What's Up with Hanshin?

I wonder if I might postulate for a second. Obviously the suggestions of cheating and panic from this thread have not worked. So perhaps it's time to look at the aging of Hanshin's main players.

A number of the mainstays of the team, people like Imaoka, Kanemoto, Sheets, Shimoyanagi, Yano, and Hiyama were part of the winning sides of a few years ago. Though still useful, could it be that they are past their prime, and that their younger heirs have yet to hit their straps?

For instance, Kano is well on the way to proving himself Yano's likely successor, leap-frogging people like Asai. He is having a scarcely believable run of good form with the bat, but his work behind the plate leaves something to be desired. When Esteban Yan was losing his cool and his pitching control in his last outing, it appeared to me that Kano had little idea how to calm his pitcher down and get him back on track. At the time, the TV comments people were saying things to the effect that Kano, without the confidence that Yan could throw the ball at Kano's glove anymore, had no idea what pitches to demand. The next day, SanSpo had headlines saying that Kano's lead was mediocre.

People like Lin and Kano are hitting well, but without the likes of Toritani, Fujimoto, and Sekimoto on base, and without Akahoshi even in the ballpark, and without reciprocating power-hitting from clean-up ossans Sheets, Kanemoto, and Imaoka, Lin's and Kano's efforts are rather solitary affairs.

Which is all a very long-winded way of speculating that Hanshin have... umm, (how delicately can we put this?)... tactically retreated to a less hectic section of the league standings in order to regroup its forces after a prolonged and successful battle that has exhausted its more experienced, battle-weary campaigners.

NHK flashed a pretty awful stat up during last night's game. Hanshin's starting rotation had a combined ERA of 5.11 (up to last nights game) whereas the Giants' was roughly half that. That puts a lot of pressure on your offense to score a lot of runs, which they're clearly not doing of late. This leads to starters not going deep into the game, and then you risk overworking your bullpen.

Torakichi mentioned the team is getting old. I thought Yano was terrible defensively last night. Slow to get out of the crouch and chase down balls and throw runners out. In saying that, I have the greatest respect for him. He plays one of the most physically demanding roles in the game and backs up day games after night games, something veteran catchers in the States rarely do.

Kano is suspect behind the plate, but with game time he can only get better. Is Yano going to get better defensively at 38 years of age? Probably not.

Good to see players like Katsuragi, Lin, and Kano making the most of their opportunities, but it's the slumping middle of the order that's really hurting Hanshin.

Maybe it's time to blame the uniforms? The new inter-league ones are especially awful.

Seriously though, Imaoka showed signs of life last night, so I wouldn't be inclined to blame age. He also sat out most of last season. Toritani was whiffing at anything remotely round and he's not old. Sekimoto is gradually clawing his way into form, but Sheets and Kanemoto do represent problems. We also need to look at the whole pitching staff - part of the problem is that they seem to regard hits as something to give the opposition as a gift.

- Maybe it's time to blame the uniforms?

Brilliant! Yes, that's it. Hanshin could... err, I dunno... Oh yeah, they could ban all colored wristbands and other accessories, because wearing or even seeing any color on a Hanshin player other than the official uniform's is obviously taking away the team's motivation to win.

If that fails, well, then it's time for the serious changes: re-writing the players' "hitting marches," because the current tunes have clearly brought bad luck.

Well, I suppose Kanemoto didn't do too badly tonight (2 for 3 with a two-run tater). Toritani also, with the other RBI. Even Fujikawa finished off the ninth with a couple of 150+ km/h lightning bolts. Hmmm. Perhaps they're not as washed up as some of us think.

And the wristband industry breathes a sigh of relief.

But on a more serious note: has anyone else noticed that several pitchers appear to have trouble seeing Kanoh's signs? Shimoyanagi and Fujikawa regularly gave a "Do that again?" look before nodding or shaking their heads to Kanoh on a few occasions, I saw Willians do it once, and Kubota... well, he seems to need clarification on just about every pitch.

I hate to say I told you so, but I knew Lin was going to be something else with enough at bats. This is the start of the legend of Lin, everybody. Batting average of .300 with 30 HRs and 100 RBIs with his eyes closed. Just watch. Hehe.

Can't remember anyone here discrediting Lin's ability BigMan. What's with the "I told you so"? Hamanaka got injured, he seized his chance! Everyone knew he was loaded with talent.

It was ridiculous assertions of racism within Hanshin's selection policy that got all the reaction.

I'll second that.

It was a joke, but we'll see what the situation is when Hamanaka comes back and Lin keeps batting like this. Most likely scenario is he'll platoon with Hamanaka. The nightmare scenario is letting Hamanaka back into the batting order as an everyday player despite Lin's success. With Okada, I wouldn't totally rule out that possibility.