2019 in Japanese Baseball

The 2019 Japanese season saw another title for the Softbank Hawks, their 5th this decade.

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)
Yomiuri Giants*	143	77	64	2	.546	--	663	575	.257	.335	.422	3.77	Tatsunori Hara
Yokohama DeNA BayStars*	143	71	69	3	.507	5.5	596	611	.246	.315	.398	3.93	Alex Ramirez
Hanshin Tigers*	143	69	68	3	.504	6	538	566	.251	.319	.362	3.46	Akihiro Yano
Hiroshima Toyo Carp	143	70	70	3	.500	6.5	596	611	.246	.315	.398	3.70	Koichi Ogata
Chunichi Dragons	143	68	73	2	.482	9	563	544	.263	.317	.381	3.72	Tsuyoshi Yoda
Yakult Swallows	143	59	82	2	.418	18	656	739	.244	.329	.398	4.79	Junji Ogawa

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	OBP	SLG	ERA	Manager(s)
Saitama Seibu Lions*	143	80	62	1	.563	--	756	695	.265	.344	.428	4.36	Hatsuhiko Tsuji
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks*	143	76	62	5	.551	2	582	564	.251	.312	.410	3.63	Kimiyasu Kudoh
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles*	143	71	68	4	.511	7.5	614	578	.251	.333	.390	3.74	Yosuke Hiraishi
Chiba Lotte Marines	143	69	70	4	.471	9.5	642	611	.249	.330	.402	3.91	Tadahito Iguchi
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	143	65	73	5	.471	13	560	586	.251	.325	.365	3.76	Hideki Kuriyama
Orix Buffaloes	143	61	75	7	.449	16	541	637	.242	.309	.354	4.06	Norifumi Nishimura

Leaders

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
Batting Average		Seiya Suzuki	Hiroshima Carp	.335		Tomoya Mori	Seibu Lions	.329
Runs		Seiya Suzuki	Hiroshima Carp	112		Shogo Akiyama	Seibu Lions	112
Hits		Yohei Oshima	Chunichi Dragons	174		Shogo Akiyama	Seibu Lions	179
Doubles		Dayan Viciedo	Chunichi Dragons	43		Takashi Ogino	Chiba Lotte Marines	35
Triples		Koji Chikamoto	Hanshin Tigers	7		Takashi Ogino	Chiba Lotte Marines	7
Home Runs		Neftali Soto	Yokohama BayStars	43		Hotaka Yamakawa	Seibu Lions	43
Runs Batted In		Neftali Soto	Yokohama BayStars	108		Takeya Nakamura	Seibu Lions	123
Stolen Bases		Koji Chikamoto	Hanshin Tigers	36		Yuji Kaneko	Seibu Lions	41
Walks		Tetsuto Yamada	Yakult Swallows	110		Kensuke Kondo	Nippon Ham Fighters	103

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Yudai Ono	Chunichi Dragons	2.58		Yoshinobu Yamamoto	Orix Buffaloes	1.95
Wins		Shun Yamaguchi	Yomiuri Giants	15		Kohei Arihara	Nippon Ham Fighters	15
Winning Percentage		Shun Yamaguchi	Yomiuri Giants	.789		Taisuke Yamaoka	Orix Buffaloes	.765
Losses		Yasuhiro Ogawa	Yakult Swallows	12		Kota Futaki	Chiba Lotte Marines	10
Saves		Yasuaki Yamasaki	Yokohama BayStars	30		Yuki Matsui	Rakuten Golden Eagles	38
Innings Pitched		Yudai Ono	Chunichi Dragons	177 2/3		Kodai Senga	Softbank Hawks	180 1/3
Appearances		Edwin Escobar	Yokohama BayStars	74		Katsunori Hirai	Seibu Lions	81
Hits Allowed		Daichi Osera	Hiroshima Carp	176		Taisuke Yamaoka	Orix Buffaloes	154
Home Runs Allowed		Yasuhiro Ogawa	Yakult Swallows	26		Ryota Ishibashi	Rakuten Golden Eagles	20
Strikeouts		Shun Yamaguchi	Yomiuri Giants	188		Kodai Senga	Softbank Hawks	227
Base-on-Balls		Shun Yamaguchi	Yomiuri Giants	60		Kodai Senga	Softbank Hawks	75

Awards

There was no winner of the 2019 Sawamura Award.

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	Hayato Sakamoto	Yomiuri Giants	SS	555	103	173	40	94	5	.312	.396	.575	Did not pitch
	PL	Tomoya Mori	Seibu Lions	C	492	96	162	23	105	3	.329	.413	.547	Did not pitch
Rookie of the Year	CL	Munetaka Murakami	Yakult Swallows	1B	511	76	118	36	96	5	.231	.332	.481	Did not pitch
	PL	Rei Takahashi	Softbank Hawks	P	4	0	1	0	0	0	.250	.250	.250	12 - 6	0	143	114	10	49	73	3.34

Best Nine

The following players were part of the 2019 Best Nine teams.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Shun Yamaguchi	Yomiuri Giants		P		Kodai Senga	Softbank Hawks
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	Rakuten Golden Eagles
Shuhei Takahashi	Chunichi Dragons		3B		Takeya Nakamura	Seibu Lions
Hayato Sakamoto	Yomiuri Giants		SS		Sosuke Genda	Seibu Lions
Neftali Soto	Yokohama BayStars		OF		Takashi Ogino	Chiba Lotte Marines
Seiya Suzuki	Hiroshima Carp				Shogo Akiyama	Seibu Lions
Yoshihiro Maru	Yomiuri Giants				Masataka Yoshida	Orix Buffaloes
			DH		Alfredo Despaigne	Softbank Hawks

