2020 in Japanese Baseball

The 2020 Japanese season was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, shortening it from 143 games per team to 120. While the cuts were not as harsh as in the Americas, where the pandemic was more poorly controlled, they were worse than in Taiwan or South Korea, where the pandemic was under better control. The 2020 NPB All-Star Game was cancelled due to the virus.

Ukyo Shuto broke a 49-year-old record for consecutive games with a steal, while Yasuhiro Ogawa threw a no-hitter (while leading the CL in hits allowed) and Hayato Sakamoto joined the meikyukai with his 2,000th hit. José López became the 3rd player (after Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui) to reach 1,000 hits in both MLB and NPB.

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*	119	67	44	8	.604	--	528	416	.255	.328	.411	3.33	Tatsunori Hara
Hanshin Tigers*	120	60	53	7	.531	8	494	460	.246	.321	.381	3.35	Akihiro Yano
Chunichi Dragons	120	60	55	5	.522	9	429	489	.252	.317	.360	3.84	Tsuyoshi Yoda
Yokohama DeNA BayStars	119	55	58	6	.487	13	511	470	.266	.325	.416	3.78	Alex Ramirez
Hiroshima Toyo Carp	120	52	56	12	.481	13.5	523	529	.262	.331	.402	4.06	Shinji Sasaoka
Yakult Swallows	120	41	69	10	.373	25.5	468	589	.242	.321	.375	4.61	Shingo Takatsu

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	OBP	SLG	ERA	Manager(s)
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks*	120	73	42	5	.635	--	531	389	.249	.321	.401	2.92	Kimiyasu Kudoh
Chiba Lotte Marines*	120	60	57	3	.513	14	461	479	.235	.329	.355	3.81	Tadahito Iguchi
Saitama Seibu Lions	120	58	58	4	.500	15.5	479	543	.238	.315	.374	4.28	Hatsuhiko Tsuji
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	120	55	57	8	.491	16.5	557	522	.258	.341	.401	4.19	Hajime Miki
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	120	53	62	5	.461	20	493	528	.249	.330	.364	4.02	Hideki Kuriyama
Orix Buffaloes	120	45	68	7	.398	27	442	502	.247	.316	.367	3.97	Norifumi Nishimura/Satoshi Nakajima (as of 8/21)

Leaders

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
Batting Average		Keita Sano	Yokohama BayStars	.328		Masataka Yoshida	Orix Buffaloes	.350
Runs		Takayuki Kajitani	Yokohama BayStars	88		Yuki Yanagita	SoftBank Hawks	90
Hits		Yohei Oshima	Chunichi Dragons	146		Yuki Yanagita	SoftBank Hawks	146
Doubles		Yoshihiro Maru	Yomiuri Giants	31		Kensuke Kondo	Nippon Ham Fighters	31
Triples		Yota Kyoda	Chunichi Dragons	7		Cory Spangenberg	Seibu Lions	8
Home Runs		Kazuma Okamoto	Yomiuri Giants	31		Hideto Asamura	Rakuten Golden Eagles	32
Runs Batted In		Kazuma Okamoto	Yomiuri Giants	97		Sho Nakata	Nippon Ham Fighters	108
Stolen Bases		Koji Chikamoto	Hanshin Tigers	31		Ukyo Shuto	SoftBank Hawks	50
Walks		Munetaka Murakami	Yakult Swallows	87		Haruki Nishikawa	Nippon Ham Fighters	92

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Yudai Ono	Chunichi Dragons	1.82		Kodai Senga	SoftBank Hawks	2.16
Wins		Tomoyuki Sugano	Yomiuri Giants	14		Kodai Senga Shuta Ishikawa Hideaki Wakui	SoftBank Hawks SoftBank Hawks Rakuten Golden Eagles	11
Winning Percentage		Tomoyuki Sugano	Yomiuri Giants	.875		Shuta Ishikawa	SoftBank Hawks	.786
Losses		Koyo Aoyagi	Hanshin Tigers	9		Kohei Arihara	Nippon Ham Fighters	9
Saves		Robert Suárez	Hanshin Tigers	25		Tatsushi Masuda	Seibu Lions	33
Innings Pitched		Yudai Ono	Chunichi Dragons	148 2/3		Ayumu Ishikawa	Chiba Lotte Marines	133 1/3
Appearances		Spencer Patton	Yokohama BayStars	57		Naoya Masuda Kaima Taira	Chiba Lotte Marines Seibu Lions	54
Hits Allowed		Yasuhiro Ogawa	Yakult Swallows	132		Ayumu Ishikawa	Chiba Lotte Marines	138
Home Runs Allowed		Yasuhiro Ogawa	Yakult Swallows	20		Ayumu Ishikawa Wataru Matsumoto	Chiba Lotte Marines Seibu Lions	19
Strikeouts		Yudai Ono	Chunichi Dragons	148		Kodai Senga Yoshinobu Yamamoto	SoftBank Hawks Orix Buffaloes	149
Base-on-Balls		Atsushi Endo	Hiroshima Carp	52		Kodai Senga	Softbank Hawks	57

Awards

The winner of the 2020 Sawamura Award was Yudai Ono of the Chunichi Dragons. He had a 11-6 win-loss record, 148 strikeouts, and a 1.82 ERA in 148 2/3 innings, leading the CL in complete games (10), shutouts (6), ERA and whiffs while tying for second in victories.

