2017 in Japanese Baseball

The 2017 Japanese season was noted by the continued dominance of the Softbank Hawks, winning their 4th Japan Series in seven years. Hawks closer Dennis Sarfate not only demolished his one-year-old Pacific League save record (54, 11 more than he had last year) but broke the all-time NPB mark, set by Hitoki Iwase with 46 in 2005.

Standings

Bold indicates league champion; Italics indicate Nippon Series winner; * indicates playoff team

Central League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	OBP	SLG	ERA	Manager(s)
Hiroshima Toyo Carp*	143	88	51	4	.633	--	736	540	.273	.345	.424	3.78	Koichi Ogata
Hanshin Tigers*	143	78	64	1	.561	10	528	589	.249	.327	.371	3.69	Tomoaki Kanemoto
Yokohama DeNA BayStars*	143	73	65	5	.529	14.5	597	598	.252	.311	.391	4.18	Alex Ramirez
Yomiuri Giants	143	72	68	3	.514	16.5	536	504	.249	.318	.373	3.32	Yoshinobu Takahashi
Chunichi Dragons	143	59	79	5	.429	28.5	487	623	.247	.300	.365	4.06	Shigekazu Mori
Yakult Swallows	143	45	96	2	.319	44	473	653	.234	.306	.338	4.23	Mitsuru Manaka

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	OBP	SLG	ERA	Manager(s)
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks*	143	94	49	0	.657	--	638	483	.259	.331	.421	3.23	Kimiyasu Kudoh
Saitama Seibu Lions*	143	79	61	3	.564	13.5	690	560	.260	.332	.420	4.09	Hatsuhiko Tsuji
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles*	143	77	63	3	.550	15.5	585	528	.254	.324	.390	3.69	Masataka Nashida
Orix Buffaloes	143	63	79	1	.444	30.5	539	598	.251	.316	.380	4.40	Junichi Fukura
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	143	60	83	0	.420	34	505	596	.242	.314	.358	3.82	Hideki Kuriyama
Chiba Lotte Marines	143	54	87	2	.383	39	479	647	.233	.297	.351	4.52	Tsutomu Itoh

Leaders

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
Batting Average		Toshiro Miyazaki	Yokohama BayStars	.323		Shogo Akiyama	Seibu Lions	.322
Runs		Yoshihiro Maru	Hiroshima Carp	109		Shogo Akiyama	Seibu Lions	106
Hits		Yoshihiro Maru José López	Hiroshima Carp Yokohama BayStars	171		Shogo Akiyama	Seibu Lions	185
Doubles		Casey McGehee	Yomiuri Giants	48		Shogo Akiyama	Seibu Lions	38
Triples		Yota Kyoda	Chunichi Dragons	8		Sosuke Genda	Seibu Lions	10
Home Runs		Alex Guerrero	Chunichi Dragons	35		Alfredo Despaigne	Softbank Hawks	35
Runs Batted In		José López	Yokohama BayStars	105		Alfredo Despaigne	Softbank Hawks	103
Stolen Bases		Kosuke Tanaka	Hiroshima Carp	35		Haruki Nishikawa	Nippon Ham Fighters	39
Walks		Yoshitomo Tsutsugo	Yokohama BayStars	93		Yuki Yanagita	Softbank Hawks	89

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Tomoyuki Sugano	Yomiuri Giants	1.59		Yusei Kikuchi	Seibu Lions	1.97
Wins		Tomoyuki Sugano	Yomiuri Giants	17		Nao Higashihama Yusei Kikuchi	Softbank Hawks Seibu Lions	15
Winning Percentage		Kazuki Yabuta	Hiroshima Carp	.833		Kodai Senga	Softbank Hawks	.765
Losses		Masanori Ishikawa	Yakult Swallows	14		Kohei Arihara	Nippon Ham Fighters	13
Saves		Rafael Dolis	Hanshin Tigers	37		Dennis Sarfate	Softbank Hawks	54
Innings Pitched		Miles Mikolas	Yomiuri Giants	188		Yusei Kikuchi	Seibu Lions	187 2/3
Appearances		Takeru Imamura Yasuaki Yamasaki	Hiroshima Carp Yokohama BayStars	70		Sho Iwasaki	Softbank Hawks	72
Hits Allowed		Miles Mikolas	Yomiuri Giants	162		Kohei Arihara	Nippon Ham Fighters	194
Home Runs Allowed		Shinnosuke Ogasawara	Chunichi Dragons	21		Kohei Arihara Chihiro Kaneko	Nippon Ham Fighters Orix Buffaloes	21
Strikeouts		Miles Mikolas	Yomiuri Giants	187		Takahiro Norimoto	Rakuten Golden Eagles	222
Base-on-Balls		Haruhiro Hamaguchi	Yokohama BayStars	69		Chihiro Kaneko	Orix Buffaloes	56

Awards

The winner of the 2017 Sawamura Award was Tomoyuki Sugano of the Yomiuri Giants. He had a 17-5 win-loss record, 171 strikeouts, and a 1.59 ERA in 187 1/3 innings, leading the CL in wins and ERA and placing second in strikeouts.