Gold Gloves

The following players were the recipients of the Gold Glove Award in 2019.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Yuki Nishi	Hanshin Tigers		P		Kodai Senga	Softbank Hawks
Ryutaro Umeno	Hanshin Tigers		C		Takuya Kai	Softbank Hawks
José López	Yokohama BayStars		1B		Seiichi Uchikawa	Softbank Hawks
Ryosuke Kikuchi	Hiroshima Carp		2B		Hideto Asamura	Rakuten Golden Eagles
Shuhei Takahashi	Chunichi Dragons		3B		Nobuhiro Matsuda	Softbank Hawks
Hayato Sakamoto	Yomiuri Giants		SS		Sosuke Genda	Seibu Lions
Yohei Oshima	Chunichi Dragons		OF		Takashi Ogino	Chiba Lotte Marines
Seiya Suzuki	Chunichi Dragons				Shogo Akiyama	Seibu Lions
Yoshihiro Maru	Yomiuri Giants				Haruki Nishikawa	Nippon Ham Fighters

All-Star Game

The NPB All-Star Game featured two games and both leagues won one game. The first game was played at Tokyo Dome and was won by the PL, 6 - 3. The second game was played at Koshien Stadium and was won by the CL, 11 - 3.

High School Baseball

The 101th National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 3,730 schools competing for 49 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game, Riseisha High School (Osaka) defeated Seiryo High School (Ishikawa) by a score of 5 - 3.

The 91th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 32 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game, Toho High School (Aichi) defeated Narashino High School (Chiba) by a score of 6 - 0.

University Baseball

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series

The 2019 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 27 schools competing in the tournament at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. In the championship game Meiji University defeated Bukkyo University by a score of 6 - 1.

Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention

In the Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention, Keio University defeated Kansai University by a score of 8 - 0.

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League

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

Kansai 6 University Baseball League

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

International Baseball

Japan won the Gold Medal in both the 2019 Women's Baseball Asian Cup and 2019 Premier 12 while earning the Silver Medal in the 2019 Asian Championship.

Japanese Players in Other Countries

Italics indicate a Major League appearance

• Sho Aranami: Sultanes de Monterrey, Mexican League
• Koya Chinen: Uni-President Lions, Chinese Professional Baseball League
• Yu Darvish: Chicago Cubs
• Yuri Furukawa: Indios de Mayaguez, Puerto Rican Winter League
• Yoshihisa Hirano: Arizona Diamondbacks
• Shingo Hirata: Canberra Cavalry, Australian Baseball League
• Takamasa Kasai: Canberra Cavalry, Australian Baseball League
• Gosuke Katoh: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, International (NYY-AAA); Trenton Thunder, Eastern (NYY-AA)
• Yusei Kikuchi: Seattle Mariners
• Yujo Kitagata: AZL Dodgers Lasorda, Arizona (LAD-R), Auckland Tuatara, Australian Baseball League
• Kenta Maeda: Los Angeles Dodgers
• Junya Michihara: Auckland Tuatara, Australian Baseball League
• Yuma Mune: Melbourne Aces, Australian Baseball League
• Kyohei Muranaka: Auckland Tuatara, Australian Baseball League
• Hayato Nishiura: Melbourne Aces, Australian Baseball League
• Daigo Nushijima: Adelaide Giants, Australian Baseball League
• Hiromi Oka, Criollos de Caguas, Puerto Rican Winter League
• Ryota Okumoto: Auckland Tuatara, Australian Baseball League
• Shinichi Ohnuki: Canberra Cavalry, Australian Baseball League
• Shohei Ohtani: Los Angeles Angels
• Daina Ono: Adelaide Giants, Australian Baseball League
• Shogo Ozawa: Auckland Tuatara, Australian Baseball League, Adelaide Giants, Australian Baseball League
• Kosuke Sakaguchi: Canberra Cavalry, Australian Baseball League
• Kodai Sano: Melbourne Aces, Australian Baseball League
• Taiki Sekine: Yaquis de Obregón, Mexican Pacific League
• Ichiro Suzuki: Seattle Mariners
• Hosei Takata: Indios de Mayaguez, Puerto Rican Winter League
• Koji Takahashi: Auckland Tuatara, Australian Baseball League
• Masahiro Tanaka: New York Yankees
• Seigi Tanaka: Gigantes de Carolina, Puerto Rican Winter League
• Ryoga Tomiyama: Melbourne Aces, Australian Baseball League
• Takaaki Yokoyama: Diablos Rojos del Mexico, Honkbal Hoofdklasse
• Shumpei Yoshikawa: Visalia Rawhide, California (ARI-A-Adv)
• Yuki Yoshimura: De Glaskoning Twins, Honkbal Hoofdklasse
• Kaito Yuki: AZL Royals, Arizona (KCR-R)

Hall of Fame

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

• Kazuyoshi Tatsunami, by the Sportswriters Committee
• Hiroshi Gondo, by the Expert Committee
• Haruo Wakimura, by the Special Committee