Tigers season - pitching

The second part of the analysis covers Tigers pitchers. Once again figures are from the NPB website so do not include sabremetrics. I have arranged the pitchers in two categories, starting and relief then in shirt number order. NW means No walks.

STARTERS

4. Ryan Vogelsong

 G   W L SV CG SO NW  BF  IP   H HR BB HBP  K WP Balks Runs ER ERA 
 12  3 4  0  0  0  0 271 65.1 65 3  19  6  50  1   0    31  29 3.99
 

Vogelsong managed to drop his ERA from 4.13 in 2007 to 3.99. Apart from that he was ineffective and really the persistence of the Tigers coaches with him as a starter is mystifying. He should not be asked back next year as it seems unlikely he will be able to improve upon his performance.

13. Satoru Kanemura

 G   W L SV CG SO NW  BF  IP   H HR BB HBP  K WP Balks Runs ER ERA 
  8  0 5  0  0  0  0 186 41.1 49 5  11  2  38  3   0    25  19 4.14
 

Swapped with Yoshino Tigers had high hopes of Kanemura. Early injuries prevented his first appearance in the season but when he did start he was disappointing. One or two games saw his potential but he didn't have the capacity to hold a lead. The Central League is difficult for Pacific League pitchers to make the adjustment to. One can hope that he will be able to contribute next year.

14. Atsushi Nohmi

 G   W L SV CG SO NW  BF  IP   H HR BB HBP  K WP Balks Runs ER ERA 
 11  0 0  0  0  0  0  54 11.1 15 1   6  0  10  1   0     6   6 4.76
 

It really looks like Nohmi will never realise his potential. He is not comfortable as a starter or relief pitcher and really needs to be traded or let go. His performance this year was poor and the puzzle was why the Tigers coaching kept on persisting with him.

16. Yuya Andoh

 G   W  L SV CG SO NW  BF   IP    H HR BB HBP   K WP Balks Runs ER ERA 
 25  13 9  0  2  0  1 656 154.2 158 8  41  8  111  2   1    57  55 3.20
 

A much improved year for Andoh with 13 wins which made him the Tigers ace. He has potential but Okada's mismanagement ruined this. On May 16th Andoh was pitching against the Swallows and had a lead of 8 runs to zero. His inside pitch was particularly superb and his location was awesome. Andoh ended up throwing 157 pitches in 8.1 innings as Okada had decided he should have a complete game. Andoh pitched his heart out but couldn't finish the game. He was never as good after that and should have had more victories. Maybe the next kantoku will have more consideration of a pitchers limits.

18. Naohisa Sugiyama

 G   W L SV CG SO NW  BF  IP   H HR BB HBP  K WP Balks Runs ER ERA 
  9  2 3  0  0  0  0 198 43.1 54 5  16  3  24  4   0    29  28 5.82
 

His ERA says it all. Why Sugiyama is still pitching in the top team is a complete mystery. His control disappeared in 2007 and hasn't really returned. After demonstrating his inability as a starter Sugiyama was brought back in September in a decision which was totally incomprehensible. He proved to be even worse than his earlier stint. He was tried as a relief pitcher but didn't show any aptitude for this role either. Posting is probably a good idea.

21. Minoru Iwata

 G   W  L  SV CG SO NW  BF  IP    H  HR BB HBP   K WP Balks Runs ER ERA 
 27 10 10  0  2  0  1 678 175.2 185  6  62 13  108 11   0    77  69 3.54
 

Brought into the side at the beginning of the season Iwata worked hard. He really only pitched effectively to Noguchi and this was puzzling as Noguchi was not a particularly good catcher. Was able to demonstrate considerable potential and with more confidence and practise could be a very formidable pitcher. As it was he got 10 wins in his first season but 10 losses were not so good.

27. Scott Atchison

 G   W L SV CG SO NW  BF   IP    H HR BB HBP  K WP Balks Runs ER ERA 
 42  7 6  0  0  0  0 436 104.2 104 9  26  2  85  1   3    50  43 3.70
 

An MLB reliever, Atchison was the victim of a Tigers experiment to convert relievers into starters. The first half of the season saw him pitch as a starter and whilst he was obviously a good pitcher he deteriorated quickly. His second stint saw him pitch as a pure reliever with a concomitent improvement in performance and for several matches he didn't give up a single run. His pitching was so good that he replaced Kubota as one of the main relief and he has a good career ahead of him. His variation of pitches is particularly impressive and he needs to be allowed to exercise this to the full.

