kenji Akashi, although none are particularly proficient with the bat. Even still, the Hawks aren't in terrible shape if an injury occurs, but injuries to Kawasaki have hurt the team, so he needs to stay healthy.
Bullpen: D+
This is where SoftBank is in desperate need of help. The bullpen was so up and down last season it was more of a roller coaster than anything else. The only given is closer Takehiro Mahara, and he was hurt for half of last season. What is more of a concern is finding a set-up man to be the bridge to Mahara.
This part of the bullpen lost more games than I care to count last season, and even when the veterans got healthy, they suffered their share of struggles. Akio Mizuta, Koji Mise, Takayuki Shinohara, and Makoto Satoh all had more downs than ups, and none of them are getting any younger. The Hawks also only seem to have one kid in the wings as a setup man, and that is Yuki Kume. He had some troubles with overuse, but he was great early last season. The veterans need to step up and stay healthy.
Catching: F
Oh man, don't get me started here. This was a point of contention for me at the beginning of last season, and it hasn't gotten any better so far this season. There are eligible free agents here, and one would definitely be preferable over letting the youngsters play. Katsuki Yamazaki can't hit, Hiroaki Takaya started fast but then couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a tennis racket, and Hidenori Tanoue is not good enough defensively, despite his good bat, not to mention his age.
So what's the solution? The Hawks still seem to think they can develop another Kenji Johjima, and it just will not happen. The only way the Hawks will see another Johjima is if Kenji himself does so terrible this season that the quick-trigger Seattle Mariners front office that his release is granted, he is allowed back to Japan, and he re-joins the Hawks. Not gonna happen.
There are a couple catchers available on the FA market. BayStars FA Ryoji Aikawa is thinking about the majors, but if he doesn't go, Yakult seems the likely destination. Some well-placed Yen could tip the scales in SoftBank's favor. The other catcher is Toshihiro Noguchi, but he seems destined to go to Yokohama, so he will most likely not be joining the Hawks.
Previous Topic
Grading the Positions
Starting Pitching: B+
This wasn't too bad for the Hawks last season. As long as Toshiya Sugiuchi and Tsuyoshi Wada are at the top of the rotation, you have 1A and 1B for your starters. Sugiuchi led the league in strikeouts last season and his ERA was under 3.00, while Wada ate innings for lunch despite not being 100% after elbow surgery. The club has stated their intentions to retain DJ Houlton, who was very good starting, but faltered at the end of the season (but then again, who didn't?), and hopefully spectacular rookie Kenji Ohtonari's elbow is healthy as well, so that makes four starters.
The problems come with who's after those four. Team ace Kazumi Saitoh missed all of last season with rotator cuff surgery, so his health will be in question, and his velocity will more than likely be down, which will definitely impact his breaking pitches, especially his vaunted forkball, but either way, that makes five starters for SoftBank.
The other problem is what has plagued SoftBank for the last couple years: who is starter #6? Rick Guttormson seems to be the guy, and he was excellent at the end of the season, but it was before the end of the season that worries me. Still, I love Guttormson, he's a real lunch-pail guy and always seems to want the ball. He did rack up 100 innings in an injury-shortened season, and hopefully he's healthy this season. Barring injuries, which hopefully don't snakebite the Hawks roster like in the past couple years, SoftBank seems primed to once again get near the top of the PL in starter's statistics.
Outfield: B-
This was the most injury-riddled area for the Hawks last season outside of pitching, but when the Opening Day starters were out there, the Hawks were in great shape. Shotaro Ide showed he could get it done with regular at-bats and was good defensively, Hiroshi Shibahara isn't getting any younger, but he was on his way to a career year before his back acted up, and Hitoshi Tamura, despite always being hurt, is still an excellent center fielder defensively. He just needs to put it together for a full season at the plate and (I know I'm tempting fate by saying this) not get hurt.
The backups are definitely able, too. The Hawks made what I thought was a bad trade by dealing Nao Ohmura for former Hawk Arihito Muramatsu. He's still good with the glove, but his bat isn't as good as Ohmura's. Other backups are down on the farm.
Of all the backups that played last year, Kenta Nakanishi looked the best, and Takeshi Tsuji was excellent in clutch situations. Yuya Hasegawa, Hisao Arakane, and part-time outfielder Yusuke Kosai are all serviceable, and Hasegawa and Arakane are great defensively, while Kosai is better with the bat. Nakanishi is pretty good with the bat, and Arakane is fairly good all around. Hasegawa just needs to stop swinging for the fences all the time and he'll be good. The present and the future looks bright for the Hawks in the outfield.
Infield: B-
There's an odd mix of old and young here. The entire infield is anchored by the speedy double-play tandem of Munenori Kawasaki at short and Yuichi Honda at 2nd, both with great range, and Nobuhiro Matsuda broke out with the bat this past season at 3rd base, and that covers the youngsters. Hiroki Kokubo played mostly first base last year, and while Nobuhiko Matsunaka is capable of playing first, he was mostly relegated to DH last season, which helped his balky knees (ironically enough, he did play a fair bit of left field last season, too).
If any of the starters get hurt, the Hawks do have serviceable backups in Tadaatsu Nakazawa, Satoru Morimoto, and Kenji Akashi, although none are particularly proficient with the bat. Even still, the Hawks aren't in terrible shape if an injury occurs, but injuries to Kawasaki have hurt the team, so he needs to stay healthy.
Bullpen: D+
This is where SoftBank is in desperate need of help. The bullpen was so up and down last season it was more of a roller coaster than anything else. The only given is closer Takehiro Mahara, and he was hurt for half of last season. What is more of a concern is finding a set-up man to be the bridge to Mahara.
This part of the bullpen lost more games than I care to count last season, and even when the veterans got healthy, they suffered their share of struggles. Akio Mizuta, Koji Mise, Takayuki Shinohara, and Makoto Satoh all had more downs than ups, and none of them are getting any younger. The Hawks also only seem to have one kid in the wings as a setup man, and that is Yuki Kume. He had some troubles with overuse, but he was great early last season. The veterans need to step up and stay healthy.
Catching: F
Oh man, don't get me started here. This was a point of contention for me at the beginning of last season, and it hasn't gotten any better so far this season. There are eligible free agents here, and one would definitely be preferable over letting the youngsters play. Katsuki Yamazaki can't hit, Hiroaki Takaya started fast but then couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a tennis racket, and Hidenori Tanoue is not good enough defensively, despite his good bat, not to mention his age.
So what's the solution? The Hawks still seem to think they can develop another Kenji Johjima, and it just will not happen. The only way the Hawks will see another Johjima is if Kenji himself does so terrible this season that the quick-trigger Seattle Mariners front office that his release is granted, he is allowed back to Japan, and he re-joins the Hawks. Not gonna happen.
There are a couple catchers available on the FA market. BayStars FA Ryoji Aikawa is thinking about the majors, but if he doesn't go, Yakult seems the likely destination. Some well-placed Yen could tip the scales in SoftBank's favor. The other catcher is Toshihiro Noguchi, but he seems destined to go to Yokohama, so he will most likely not be joining the Hawks.