2018 in Japanese Baseball

The 2018 Japanese season saw another title for the Softbank Hawks, their 4th this decade. It did not come quite as easily, as the team finished second in the Pacific League in the regular season before upending the Seibu Lions in the playoffs and topping the Hiroshima Carp in the 2018 Japan Series. Hitoki Iwase became the first pitcher in league history to reach 1,000 career appearances.

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	82	59	2	.582	--	721	651	.262	.349	.431	4.12	Koichi Ogata
Yakult Swallows*	143	76	66	2	.532	7	658	665	.266	.347	.402	4.13	Junji Ogawa
Yomiuri Giants*	143	67	71	5	.486	13.5	625	575	.257	.325	.403	3.79	Yoshinobu Takahashi
Yokohama DeNA BayStars	143	67	74	2	.475	15	572	642	.250	.307	.415	4.18	Alex Ramirez
Chunichi Dragons	143	63	78	2	.447	19	598	654	.265	.325	.380	4.36	Shigekazu Mori
Hanshin Tigers	143	62	79	2	.440	20	577	628	.253	.330	.361	4.03	Tomoaki Kanemoto

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	OBP	SLG	ERA	Manager(s)
Saitama Seibu Lions*	143	88	53	2	.624	--	792	653	.273	.352	.454	4.24	Hatsuhiko Tsuji
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks*	143	82	60	1	.577	6.5	685	579	.266	.326	.451	3.90	Kimiyasu Kudoh
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters*	143	74	66	3	.529	13.5	589	586	.251	.329	.393	3.77	Hideki Kuriyama
Orix Buffaloes	143	65	73	5	.471	21.5	538	565	.244	.308	.365	3.69	Junichi Fukura
Chiba Lotte Marines	143	59	81	3	.421	28.5	534	628	.247	.325	.355	4.04	Tadahito Iguchi
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	143	58	82	3	.414	29.5	520	583	.241	.307	.368	3.78	Masataka Nashida (21-41-1)/Yosuke Hiraishi (37-41-2)

Leaders

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
Batting Average		Dayan Viciedo	Chunichi Dragons	.348		Yuki Yanagita	Softbank Hawks	.352
Runs		Tetsuto Yamada	Yakult Swallows	130		Hotaka Yamakawa	Seibu Lions	115
Hits		Dayan Viciedo	Chunichi Dragons	178		Shogo Akiyama	Seibu Lions	195
Doubles		Nori Aoki Zoilo Almonte	Yakult Swallows Chunichi Dragons	37		Shogo Akiyama	Seibu Lions	39
Triples		Kosuke Tanaka	Hiroshima Carp	10		Seiji Uebayashi	Softbank Hawks	140
Home Runs		Yoshihiro Maru	Hiroshima Carp	39		Hotaka Yamakawa	Seibu Lions	47
Runs Batted In		Wladimir Balentien	Yakult Swallows	131		Hideto Asamura	Seibu Lions	127
Stolen Bases		Tetsuto Yamada	Yakult Swallows	33		Haruki Nishikawa	Nippon Ham Fighters	44
Walks		Yoshihiro Maru	Hiroshima Carp	130		Haruki Nishikawa	Nippon Ham Fighters	96

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Tomoyuki Sugano	Yomiuri Giants	2.14		Takayuki Kishi	Rakuten Golden Eagles	2.72
Wins		Daichi Osera	Hiroshima Carp	15		Shinsaburo Tawata	Seibu Lions	16
Winning Percentage		Daichi Osera	Hiroshima Carp	.682		Mike Bolsinger	Chiba Lotte Marines	.867
Losses		David Buchanan Shota Imanaga	Yakult Swallows Yokohama BayStars	11		Yuki Nishi	Orix Buffaloes	13
Saves		Yasuaki Yamasaki	Yokohama BayStars	37		Yuito Mori	Softbank Hawks	37
Innings Pitched		Tomoyuki Sugano	Yomiuri Giants	202		Takahiro Norimoto	Seibu Lions	180 1/3
Appearances		Kazuki Kondo	Yakult Swallows	74		Ren Kajiya	Softbank Hawks	72
Hits Allowed		David Buchanan	Yakult Swallows	186		Shinsaburo Tawata	Seibu Lions	173
Home Runs Allowed		Daichi Osera	Hiroshima Carp	22		Taisuke Yamaoka Takayuki Kishi Hirotoshi Takanashi Kodai Senga	Orix Buffaloes Rakuten Golden Eagles Nippon Ham Fighters Softbank Hawks	21
Strikeouts		Tomoyuki Sugano	Yomiuri Giants	200		Takahiro Norimoto	Rakuten Golden Eagles	187
Base-on-Balls		Taiki Ono	Hanshin Tigers	81		Rick van den Hurk	Softbank Hawks	61

Awards

The winner of the 2018 Sawamura Award was Tomoyuki Sugano of the Yomiuri Giants. He had a 15-8 win-loss record, 200 strikeouts, and a 2.14 ERA in 202 innings, winning a pitching Triple Crown.

