Tigers Season - Pitching

It was nice to see Kubo finally go - his methods and style cannot be said to have been a success and only inhibited the development and use of young pitchers. Shimoyanagi was also let go but he has been picked up by Lotte which is nice to hear. Rakuten were also interested but didn't see enough of him for Hoshino to make a decision. Tigers pitchers also suffered from Fujii and this needs to be factored into what was a rather mediocre performance this season. The division is the usual starting and relief.

STARTERS

14. Atsushi Nohmi
Games: 29, Wins: 12, Losses: 9, ERA: 2.52
Another good year for Nohmi who suffered from lack of support at times and poor calling from his catchers. He was also over-pitched and was moved to complain that he was tired in one hero interview.

16. Yuya Andoh
Games: 1, Wins: 0, Losses: 0, ERA: 16.20
One abysmal start indicated that Andoh's problems had not been resolved. He stayed in the second team where the lower level of play suited him.

19. Ikketsu Shoh
Games: 2, Wins: 0, Losses: 1, ERA: 2.16
Shoh pitched well but suffered from poor batting support and some bizarre lineup choices from Mayumi.

21. Minoru Iwata
Games: 25, Wins: 9, Losses: 13, ERA: 2.29
Back after injury. Iwata suffered from lack of run support and a tendency to fall apart in the fifth. Still, with Fujii as catcher a 9-13 record isn't so bad.

27. Takumi Akiyama
Games: 2, Wins: 0, Losses: 1, ERA: 6.14
After a long spell of injury, Akiyama was judged ready to pitch as a starter. He was paired with the pathetic Fujii and did not prosper. Maybe under Yabu's coaching he will be able to mature into a good starter.

29. Tatsuya Kojima
Games: 36, Wins: 1, Losses: 2, ERA: 3.72
Kojima was shifted between relief and starting frequently. He never really got going but one felt he was another Nohmi in the making. Once again a new coach might well bring his potential out.

34. Yasutomo Kubo
Games: 20, Wins: 8, Losses: 8, ERA: 3.78
Worked very hard and was over pitched quite awfully by Mayumi. As a result he picked up injuries and was not available for the whole season. No doubt he welcomes the new management team with some relief.

40. Kai-Wen Cheng
Games: 3, Wins: 1, Losses: 0, ERA: 3.38
Once again we saw Cheng show potential but be held back by Kubo and Mayumi. This guy does need more pitching time but is taking far too long to develop. Maybe Yabu can bring him out (but don't hold your breath).

41. Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi
Games: 6, Wins: 0, Losses: 2, ERA: 3.54
He demonstrated that he was finished as a starter. His style is to rely on control and he no longer had it. Let go before the end of the season.

46. Naoto Tsuru
Games: 5, Wins: 0, Losses: 2, ERA: 3.68
Didn't really prosper paired with Fujii. In fact, he didn't prosper at all.

54. Randy Messenger
Games: 25, Wins: 12, Losses: 7, ERA: 2.88
Tiger's star pitcher. He pitched to a limit and he pitched well showing excellent control and great variation particularly when paired with Komiyama. Good inside pitches and a nice command of the zone.

55. Jason Standridge
Games: 25, Wins: 9, Losses: 7, ERA: 2.92
Standridge started well and then ran into a barren period of two months. The reason was Mayumi's insistence on over pitching him for the goal of chasing unecessary records. Standridge admitted to being unable to place his pitches. One hopes that Wada will be more aware of the limits.

65. Daiki Kiyohara
Games: 1, Wins: 0, Losses: 0, ERA: 1.80
Started one game agains the Carp. Very much a case of 'lets see what he's like'. He did reasonably well.

RELIEF

12. Ryo Watanabe
Games: 56, Wins: 5, Losses: 1, ERA: 1.98
A good season by Watanabe who demonstrated what a good relief pitcher he is. Mayumi tried to use him as much as possible which was unwise but Watanabe seemed to weather the struggle well.

13. Daiki Enokida
Games: 62, Wins: 3, Losses: 3, ERA: 2.27
Enokida was thrown into the cauldron of relief and as a rookie did well. He struggled at times, partially due to inexperience and partially due to Fujii. Overall, a stunning debut.

15. Masanori Fujihara
Games: 19, Wins: 0, Losses: 0, ERA: 3.09
An improvement on last year - significant yes but still needs a lot of work before he's a reliable top team pitcher.

20. Kazuya Tsutsui
Games: 12, Wins: 0, Losses:, 0, ERA: 1.26
One of Tigers better pitchers who fell foul of Mayumi's whims. Showed good use of the strike out.

22. Kyuji Fujikawa
Games: 56, Wins: 3, Losses: 3, ERA: 1.24
Another 40 save season for Fujikawa (41 in fact). He did well and this year didn't have any big games to blow. Unfortunately for Tigers 2012 is likely to be the last season he plays in their colours as he will have earned international free agency.

28. Shinobu Fukuhara
Games: 55, Wins: 2, Losses: 3, ERA: 2.59
An excellent middle relief Fukuhara surprised us all. He was able to use his experience to good effect and showed a mean fastball at times. A very nice improvement.

30. Tomoyuki Kubota
Games: 23, Wins: 1, Losses: 2, ERA: 5.40
Kubota showed good stuff but then didn't prosper. The suspicion remains that he engineered a demotion to the second team so he wouldn't have to put up with Mayumi or Kubo.

41. Hiroyuki Kobayashi
Games: 42, Wins: 1, Losses: 5, ERA: 3.00
Signed from Lotte in the off season, big things were expected from Kobayashi. He treated Fujii with the contempt he deserved but never quite delivered. Will probably be converted to a starter next season.

46. Ken Nishimura
Games: 21, Wins: 1, Losses: 0, ERA: 1.71
Nishimura wasn't used so much which was surprising given that he was generally effective when he was used.

49. Ryuji Wakatake
Games: 2, Wins: 0, Losses: 0, ERA: 9.00
Even more out of his depth this season than last season. Why he was ever used in the first team is a mystery.

62. Yusuke Kawasaki
Games: 6, Wins: 0, Losses: 0, ERA: 7.71
A left hander - he did not do well.

63. Kosuke Katoh
Games: 4, Wins: 0, Losses: 0, ERA: 10.13
A BayStars reject signed because he was a left hander, Katoh was totally useless. He wore glasses when he pitched - Tiger striped at that but this didn't help his lack of ability.

64. Hirokazu Shiranita
Games: 2, Wins: 0, Losses: 0, ERA: 0.00
Another rookie he pitched well enough in the two games he played to avoid giving up runs.

The following pitchers were let go this season: Kenta Abe, Naohisa Sugiyama, Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi and Shuhei Takada. Given that Tigers retained pitchers like Katoh the decision to let Abe go is strange.