August 5th Kubo v Tohno - Hard questions

Firstly, one has to ask the question, is Kubo suffering from having been overpitched? He has thrown 134 innings already (only Maeda in the Central League has thrown more - though Ishikawa and Chen do come close) and as we know has been involved in some marathon stints. He started spectacularly and then melted down spectacularly the very next innings. It's almost as if he cannot maintain consistency. His arm will just not respond. Mayumi has shown a tendency to consistently pitch Kubo for more than he should. This may already be having an effect on the pitchers arm.
It is also linked to the bullpen issue. Mayumi has too few relief pitchers. Teams are allowed 26 players on the bench. Last night Tigers had 24 and the Giants 25 but the Giants had one more relief pitcher than Tigers. Tigers also had three catchers on the bench whilst Giants had two. If Mayumi is reluctant to use the bullpen his starters have to pitch more. If he doesn't have enough pitchers they are almost obliged to pitch more and his bullpen pitchers get tired more rapidly. Mayumi would benefit from bringing three relief pitchers up from ni-gun and dropping Shimizu and Andoh down.
We now move to the replacement of Johjima in the fifth. This looks to be a piece of Mayumi stupidity. When it was announced it was booed by the Tigers fans in the left stand - it was not a popular decision and the rationale for it wasn't clear. Mayumi was unclear about why the decision was taken but mumbled something about fatigue and that Johjima needed a rest. One has to question the decision - if this was the case why was Johjima allowed to start the match? The other big mystery was the use of Shimizu instead of Kanoh. Why not use your best replacement instead of someone who is not up to first team level yet? But why pull Johjima anyway? His power was sadly missed in the later stages of the game. One has to say that this defeat was due as much to Mayumi's cack-handed incompetence in team management as much as the players poor performance (and they were poor this game). Scores

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

Starting lineups

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

Giants
1. Sakamoto (Short)
2. Matsumoto (Centre)
3. Ogasawara (Third)
4. Ramirez (Left)
5. Abe (Catcher)
6. Takahashi (First)
7. Chono (Right)
8. Wakiya (Second)
9. Tohno (Pitcher)

Tohno would start the first comfortably retiring the top of the Tigers order in succession. Kubo started wonderfully, striking out all three batters swinging with a brilliant display of pitching. It looked very like Giants were going to struggle to score. Tigers second saw Kanemoto hit to Sakamoto and beat the throw but Johjima flew out to the same Sakamoto to end the innings. Kubo fell apart in Giants second. He started by dead balling Ramirez. Then he walked Abe setting up runners on first and second. Takahashi was next and Kubo struggled to get the out finally serving up a fast ball in the zone which was hammered into the right stand for a three run home run 3-0 Giants. Chono followed with a two base hit to right centre and then Wakiya directed his first pitch into centre for a timely hit 4-0 Giants, runner on first. This hit gave Wakiya the Central League record for the number of straight games in which a batter has scored a run (15). At this stage Kubo had not recorded a single out. Tohno provided this by bunting Wakiya to second. Sakamoto grounded out which took Wakiya to third and then Matsumoto directed his second pitch along the third baseline for a timely two base hit 5-0 Giants, runner on second. Finally, Ogasawara grounded out in what had been a terrible innings for Tigers. Tigers needed a response in their third and it all started promisingly with Lin walking. However, Kubo's terrible evening continued - he was supposed to bunt but was out with three failed bunts. Toritani struck out looking and Hirano directed his first pitch into the glove of Ramirez at left - end of innings and the rally died before it even started. Giants third was much better from Kubo - he seemed to have recovered some of his control and the Giants batters were not so bothered with a five run lead. He was able to retire the batters in order.

However, Tohno was comfortable and struck out Murton and Arai who both - a bit panicked tried to hit out and failed. Brazell showed how it should be done and walked but Kanemoto also failed and struck out. He strikes out too often for comfort. Kubo faced Chono as lead off for Giants fourth and was compelled to watch as Chono slammed a straight solo home run 6-0 Giants and the game was rapidly falling apart for Tigers. The next three batters fell in order but the final one, Sakamoto, luckily for Kubo hit a fly to right after three balls. This was the end of Kubo's session. He had not pitched well and had paid the price. Tigers fifth saw the introduction of Shimizu pinch hitting for Kubo and he struck out to end the innings. He then took over the catching duties in a decision of such a questionable nature that even a Koko Yakyu coach would have balked at taking it. If Johjima needed to be replaced the obvious choice was Kanoh. it was almost as if Mayumi had given up on the game and the team took it this way. Whatever happened to Hoshino's 'Never, never, never surrender' spirit? Andoh pitched Giants fifth and why not - if Mayumi had given up why try. Matsumoto led off the innings with a hit but then was thrown out trying to steal second. Edgar (replacement second) struck out and Ramirez flew out to end the innings. What happened in Tigers sixth? Well, they scored a run, Toritani hit to centre and then Hirano hit to right setting up runners on first and third with no outs. Murton then hit deep to right and Toritani made home on the sacrifice 6-1 Giants. Tohno was tiring and with a bit of work a nice innings and fightback was on. Arai didn't work and swung at his first pitch flying out to first. He can do better than this and has done better. Brazell hit to centre - runners on first and second. Next batter Kanemoto who of course struck out to end the innings. Abe hit to lead off the Giants sixth but both the next batters failed. An Andoh wild pitch took Abe to second but Wakiya grounded out to short to end that innings.

Tohno returned for Tigers seventh which was a bit risky as he had looked tired the innings before. Hiyama (pinch hitter) struck out and so did Lin. Shimizu hit to centre and then both Toritani and Hirano walked to load the bases. The wall was almost down and just needed a little push. Hara recognised this and replaced Tohno with pachimon Kubo. He persuaded Murton to fly out to centre and the chance was gone. The wall was back in place. Wakatake pitched Giants seventh and produced another innings best forgotten. With two out he suddenly got into a funk and walked Matsumoto. Edgar hit a two base to left and Matsumoto flew round the bases reaching home safely 7-1 Giants, runner on second. Ramirez took a mighty swing and hit nicely into right centre 8-1 Giants, runner on second. Finally, Abe flew out to end the innings. Kubo pitched Tigers eighth and gave up a two out hit to Kanemoto. However, Asai (pinch hitter) grounded out to first. Fujihara was the final Tigers pitcher but there was no stopping the rampant Giants. Kamei (replacement first) hit to right and Chono hit to centre - runners on first and second. Wakiya forced out Chono but was safe on first and then Tani (pinch hitter) hit a sacrifice fly 9-1 Giants. Sakamoto hit out to centre but flew out and the innings was over. Ochi took Tigers ninth. It was a comfortable affair - he did walk Toritani with two out but this was irrelevant - Tigers were never going to overturn an eight run lead and in fact Hirano grounded out to end the game. Giants victory.

Tigers had been completely outplayed and outclassed and there was no escaping it. There best chances had come in the sixth and seventh when Tohno was tiring but the first they wasted and the second Hara acted in time to prevent damage. Shimizu did not impress as a catcher and one has to say that it was poor management to put him in in front of Kanoh. Removing Johjima was also poor management and signaled a throwing in of the towel. Of course, the Giants took the Central League lead again but only by 0.5 games. However, Tigers need to strengthen the pitching particularly the relief and they have the latitude to do this. It just needs Mayumi to start to understand how important pitching is. But really the best solution is that Mayumi is replaced by someone who knows how to manage a baseball team.