2021 in Japanese Baseball

After a reduced schedule in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Japan returned to a regular schedule for 2021. It was worst-to-first as the 2020 last-place teams, the Yakult Swallows and Orix Buffaloes, each finished first in the regular season; both teams made it to the 2021 Japan Series like in the 1991 World Series. Meanwhile, the Softbank Hawks failed to make the playoffs after winning the four prior Japan Series and six of the prior seven (they still had the best run differential in the Pacific League). Yakult reliever Noboru Shimizu set a NPB record with 50 holds.

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)
Yakult Swallows*	142	73	51	10	.589	--	618	522	.254	.333	.397	3.44	Shingo Takatsu
Hanshin Tigers*	143	77	56	10	.579	.5	541	508	.247	.311	.379	3.30	Akihiro Yano
Yomiuri Giants*	143	61	62	20	.496	11.5	552	541	.242	.310	.399	3.63	Tatsunori Hara
Hiroshima Toyo Carp	142	62	68	12	.477	14	548	582	.263	.323	.387	3.80	Shinji Sasaoka
Chunichi Dragons	142	55	71	15	.437	19	405	478	.237	.291	.331	3.22	Tsuyoshi Yoda
Yokohama DeNA BayStars	143	54	73	16	.425	20.5	559	624	.266	.325	.416	3.78	Daisuke Miura

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	OBP	SLG	ERA	Manager(s)
Orix Buffaloes*	143	70	55	18	.560	--	551	500	.247	.312	.378	3.31	Satoshi Nakajima
Chiba Lotte Marines*	143	67	57	19	.540	3.5	584	570	.239	.320	.379	3.67	Tadahito Iguchi
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles*	143	66	62	15	.516	5.5	532	507	.243	.329	.363	3.40	Kazuhisa Ishii
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks	143	60	62	21	.492	8.5	564	493	.247	.314	.385	3.25	Kimiyasu Kudoh
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	143	55	68	20	.447	14	454	515	.231	.301	.336	3.32	Hideki Kuriyama
Saitama Seibu Lions	143	55	70	15	.440	15	521	589	.239	.310	.363	3.94	Hatsuhiko Tsuji

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	.317		Masataka Yoshida	Orix Buffaloes	.339
Runs		Koji Chikamoto	Hanshin Tigers	91		Yuki Yanagita	SoftBank Hawks	95
Hits		Koji Chikamoto	Hanshin Tigers	178		Takashi Ogino	Chiba Lotte Marines	169
Doubles		Masayuki Kuwahara	Yokohama BayStars	39		Kensuke Kondo	Nippon Ham Fighters	37
Triples		Yasutaka Shiomi	Yakult Swallows	7		Sosuke Genda Yuma Mune	Seibu Lions Orix Buffaloes	7
Home Runs		Kazuma Okamoto Munetaka Murakami	Yomiuri Giants Yakult Swallows	39		Yutaro Sugimoto	Orix Buffaloes	32
Runs Batted In		Kazuma Okamoto	Yomiuri Giants	113		Hiroaki Shimauchi	Rakuten Golden Eagles	96
Stolen Bases		Takumu Nakano	Hanshin Tigers	30		Sosuke Genda Haruki Nishikawa Takashi Ogino Koshiro Wada	Seibu Lions Nippon Ham Fighters Chiba Lotte Marines Chiba Lotte Marines	24
Walks		Munetaka Murakami	Yakult Swallows	106		Hideto Asamura	Rakuten Golden Eagles	101

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Yuya Yanagi	Chunichi Dragons	2.20		Yoshinobu Yamamoto	Orix Buffaloes	1.39
Wins		Koyo Aoyagi Aren Kuri	Hanshin Tigers Hiroshima Carp	13		Yoshinobu Yamamoto	Orix Buffaloes	18
Winning Percentage		Koyo Aoyagi	Hanshin Tigers	.684		Yoshinobu Yamamoto	Orix Buffaloes	.783
Losses		Yudai Ono	Chunichi Dragons	11		Takahide Ikeda Takayuki Kishi Sachiya Yamasaki	Nippon Ham Fighters Rakuten Golden Eagles Orix Buffaloes	10
Saves		Robert Suárez	Hanshin Tigers	42		Naoya Masuda	Chiba Lotte Marines	38
Innings Pitched		Yuya Yanagi	Chunichi Dragons	172		Yoshinobu Yamamoto	Orix Buffaloes	193 2/3
Appearances		Noboru Shimizu	Yakult Swallows	72		Naoya Masuda	Chiba Lotte Marines	67
Hits Allowed		Aren Kuri	Hiroshima Carp	150		Kona Takahashi	Seibu Lions	157
Home Runs Allowed		Shosei Togo	Yomiuri Giants	19		Kota Futaki	Chiba Lotte Marines	24
Strikeouts		Yuya Yanagi	Chunichi Dragons	168		Yoshinobu Yamamoto	Orix Buffaloes	206
Base-on-Balls		Yuki Takahashi	Yomiuri Giants	61		Tatsuya Imai	Seibu Lions	99

Awards

The winner of the 2021 Sawamura Award was Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Orix Buffaloes. He had a 18-5 win-loss record, 206 strikeouts, and a 1.39 ERA in 193 2/3 innings, leading the PL in ERA, wins, innings, strikeouts, complete games (6) and shutouts (4).