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	Tomoyuki Sugano	Yomiuri Giants	P	44	3	4	0	3	0	.091	.111	.159	14 - 2	0	137 1/3	97	8	25	131	1.97
	PL	Yuki Yanagita	Softbank Hawks	OF	427	90	146	29	86	7	.342	.449	.623	Did not pitch
Rookie of the Year	CL	Masato Morishita	Hiroshima Carp	P	39	0	6	0	3	0	.154	.175	.205	10 - 3	0	122 2/3	102	6	32	124	1.91
	PL	Kaima Taira	Seibu Lions	P	Did not bat									1 - 0	1	53	22	2	29	62	1.87

Best Nine

The following players were part of the 2020 Best Nine teams.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Tomoyuki Sugano	Yomiuri Giants		P		Kodai Senga	Softbank Hawks
Takumi Oshiro	Yomiuri Giants		C		Takuya Kai	Softbank Hawks
Munetaka Murakami	Yakult Swallows		1B		Sho Nakata	Nippon Ham Fighters
Ryosuke Kikuchi	Hiroshima Carp		2B		Hideto Asamura	Rakuten Golden Eagles
Kazuma Okamoto	Yomiuri Giants		3B		Daichi Suzuki	Rakuten Golden Eagles
Hayato Sakamoto	Yomiuri Giants		SS		Sosuke Genda	Seibu Lions
Keita Sano	Yokohama BayStars		OF		Yuki Yanagita	Softbank Hawks
Seiya Suzuki	Hiroshima Carp				Kensuke Kondo	Nippon Ham Fighters
Yoshihiro Maru	Yomiuri Giants				Masataka Yoshida	Orix Buffaloes
			DH		Takumi Kuriyama	Seibu Lions

Gold Gloves

The following players were the recipients of the Gold Glove Award in 2020.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Tomoyuki Sugano	Yomiuri Giants		P		Kodai Senga	Softbank Hawks
Ryutaro Umeno	Hanshin Tigers		C		Takuya Kai	Softbank Hawks
Dayán Viciedo	Chunichi Dragons		1B		Akira Nakamura Sho Nakata	Softbank Hawks Nippon Ham Fighters
Ryosuke Kikuchi	Hiroshima Carp		2B		Shuta Tonosaki	Seibu Lions
Shuhei Takahashi	Chunichi Dragons		3B		Daichi Suzuki	Chiba Lotte Marines
Hayato Sakamoto	Yomiuri Giants		SS		Sosuke Genda	Seibu Lions
Yohei Oshima	Chunichi Dragons		OF		Yuki Yanagita	Softbank Hawks
Norichika Aoki	Yakult Swallows				Taishi Ota	Nippon Ham Fighters
Seiya Suzuki	Hiroshima Carp				Haruki Nishikawa	Nippon Ham Fighters

All-Star Game

The NPB All-Star Games were cancelled due to the COVID pandemic.

High School Baseball

All High School Baseball tournaments were cancelled due to the COVID pandemic, include Summer Koshien and Spring Koshien.

University Baseball

All University tournaments were cancelled due to the COVID pandemic.

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League

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

Kansai 6 University Baseball League

Season	First	Second	Third	Fourth	Fifth	Sixth
Spring	No Game due to Covid-19 Pandemic
Fall	Kindai	Ritsumeikan	Kansai	Doshisha&Kwansei Gakuin		Kyoto

International Baseball

All international events were cancelled due to the COVID pandemic, most notably the 2020 Olympics.

Japanese Players in Other Countries

Italics indicate a Major League appearance

• Shogo Akiyama:Cincinnati Reds
• Yu Darvish: Chicago Cubs
• Yusei Kikuchi: Seattle Mariners
• Kenta Maeda: Minnesota Twins
• Shohei Ohtani: Los Angeles Angels
• Masahiro Tanaka: New York Yankees
• Shumpei Yoshikawa: Amarillo Sod Poodles, Double-A Central (ARI-AA); Hillsboro Hops, High-A West (ARI-A-Adv); Reno Aces, Pacific Coast (ARI-AAA); AZL Diamondbacks, Arizona (ARI-R)
• Shun Yamaguchi:Toronto Blue Jays

Hall of Fame

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

• Koichi Tabuchi, by the Expert Committee
• Yukichi Maeda, by the Special Committee
• Renzo Ishii, by the Special Committee