Hawks End-of-Season Grades: Pitching

Pitching wins championships. That's the long and the short of it. The SoftBank staff ERA was not good, at a 4.05 clip, second worst in the Pacific League, just ahead of Lotte's 4.14.

2008 SoftBank Hawks Final Player Grades

Pitchers: Starters
Toshiya Sugiuchi (10-8, 2.72, 25 starts, 196 IP, 213 K, 8 CG): A-
An absolute horse from start to finish. Despite missing time to participate in the Olympics, he didn't miss a beat. Was shaky in Match/April, then took off in May, but fell down again in September. Led the league in strikeouts

Kenji Ohtonari (11-8, 3.12, 22 starts, 155.2 IP, 138 K 6 CG): B
First full season in NPB and he was great. When he didn't walk batters, his stuff was filthy and he consistently went deep into games. When he walked a lot of batters, he got into trouble. Has the tools to be a superstar. Got hurt at the end of the season, but was 4-2 in complete games.

DJ Houlton (28 G, (11 starts), 4-7, 4.27, 84.1 IP, 86 K, 0 CG, 9 SV): C+
Started season as the closer, ended as a starter. Put some quality innings forth as starter, and consistently went at least 6 innings, except in bad outings. Needs to be more consistent, but I'd say keep him for one more season, this time for a full season at starter.

Tsuyoshi Wada (8-7, 3.58, 156 IP, 122 K, 3 CG): C+
Missed the first month of the season due to elbow injury and was inconsistent many times in the season. Still racked up innings and strikeouts, and when he pitched well, he was really good.

Rick Guttormson (5-7, 4.05, 15 starts, 100 IP, 51 K, 2 CG): C
Missed most of the season with injuries, was inconsistent when healthy, but great at the end of the season. Still hit 100 innings in 18 games (15 starts). Benefited from being put in familiar starter's role, started season in the bullpen.

Nagisa Arakaki (4-6, 4.18, 15 starts, 92.2 IP, 101 K, 0 CG) : C-
Had a few good starts, most outings undone by bad defense which rattled him. Control problems still persist, but still has some of the best stuff on the staff. Is a free agent, status for next season unclear.

Shota Ohba (3-5, 5.42, 13 starts, 78 IP, 73 K, 2 CG) : D
Golden Rookie had a couple good starts, including a 16-strikeout game against Lotte, but after that game, went downhill alarmingly fast. Walked too many batters and generally had trouble the second time through the lineup. Routinely gave up 4 runs or more every start, and could not get through 6 innings. Magic number seemed to be 4 and 2/3 innings, then he was done.

Jeremy Powell (2-6, 5.29, 66.1 IP, 36 K, 0 CG) : F
Touted offseason acquisition pitched horribly against everyone but Orix, and eventually they figured him out. Walked almost as many as he struck out, and could not get through the 5th and 6th innings. Must pitch better next season.

Sho Iwasaki: Incomplete.
Made one emergency start before Olympic stretch. May spend one or two more seasons at ni-gun before he's ready for prime time.

Relievers
Yuki Kume (40 G, 4-1, 3.25, 3 SV, 36 IP): B+
Rookie forced into action with the top club because of myriad injuries to bullpen regulars. Still came through well, but suffered from overuse and fatigue. Pitched well until hitters started to get the book on him. Has the stuff to be a good set-up man.

CJ Nitkowski (39 G, 2-4, 4.64, 2 SV, 42.2 IP): C
Second season in Japan had ups and downs. He would pitch well, then one bad outing would wreck him for a while. Still was effective over multiple innings and made honest effort to integrate himself into Japanese system. A good clubhouse guy, but will not return to SoftBank in 2009.

Takahiro Mahara (21 G, 0-2, 2.79, 11 SV, 19.1 IP): B
Missed half the season with a shoulder injury. Saved the Hawks innumerable grief over the closer position with his return, but still did not look 100%. Blew saves at key points, and was sometimes hittable, unlike last year's 38-save campaign. However, the stability he brought to the bullpen was immense, and kept the Hawks in the playoffs until September.

Shinsuke Ogura (29 G, 3-0, 5.40, 1 SV, 33.1 IP): C-
Started off extremely effective, but was figured out and had trouble getting men out. He also had trouble going more than one inning, which is sometimes needed out of relievers. Thew more innings with top team than ever before, but needs to be more consistent to get a role in the bullpen.

Hideaki Takahashi (20 G (1 start), 1-1, 4.06, 1 SV, 31 IP): C+
Young right-hander did yeoman's work out of the bullpen and also as an emergency starter. Was not used much after the All-Star Break, but still had some good outings. Could be valuable member of bullpen next year if his development continues.

Makoto Satoh (22 G, 3-2, 5.19, 17.1 IP): C-
The 33-year old veteran had his share of troubles, but was hurt much of the season. Usually called on to get only one man, but sometimes also brought in for an inning. Was usually better in full innings than in situational roles, and had trouble in the latter.

Takayuki Shinohara (21 G, 0-0, 3.21, 14 IP): B-
Left-handed specialist was invaluable in situations where he was needed. Like most of the bullpen, he was hurt most of the year, but came back strong. Definitely a needed cog in the bullpen and came up big for the team.

Koji Mise (44 G, 2-1, 4.11, 35 IP): C-
Possibly the best left-handed reliever in the bullpen, but that's not saying much. He had major troubles in far too many games, and was unreliable when it came time for him to go and put up one inning or more. He was like the rest of the team: wildly inconsistent.

Akio Mizuta (15 G, 0-2, 6.75, 14.2 IP): D
Probably was still hurt, but was a needed veteran presence. Like the rest of the team, fell down in September after a good August.

Akihiro Yanase (30 G, 1-2, 3 SV, 5.16, 29.2 IP): D
Early in the season was consistently bad, but was somewhat good as a substitute closer. Had an excellent June, and also was good as a one-batter pitcher, but you can't have too many of those in a bullpen. Had trouble over multiple innings, and got hurt in late July.