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	432	109	132	39	97	10	.306	.468	.627	Did not pitch
	PL	Hotaka Yamakawa	Seibu Lions	1B	541	115	152	47	124	0	.281	.396	.590	Did not pitch
Rookie of the Year	CL	Katsuki Azuma	Yokohama BayStars	P	45	0	4	0	1	0	.089	.111	.109	11 -5	0	154	130	13	42	155	2.45
	PL	Kazuki Tanaka	Rakuten Golden Eagles	OF	423	67	112	18	45	21	.265	.323	.423	Did not pitch

Best Nine

The following players were part of the 2018 Best Nine teams.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Tomoyuki Sugano	Yomiuri Giants		P		Yusei Kikuchi	Seibu Lions
Tsubasa Aizawa	Hiroshima Carp		C		Tomoya Mori	Seibu Lions
Dayán Viciedo	Chunichi Dragons		1B		Hotaka Yamakawa	Seibu Lions
Tetsuto Yamada	Yakult Swallows		2B		Hideto Asamura	Seibu Lions
Toshiro Miyazaki	Yokohama BayStars		3B		Nobuhiro Matsuda	Softbank Hawks
Hayato Sakamoto	Yomiuri Giants		SS		Sosuke Genda	Seibu Lions
Neftali Soto	Yokohama BayStars		OF		Yuki Yanagita	Softbank Hawks
Seiya Suzuki	Hiroshima Carp				Shogo Akiyama	Seibu Lions
Yoshihiro Maru	Hiroshima Carp				Masataka Yoshida	Orix Buffaloes
			DH		Kensuke Kondo	Nippon Ham Fighters

Gold Gloves

The following players were the recipients of the Gold Glove Award in 2018.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Tomoyuki Sugano	Yomiuri Giants		P		Takayuki Kishi	Seibu Lions
Ryutaro Umeno	Hanshin Tigers		C		Takuya Kai	Softbank Hawks
José López	Yokohama BayStars		1B		Sho Nakata	Nippon Ham Fighters
Ryosuke Kikuchi	Hiroshima Carp		2B		Shogo Nakamura	Chiba Lotte Marines
Toshiro Miyazaki	Yokohama BayStars		3B		Nobuhiro Matsuda	Softbank Hawks
Kosuke Tanaka	Hiroshima Carp		SS		Sosuke Genda	Seibu Lions
Yohei Oshima	Chunichi Dragons		OF		Yuki Yanagita	Softbank Hawks
Ryosuke Hirata	Chunichi Dragons				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 and both were won by the Pacific League. The first game was played at Osaka Dome and was won by the PL, 7 - 6. The second game was played at Fujisakidai Baseball Stadium and was won by the PL, 5 - 1.

High School Baseball

The 100th National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 3,781 schools competing for 56 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game, Osaka Toin High School (North Osaka) defeated Kanaashi Nogyo High School (Akita) by a score of 13 - 2.

The 90th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 36 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game, Osaka Toin High School (Osaka) defeated Chiben Gakuen High School (Nara) by a score of 5 - 2.

University Baseball

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series

The 2018 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 27 schools competing in the tournament at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. In the championship game Tohoku Fukushi University defeated International Budo University by a score of 6 - 2.

Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention

In the Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention, Rissho University defeated International Pacific University by a score of 6 - 4.

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League

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

Kansai 6 University Baseball League

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

International Baseball

Japan won the Gold Medal in both the 2018 Women's Baseball World Cup and 2018 World University Championship while earning the Silver Medal in the 2018 Asian Games.

Japanese Players in Other Countries

Italics indicate a Major League appearance

• Koki Aoyagi: Canberra Cavalry, Australian Baseball League
• Koya Chinen: Uni-President Lions, Chinese Professional Baseball League
• Yu Darvish: Chicago Cubs
• Yuki Harada: Auckland Tuatara, Australian Baseball League
• Yoshihisa Hirano: Arizona Diamondbacks
• Taiga Hirasawa: Auckland Tuatara, Australian Baseball League
• Shota Imanaga: Canberra Cavalry, Australian Baseball League
• Hisashi Iwakuma: Everett AquaSox, Northwest (SEA-Short-season A)
• Takahiro Kaneko: Auckland Tuatara, Australian Baseball League
• Gosuke Katoh: Trenton Thunder, Eastern (NYY-AA)
• Tohru Kikue: Adelaide Bite, Australian Baseball League
• Ryo Koura: Adelaide Bite, Australian Baseball League
• Yuki Kuniyoshi: Canberra Cavalry, Australian Baseball League
• Kenta Maeda: Los Angeles Dodgers
• Kazuhisa Makita: San Diego Padres
• Tomoya Mikami: Canberra Cavalry, Australian Baseball League
• Shogo Nakajima: Sydney Blue Sox, Australian Baseball League
• Yuhei Nakaushiro: Jackson Generals, Southern (ARI-AA)
• Joey O'Brien: AZL Mariners, Arizona (SEA-R)
• Ryota Okumoto: Auckland Tuatara, Australian Baseball League
• Shohei Ohtani: Los Angeles Angels
• Tomohito Sakai: Auckland Tuatara, Australian Baseball League
• Ichiro Suzuki: Seattle Mariners
• Hayato Takagi: Melbourne Aces, Australian Baseball League
• Yoshihiro Tamura: Adelaide Bite, Australian Baseball League
• Masahiro Tanaka: New York Yankees
• Atsuki Taneichi: Auckland Tuatara, Australian Baseball League
• Taiki Tashiro: Auckland Tuatara, Australian Baseball League
• Junichi Tazawa: Detroit Tigers; Los Angeles Angels; Salt Lake Bees, Pacific Coast (LAA-AAA); Toledo Mud Hens, International (DET-AAA)
• Hirotaka Tochiya: Adelaide Bite, Australian Baseball League

Hall of Fame

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

• Hideki Matsui, by the Sportswriters Committee
• Tomoaki Kanemoto, by the Sportswriters Committee
• Tatsunori Hara, by the Expert Committee
• Masao Taki, by the Special Committee