28. Shinobu Fukuhara

 G   W L SV CG SO NW  BF  IP   H HR BB HBP  K WP Balks Runs ER ERA 
  8  3 2  0  1  1  0 145 34   38 4  12  0  17  3   0    13  13 3.44
 

Fukuhara has always been an unfathomable pitcher. One cannot predict how he is going to pitch from one season to another. This season started well and there was every hope that he would be highly successful. However, in attempting a sacrifice bunt against the Giants he broke one of his fingers and had to spend a long time out of action. When he returned he was not the same and in fact didn't pitch much at all.

41. Keiji Uezono

 G   W L SV CG SO NW  BF  IP   H HR BB HBP  K WP Balks Runs ER ERA 
  9  4 0  0  0  0  0 185 43   47 2  11  3  38  2   0    20  15 3.14
 

Uezono was the rookie of the year in 2007 and great things were expected of him in 2008. He didn't pitch badly at all but seems to have fallen foul of the Tigers coaches and was dispatched to the farm team never to return. The excuse given was that he surrendered too many leads but given that Sugiyama and Vogelsong were persisted with this seems plain rubbish. Tigers don't have the pitching resources to play these stupid games and they need to be developing their young pitchers like Uezono.

42. Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi

 G   W L SV CG SO NW  BF   IP    H HR BB HBP  K WP Balks Runs ER ERA 
 27 11 6  0  1  0  1 668 162.1 154 9  41  9  89  2   0    60  54 2.99
 

Tigers veteran pitcher he became only the fifth pitcher in Japanese baseball to win 10 games at the age of 40. He was over-pitched in 2008 but once again put in an excellent performance. One likens him to an old fox who may be overcome but who continues to baffle opponents. Towards the end of the season he tended to deteriorate very quickly indicating tiredness.

46. Naoto Tsuru

 G   W L SV CG SO NW  BF  IP   H HR BB HBP  K WP Balks Runs ER ERA 
  1  0 0  0  0  0  0   6  0    5 0   1  0   0  0   0     6   6 ----
 

Made a disastrous debut against Lotte and was clearly out of his depth. He gave up six runs and had to be replaced in the first innings without getting a single out. One wonders how it was thought that he was ready for the first team and how he was dropped into a game so obviously unprepared.


48. Shunsuke Ishikawa

 G   W L SV CG SO NW  BF  IP   H HR BB HBP  K WP Balks Runs ER ERA 
  7  2 0  0  0  0  0  99 25   22 1   7  0  16  0   0     6   6 2.16
 

A young pitcher of considerable potential provided that the Tigers pitching staff can refrain from interfering. Ishikawa became a starter late in the season and pitched very well. One wonders why the Tigers persisted with pitchers like Sugiyama when they had guys like Ishikawa waiting in the wings. Properly handled he will be a big prospect for next season.

69. Chris Resop

 G   W L SV CG SO NW  BF  IP   H HR BB HBP  K WP Balks Runs ER ERA 
  8  0 2  0  0  0  0  99 21.1 29 2   7  0   6  1   1    18  16 6.75
 

Despite his high ERA he has a lot of potential. Another victim of the philosophy that MLB relief pitchers can be converted into starters, Resop has considerable potential as a middle reliever. Hopefully this will be seen next season.

RELIEF

12. Ryo Watanabe

 G   W L SV CG SO NW  BF  IP   H HR BB HBP  K WP Balks Runs ER ERA 
 66  5 2  0  0  0  0 246 58.1 52 2  28  1  6   2   0    24  20 2.67
 

Developing into a very effective and consistent reliever Watanabe did well. He did have his wobbles but given a complete innings was usually extremely reliable. His ERA was impressive and far better than Kubota's.

