Kubota a Closer?

I would rather go for Fujikawa as closer and have Kubota and Williams as set up men. Fujikawa has both variety and speed, imho.

But I second you on Kubota being risky as his speed does not match the accuracy.

Just wait a few games to see what happens? Fujikawa would be nervous if he took that role.

Isn't closer a role to grow into? Although Jeff Williams is an excellent performer in this area, I can see some merit in Hanshin's logic: statistically, gaijin players are likely to leave a club sooner than Japanese, so establishing Kubota as a closer could bring stability for a long time to come.

I seem to remember that Williams was not so wonderful last year and lost some games he shouldn't have. Kubota does have problems with some games, but he also comes through very successfully most times. Williams looks a lot more secure as setup. Kubota looks like he will make a very fine closer.

Yes, I would love to see Kubota as the closer provided he is consistent. His cool attitude may get him to the top level. I remember him as a starter, he pitched about 5 innings then started getting some kind of pain. Maybe he will be great closer.

How about Andoh? Why has he been changed to the starter role? Won't he be a good alternate to Kubota in case Kubota gets roughed up?

By the way, how many starters have been tried by Tigers? Is it a strategy, or just to keep the top guys in check?

Yesterday, I was shocked to see the pitcher taken off very early. But I was feeling proud about the bag of pitchers that did the job for us.

Starters list this year: Igawa, Fukuhara, Shimonayagi, Noumi, Sugiyama, Fujita, Kazuya Tsutsui, and Andoh. Maybe Kanazawa is in the pipe line as well. He did a decent job last year.

Shimoyanagi has a thigh injury which he picked up in his last victory against the Giants. This is why we are seeing Tsutsui as a starter. Taiyo wasn't performing well enough, so he has been dropped down to the farm. He was replaced by Sugiyama. Okada is operating a six pitcher rotation, but seems also to be more prepared to remove a poorly performing pitcher than last year, and last night it was Tsutsui who went early.

- Shimoyanagi has a thigh injury which he picked up in his last victory against the Giants. This is why we are seeing Tsutsui as a starter. Taiyo wasn't performing well enough, so he has been dropped down to the farm. He was replaced by Sugiyama. Okada is operating a six pitcher rotation, but seems also to be more prepared to remove a poorly performing pitcher than last year, and last night it was Tsutsui who went early.

This is what I just needed to know. Thanks a lot.

I was wishing Sugiyama and Kanazawa would be combined in the starting rotation like they were last year. I mean, 4/4 sharing would be a good option.

Sajikihara is poorly used. He can be a setup man in case Williams goes out of form or something. Ekusa is doing well, but only for lefties.

As you said, this time Okada is more serious on the pitching team. Fukuhara was shaky against Yakult from last year. I think Okada has to see this fact to use him effectively.

Lastly, they won after their downlfall, loosing to Chunichi 10-9. It was unbeleivable, but a wake up call for Tigers' pitchers.

Sugiyama has been making starts in place of Taiyo. Last night Shimoyanagi returned and pitched very well. To my mind the surprise has been Ando. I had a chance to see him start on Friday and was very impressed - he still serves up the odd 'Ando special' but otherwise is a very crafty and skilled pitcher. He looks much more comfortable and accomplished and should do well.
The Tigers should have beaten the Dragons - having a 7 run lead at one stage (actual score 9-8) but the pitching imploded. No one pitcher was to blame - they all were and this is something Okada could not have predicted. His pitching changes were all sensible and timely.

- Sajikihara is poorly used. He can be a setup man in case Williams goes out of form or something.

I just caught the tail end of a ni-gun game between Hanshin and Surpass. Sajikihara, unfortunately, didn't have the best of outings. 0-0 at the top of the ninth, Sajikihara, gave up 4 hits and 2 runs (the only runs in the game, as it turned out) in a show of indifferent pitching. The TV comments man (I think it was former Hanshin hurler Nakada) went into all sorts of technical explanations about the mechanics of Sajikihara's action that could explain his drop in form; I didn't understand all that too much, but even to my non-expert eye, Sajikihara certainly doesn't appear to have the zip in his pitches that he did last season. It wasn't unusual for him to top 150km/h in 2004, but I don't recall seeing him do that once this year.

Anyway, the highlights at the end of the game showed the bits I'd missed:

• Jamie Brown delivered four innings of perfect pitching. In particular, his pitches that broke downwards and away from left-handed batters worked well.
• He was relieved by Darwin Cubillan who also pitched four scoreless innings, although he apparently got himself into a bit of a pinch at one stage.
• Meanwhile, Wei-Tzu Lin looked good at bat with some strong hits, but it wasn't enough to score off former MLB-er Masato Yoshii.

- Isn't closer a role to grow into? Although Jeff Williams is an excellent performer in this area, I can see some merit in Hanshin's logic: statistically, gaijin players are likely to leave a club sooner than Japanese, so establishing Kubota as a closer could bring stability for a long time to come.

I'm gonna take issue with this one. Marc Valdes stepped in and immediately took over the closer role in 2002. He did a good job, but got into Hoshino's dog house, and was replaced with Williams, who was the closer until Andoh emerged. In fact, my favourite all-time Hanshin moment came in 2003, when Williams struck out Kiyohara in ninth in three straight games. I knew we were gonna win right then.

So I don't really see any issue with using Williams as closer. I always thought Kubota would be pretty good if he could keep himself in shape though. Here's hoping he gets it together.

Middle reliever or closer, Williams is unhittable when he's on form.

Just to clarify: I didn't suggest which role Williams should pitch in; just that I can see one line of logic in using Kubota.

Still, my nitpicking aside, Williams was a real find; long may he stay with Hanshin. And "Well done" to Tom O'Malley, who initially recommended Williams to Hoshino.