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	Munetaka Murakami	Yakult Swallows	3B	500	82	139	39	112	12	.278	.408	.566	Did not pitch
	PL	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	Orix Buffaloes	P	3	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	18-5	0	193 2/3	124	7	40	206	1.39
Rookie of the Year	CL	Ryoji Kuribayashi	Hiroshima Carp	P	Did not bat									0-1	37	52 1/3	23	1	28	81	0.86
	PL	Hiroya Miyagi	Orix Buffaloes	P	6	0	1	0	0	0	.167	.167	.167	13-4	0	147	118	9	39	131	2.51

Best Nine

The following players were part of the 2021 Best Nine teams.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Yuya Yanagi	Chunichi Dragons		P		Yoshinobu Yamamoto	Orix Buffaloes
Yuhei Nakamura	Yakult Swallows		C		Tomoya Mori	Seibu Lions
Jefry Marté	Chunichi Dragons		1B		Brandon Laird	Chiba Lotte Marines
Tetsuto Yamada	Yakult Swallows		2B		Shogo Nakamura	Chiba Lotte Marines
Munetaka Murakami	Yakult Swallows		3B		Yuma Mune	Orix Buffaloes
Hayato Sakamoto	Yomiuri Giants		SS		Sosuke Genda	Seibu Lions
Koji Chikamoto	Hanshin Tigers		OF		Yuki Yanagita	Softbank Hawks
Seiya Suzuki	Hiroshima Carp				Yutaro Sugimoto	Orix Buffaloes
Yasutaka Shiomi	Yakult Swallows				Masataka Yoshida	Orix Buffaloes
			DH		Kensuke Kondo	Nippon Ham Fighters

Gold Gloves

The following players were the recipients of the Gold Glove Award in 2021.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Yuya Yanagi	Chunichi Dragons		P		Yoshinobu Yamamoto	Orix Buffaloes
Yuhei Nakamura	Yakult Swallows		C		Takuya Kai	Softbank Hawks
Dayán Viciedo	Chunichi Dragons		1B		Akira Nakamura	Softbank Hawks
Ryosuke Kikuchi	Hiroshima Carp		2B		Shogo Nakamura	Chiba Lotte Marines
Kazuma Okamoto	Yomiuri Giants		3B		Yuma Mune	Orix Buffaloes
Hayato Sakamoto	Yomiuri Giants		SS		Sosuke Genda	Seibu Lions
Yohei Oshima	Chunichi Dragons		OF		Yuki Yanagita	Softbank Hawks
Koji Chikamoto	Hanshin Tigers				Takashi Ogino	Chiba Lotte Marines
Seiya Suzuki	Hiroshima Carp				Ryosuke Tatsumi	Rakuten Golden Eagles

All-Star Game

The NPB All-Star Game featured two games and both leagues won one game. The first game was played at Seibu Dome and was won by the CL, 5 - 4. The second game was played at Rakuten Seimei Park Miyagi and was won by the PL, 4 - 3.

High School Baseball

The 103th National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 3,603 schools competing for 49 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game, Chiben Wakayama High School (Wakayama) defeated Chiben Gakuen High School (Nara) by a score of 9 - 2.

The 93th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 32 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game, Tokai University Sagami High School (Kanagawa) defeated Beppu University Meiho High School (Oita) by a score of 3 - 2.

University Baseball

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series

The 2021 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 27 schools competing in the tournament at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. In the championship game Keio University defeated Fukui University of Technology by a score of 13 - 2.

Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention

In the Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention, Chuo University defeated Keio University by a score of 9 - 8.

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League

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

Kansai 6 University Baseball League

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

International Baseball

Japan won Gold in the 2020 Olympics (held in 2021, but retaining the 2020 name; they had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

Japanese Players in Other Countries

Italics indicate a Major League appearance

• Shogo Akiyama:Cincinnati Reds; Louisville Bats, Triple-A East (CIN-AAA)
• Kohei Arihara: Texas Rangers; Round Rock Express, Triple-A West (TEX-AAA); Frisco RoughRiders, Double-A Central (TEX-AA)
• Yu Darvish: San Diego Padres
• Kodai Hamaya: El Aguila de Veracruz, Mexican League; Venados de Mazatlan, Mexican Pacific Winter League
• Gosuke Katoh: El Paso Chihuahuas, Triple-A West (SDP-AAA)
• Yusei Kikuchi: Seattle Mariners
• Kenta Maeda: Minnesota Twins
• Masaru Nakamura: Mariachis de Guadalajara, Mexican League
• Shohei Ohtani: Los Angeles Angels
• Hirokazu Sawamura: Boston Red Sox; Worcester Red Sox, Triple-A East (BOS-AAA)
• Keisuke Takano: CTBC Brothers, Chinese Professional Baseball League
• Junichi Tazawa: Wei Chuan Dragons, Chinese Professional Baseball League
• Shohei Tomioka: Lansing Lugnuts, High-A Central (OAK-A+)
• Shumpei Yoshikawa: Schaumburg Boomers, Frontier League
• Yoshi Tsutsugo: Pittsburgh Pirates; Pittsburgh Pirates; Tampa Bay Rays; Oklahoma City Dodgers, Triple-A West (LAD-AAA)
• Shun Yamaguchi:Toronto Blue Jays; Sacramento River Cats, Triple-A West (SFG-AAA)

Hall of Fame

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

• Katsuji Kawashima, by the Special Committee
• Kazuo Sayama, by the Special Committee