14. Taiyoh Fujita

 G   W L SV CG SO NW  BF  IP   H HR BB HBP  K WP Balks Runs ER ERA 
  6  0 0  0  0  0  0  48 11   11 2   2  1   7  0   0     7   5 4.09
 

A pitcher who has been tried as a starter but really hasn't been effective in any role. Like Nohmi and Sugiyama should be dumped as soon as possible.

19. Kazuya Tsutsui

 G   W L SV CG SO NW  BF  IP   H HR BB HBP  K WP Balks Runs ER ERA 
  3  0 0  0  0  0  0  24  5.1  7 0   2  0   6  1   0     1   1 2.25
 

Didn't pitch much at all but what he did throw showed a considerable improvement. He was dropped to allow Williams to return.

22. Kyuji Fujikawa

 G   W L SV CG SO NW  BF  IP   H HR BB HBP  K WP Balks Runs ER ERA 
 63  8 1 38  0  0  0 249 67.2 34 2  13  3  90  3   0     6   5 0.67
 

The best closer in Japan bar none. His pitching ability continues to be awesome and he has the temprement. Borrowed by Hoshino for the Olympics this did cause Tigers considerable problems and allowed Kroon to claim the save title. It is certain that if Fujikawa hadn't pitched in the Olympics he would have won this. Okada over-pitched him towards the end of the season which was stupid but typical Okada.

26. Hirotaka Egusa

 G   W L SV CG SO NW  BF  IP   H HR BB HBP  K WP Balks Runs ER ERA 
 55  3 1  0  0  0  0 251 58.1 55 3  29  1  54  3   0    18  18 2.78
 

Not as effective as 2007 but still a very good relief pitcher. Often used in the role of relief when a starter fails but best with runners on base in the middle of the innings. Very useful to have available.

30. Tomoyuki Kubota

 G   W L SV CG SO NW  BF  IP   H HR BB HBP  K WP Balks Runs ER ERA 
 69  6 3  0  0  0  0 373 85.1 87 8  34  2  75  8   0    34  30 3.16
 

One of the famous JFK trio Kubota was over pitched in 2007. This had a big impact on his performance in 2008. He proved unable to pitch without giving up runs and he couldn't get out of innings safely. His run count was very high this year and he needed to rest. Eventually, Okada just couldn't use him but it was Okada's carelessness in the first place. A waste of a great relief pitcher.

34. Kentaro Hashimoto

 G   W L SV CG SO NW  BF  IP   H HR BB HBP  K WP Balks Runs ER ERA 
 10  0 0  0  0  0  0  59 13   17 2   6  0  15  2   0     8   8 5.54
 

A journeyman relief pitcher of no particular distinction. He did his job without any special ability or any sign that he could develop into anything special.

54. Jeffrey Williams

 G   W L SV CG SO NW  BF  IP   H HR BB HBP  K WP Balks Runs ER ERA 
 55  5 4  5  0  0  0 236 55.1 54 3  15  2  65  1   0    21  19 3.09
 

The final part of the Tigers feared JFK trio of relievers Williams had a quiet season. He pitched well but age and hard work caught up with him and when he did fail he failed spectacularly. His ERA jumped from 0.96 in 2007 to 3.06 and he has work to do. The ability is still there and it is likely he will be able to bounce back as mostly his pitching was of a really high standard.

56. Kenta Abe

 G   W L SV CG SO NW  BF  IP   H HR BB HBP  K WP Balks Runs ER ERA 
 32  0 1  0  0  1  0 200 51.2 37 8   9  4  34  0   0    17  17 2.96
 

Abe started his career with Kintetsu and pretty much got ignored by their replacement Orix. His transfer to Tigers was a big chance and he did well. This pitcher has a lot of potential and ability and it should be brought out. His first full year showed some weaknesses and these will need to be ironed out but his three scoreless innings against the Dragons show just how good he can be. A genuine asset who will really repay the effort put into him.

62. Yutaka Tamaki

 G   W L SV CG SO NW  BF  IP   H HR BB HBP  K WP Balks Runs ER ERA 
  3  0 0  0  0  0  0   9  2    2 0   1  0   3  1   0     0   0 0.00
 

Might turn into a good reliever with more experience.

Two pitchers were no longer required by the Tigers and were let go at the end of the season. They were Takateru Iyono and Itsuki Shoda.