Award	League	Player	Team	Position	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	W - L	SV	IP	HA	HRA	BB	SO	ERA
Most Valuable Player	CL	Yoshihiro Maru	Hiroshima Carp	OF	556	109	171	23	92	13	.308	.398	.505	Did not pitch
	PL	Dennis Sarfate	Softbank Hawks	P	Did not bat									2 - 2	54	66	34	3	10	102	1.09
Rookie of the Year	CL	Yota Kyoda	Chunichi Dragons	SS	564	67	149	4	36	23	.264	.297	.355	Did not pitch
	PL	Sosuke Genda	Seibu Lions	SS	575	85	155	3	57	37	.270	.317	.351	Did not pitch

Best Nine

The following players were part of the 2017 Best Nine teams.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Tomoyuki Sugano	Yomiuri Giants		P		Yusei Kikuchi	Nippon Ham Fighters
Tsubasa Aizawa	Hiroshima Carp		C		Takuya Kai	Softbank Hawks
José López	Yokohama BayStars		1B		Ginji Akaminai	Rakuten Golden Eagles
Ryosuke Kikuchi	Hiroshima Carp		2B		Hideto Asamura	Seibu Lions
Toshiro Miyazaki	Yokohama BayStars		3B		Zelous Wheeler	Rakuten Golden Eagles
Kosuke Tanaka	Hiroshima Carp		SS		Kenta Imamiya	Softbank Hawks
Yoshitomo Tsutsugo	Yokohama BayStars		OF		Yuki Yanagita	Softbank Hawks
Seiya Suzuki	Hiroshima Carp				Shogo Akiyama	Seibu Lions
Yoshihiro Maru	Hiroshima Carp				Haruki Nishikawa	Nippon Ham Fighters
			DH		Alfredo Despaigne	Softbank Hawks

Gold Gloves

The following players were the recipients of the Gold Glove Award in 2017.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Tomoyuki Sugano	Yomiuri Giants		P		Yusei Kikuchi	Seibu Lions
Seiji Kobayashi	Yomiuri Giants		C		Takuya Kai	Softbank Hawks
José López	Yokohama BayStars		1B		Ginji Akaminai	Rakuten Golden Eagles
Ryosuke Kikuchi	Hiroshima Carp		2B		Daichi Suzuki	Chiba Lotte Marines
Takashi Toritani	Hanshin Tigers		3B		Nobuhiro Matsuda	Softbank Hawks
Hayato Sakamoto	Yomiuri Giants		SS		Kenta Imamiya	Softbank Hawks
Masayuki Kuwahara	Yokohama BayStars		OF		Yuki Yanagita	Softbank Hawks
Seiya Suzuki	Hiroshima Carp				Shogo Akiyama	Seibu Lions
Yoshihiro Maru	Hiroshima Carp				Haruki Nishikawa	Nippon Ham Fighters

All-Star Game

The NPB All-Star Game featured two games and both were won by the Pacific League. The first game was played at Nagoya Dome and was won by the PL, 6 - 2. The second game was played at Zozo Marine Stadium and was won by the PL, 3 - 1.

High School Baseball

The 99th National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 3,839 schools competing for 49 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game, Hanasaki Tokuei High School (Saitama) defeated Koryo High School (Hiroshima) by a score of 14 - 4.

The 89th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 32 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game, Osaka Toin High School (Osaka) defeated Riseisha High School (Osaka) by a score of 8 - 3.

University Baseball

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series

The 2017 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 27 schools competing in the tournament at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. In the championship game Rikkio University defeated International Budo University by a score of 9 - 2.

Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention

In the Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention, Nippon Sport Science University defeated Seisa Dohto University by a score of 3 - 0.

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League

Season	First	Second	Third	Fourth	Fifth	Sixth
Spring	Rikkio	Keio	Hosei	Waseda	Meiji	Tokyo
Fall	Keio	Meiji	Hosei	Rikkio	Waseda	Tokyo

Kansai 6 University Baseball League

Season	First	Second	Third	Fourth	Fifth	Sixth
Spring	Kindai	Ritsumeikan	Kansai	Kwansei Gakuin	Doshisha	Kyoto
Fall	Kansai	Ritsumeikan	Kindai	Kwansei Gakuin	Doshisha	Kyoto

International Baseball

Japan won the Gold Medal in both the 2017 Women's Baseball Asian Cup and 2017 Asian Championship while placing third in the 2017 World Baseball Classic and 2017 U-18 Baseball World Cup.

Japanese Players in Other Countries

Italics indicate a Major League appearance

• Nori Aoki: Houston Astros; Toronto Blue Jays; New York Mets
• Yu Darvish: Texas Rangers; Los Angeles Dodgers
• Hisashi Iwakuma: Seattle Mariners; Tacoma Rainiers, Pacific Coast (SEA-AAA); Modesto Nuts, California (SEA-A-Adv)
• Gosuke Katoh: Tampa Yankees, Florida State (NYY-A-Adv)
• Kenta Maeda: Los Angeles Dodgers
• Tomoya Mori: Melbourne Aces, Australian Baseball League
• Shunta Nakatsuka: Melbourne Aces, Australian Baseball League
• Yuhei Nakaushiro: Reno Aces, Pacific Coast (ARI-AAA); Jackson Generals, Southern (ARI-AA)
• Louis Okoye: Caneros de Los Mochis, Mexican Pacific Winter League
• Ryohei Shimabukuro: Bravos de Leon, Mexican League
• Kenshi Sugiya: Brisbane Bandits, Australian Baseball League
• Ichiro Suzuki: Miami Marlins
• Kona Takahashi: Melbourne Aces, Australian Baseball League
• Masahiro Tanaka: New York Yankees
• Junichi Tazawa: Miami Marlins; New Orleans Baby Cakes, Pacific Coast (MIA-AAA); Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, Southern (MIA-AA); Jupiter Hammerheads, Florida State (MIA-A-Adv)
• Koji Uehara: Chicago Cubs

Hall of Fame

The following people were elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame:

• Tsutomu Itoh, by the Sportswriters Committee
• Masaji Hiramatsu, by the Expert Committee
• Senichi Hoshino, by the Expert Committee
• Hiroshi Goshi, by the Special Committee
• Mirei Suzuki, by the Special Committee