Midway Status Report
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Re: Midway Status Report
[ Author: Jbroks86 | Posted: Jul 20, 2007 8:46 AM
| SFT Fan
]
- In the Central League, the Chunichi Dragons are on top by 1 game over the Giants and 2.5 over the Yokohama BayStars.
Yeah, who would have expected Yomiuri to be this close this late? Though, the Giants lately have lost a lot of ground this month, winning 3 and losing 12. They've been outscored 79 to 42 this month. If this continues for much longer, the BayStars will soon overtake them for second place. As for the Giants' season record against Yokohama so far, momentum could very much change course if Yomiuri continues on their losing ways.
- As for the B-Class teams, the .500 barrier is a hard one to get over. (It took Yokohama a long time to do it, but they've managed to maintain it - knock on wood.)
As for all the B Class teams, I just don't see any of them getting over .500. There seems to be way too many problems with all of them to get over the hump.
Hanshin's starters have shown no consistency all season, and as pointed out over in the Quality Starts thread, they've had just 27 quality starts in 81 total games. Over a course of a full season that's never going to get you into the playoffs. I'm afraid that this is going to be a rebuilding year for Hanshin. Though there are some bright signs, like Jim Allen mentioned in his recent Hot Corner opinion piece, a youth movement has taken hold at Koshien.
- Over in the Pacific League, it's the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in first place by 3 games over Lotte and 4 over SoftBank. The Fighters got hot going into inter-league play, winning 14 games in a row at one point, taking them from last to first. Talk about a reversal of fortune! Of course, the last time the Fighters were in first place at the All Star break was in 1998 with their "Big Bang Offense" propelling them 8 games in first place, just to see their lead squandered away [thanks Garland-san for reminding me]. Neither Lotte nor SoftBank have impressed me lately.
Yeah, Softbank and Chiba Lotte haven't impressed me so far this season, but looking at the 10-4 record against Nippon Ham, the stats show SoftBank with an advantage, though the Hawks have been eliminated the last 3 years in the playoffs (twice by Seibu and once by Nippon Ham). Time will tell if SoftBank can get over the hurdle of the Pacific League playoffs.
Yeah, who would have expected Yomiuri to be this close this late? Though, the Giants lately have lost a lot of ground this month, winning 3 and losing 12. They've been outscored 79 to 42 this month. If this continues for much longer, the BayStars will soon overtake them for second place. As for the Giants' season record against Yokohama so far, momentum could very much change course if Yomiuri continues on their losing ways.
- As for the B-Class teams, the .500 barrier is a hard one to get over. (It took Yokohama a long time to do it, but they've managed to maintain it - knock on wood.)
As for all the B Class teams, I just don't see any of them getting over .500. There seems to be way too many problems with all of them to get over the hump.
Hanshin's starters have shown no consistency all season, and as pointed out over in the Quality Starts thread, they've had just 27 quality starts in 81 total games. Over a course of a full season that's never going to get you into the playoffs. I'm afraid that this is going to be a rebuilding year for Hanshin. Though there are some bright signs, like Jim Allen mentioned in his recent Hot Corner opinion piece, a youth movement has taken hold at Koshien.
- Over in the Pacific League, it's the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in first place by 3 games over Lotte and 4 over SoftBank. The Fighters got hot going into inter-league play, winning 14 games in a row at one point, taking them from last to first. Talk about a reversal of fortune! Of course, the last time the Fighters were in first place at the All Star break was in 1998 with their "Big Bang Offense" propelling them 8 games in first place, just to see their lead squandered away [thanks Garland-san for reminding me]. Neither Lotte nor SoftBank have impressed me lately.
Yeah, Softbank and Chiba Lotte haven't impressed me so far this season, but looking at the 10-4 record against Nippon Ham, the stats show SoftBank with an advantage, though the Hawks have been eliminated the last 3 years in the playoffs (twice by Seibu and once by Nippon Ham). Time will tell if SoftBank can get over the hurdle of the Pacific League playoffs.
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In the Central League, the Chunichi Dragons are on top by 1 game over the Giants and 2.5 over the Yokohama BayStars. If we were going into the playoffs today, there really isn't any clear cut dominant team in the Central League. Chunichi is 7 and 5 against the Giants, and even at 6 and 6 against Yokohama. The Giants have fairly dominated the BayStars, though, with a 3 and 8 record, so would a victory in Stage 1 give them the momentum necessary to overcome the Dragons? Well, it's all just speculation at this point.
As for the B-Class teams, the .500 barrier is a hard one to get over. (It took Yokohama a long time to do it, but they've managed to maintain it - knock on wood.) Hanshin's just 3 games under .500 and have a winning record against all but last place Hiroshima (2 and 9!). The Swallows of Jingu have started soaring high after Furuta-kantoku took himself off the active roster (coincidence?). And Hiroshima, despite defeating Yokohama 11-0 a couple of days ago, are close to having given up 100 more runs than they've scored.
Over in the Pacific League, it's the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in first place by 3 games over Lotte and 4 over SoftBank. The Fighters got hot going into inter-league play, winning 14 games in a row at one point, taking them from last to first. Talk about a reversal of fortune! Of course, the last time the Fighters were in first place at the All Star break was in 1998 with their "Big Bang Offense" propelling them 8 games in first place, just to see their lead squandered away [thanks Garland-san for reminding me]. Neither Lotte nor SoftBank have impressed me lately.
If the playoffs were now, I'd actually have to give the advantage to SoftBank. Lotte and SoftBank have been fairly even over the season (6, 5, and 2 in Lotte's favor), but the Hawks have owned the Fighters (4 and 10) while Lotte continues their struggles against Nippon Ham (3, 5, and 2).
But would I count the Lions out of it? No. The Lions have not finished in B-Class since 1981. They had a horrendous start, and really struggled against the Central League in inter-league play. But they only have a losing record against SoftBank (4 and 6), and go into the second half 1 game over .500. We could have another very interesting race in the Pacific League this year for who gets the third playoff spot.
Rakuten has the worst team batting (.255) and team ERA (4.61), yet hold onto the #5 position 12.5 games out of first. They've greatly improved from the past few years, but still have a ways to go. Orix, too, have greatly improved lately. Still not winning those close games, but they're actually playing much better ball from what I've seen of them. Having a right fielder who can actually catch the ball (as opposed to last year's failed suketto) has really helped.