2024 in Japanese Baseball

The 2024 Japanese season was dominated by two long-time winners. The Yomiuri Giants won their league-leading 48th pennant, and the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks won their 5th pennant in the past 10 years. It was also a year for pitchers, Hiroto Takahashi won the ERA title with a incredible 1.38 ERA, and there were 6 pitchers had a sub-2 ERA.

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	59	7	.566	--	462	381	.247	.310	.349	2.49	Shinnosuke Abe
Hanshin Tigers*	143	74	63	6	.540	3.5	485	520	.242	.314	.327	2.50	Akinobu Okada
Yokohama DeNA BayStars*	143	71	69	3	.507	8	522	503	.256	.313	.375	3.07	Daisuke Miura
Hiroshima Toyo Carp	143	38	70	5	.493	10	415	419	.239	.286	.315	2.62	Takahiro Arai
Yakult Swallows	143	62	77	4	.446	16	506	556	.243	.311	.349	3.97	Shingo Takatsu
Chunichi Dragons	143	60	75	8	.444	16	373	478	.243	.296	.330	2.99	Kazuyoshi Tatsunami

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	OBP	SLG	ERA	Manager(s)
Fukuoka Softbank Hawks	143	91	49	3	.650	--	607	390	.259	.327	.394	2.53	Hiroki Kokubo
Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters	143	75	60	8	.556	13.5	532	485	.245	.301	.367	2.94	Tsuyoshi Shinjo
Chiba Lotte Marines	143	71	66	6	.518	18.5	536	495	.248	.312	.346	3.17	Masato Yoshii
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	143	67	72	4	.482	23.5	492	579	.242	.303	.339	3.73	Toshiaki Imae
Orix Buffaloes	143	63	77	3	.458	28	402	448	.238	.297	.331	2.82	Satoshi Nakajima
Saitama Seibu Lions	143	49	91	3	.350	42	350	485	.212	.274	.301	3.02	Kazuo Matsui, Hisanobu Watanabe

Leaders

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
Batting Average		Tyler Austin	Yokohama BayStars	.316		Kensuke Kondoh	Fukuoka Softbank Hawks	.314
Runs		Munetaka Murakami	Yakult Swallows	82		Ryoya Kurihara	Fukuoka Softbank Hawks	74
Hits		Hideki Nagaoka	Yakult Swallows	163		Ryosuke Tatsumi	Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	158
Doubles		Kazuma Okamoto	Yomiuri Giants	37		Ryoya Kurihara	Fukuoka Softbank Hawks	40
Triples		Masaya Yano	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	6		Ryosuke Tatsumi	Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	12
Home Runs		Munetaka Murakami	Yakult Swallows	33		Hotaka Yamakawa	Fukuoka Softbank Hawks	34
Runs Batted In		Munetaka Murakami	Yakult Swallows	86		Hotaka Yamakawa	Fukuoka Softbank Hawks	99
Stolen Bases		Koji Chikamoto	Hanshin Tigers	19		Ukyo Shuto	Fukuoka Softbank Hawks	41
Walks		Munetaka Murakami	Yakult Swallows	105		Kensuke Kondoh	Fukuoka Softbank Hawks	92

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Hiroto Takahashi	Chunichi Dragons	1.38		Liván Moinelo	Fukuoka Softbank Hawks	1.88
Wins		Tomoyuki Sugano	Yomiuri Giants	15		Hiromi Itoh Kohei Arihara	Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters Fukuoka Softbank Hawks	14
Winning Percentage		Tomoyuki Sugano	Yomiuri Giants	.833		Hiromi Itoh	Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters	.737
Losses		Shoki Murakami Shinnosuke Ogasawara	Hanshin Tigers Chunichi Dragons	11		Ryuhei Sotani Takayuki Kishi Kona Takahashi	Orix Buffaloes Rakuten Golden Eagles Saitama Seibu Lions	11
Saves		Raidel Martínez	Chunichi Dragons	43		Takahiro Norimoto	Rakuten Golden Eagles	32
Innings Pitched		Katsuki Azuma	Yokohama BayStars	183		Kohei Arihara	Fukuoka Softbank Hawks	182 2/3
Appearances		Takuma Kirishiki	Hanshin Tigers	70		Takahiro Norimoto	Rakuten Golden Eagles	54
Hits Allowed		Hiroki Tokoda	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	170		Takayuki Kato	Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters	174
Home Runs Allowed		Cy Sneed	Yakult Swallows	16		Sachiya Yamasaki	Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters	17
Strikeouts		Shosei Togo	Yomiuri Giants	156		Tatsuya Imai	Saitama Seibu Lions	187
Base-on-Balls		Anthony Kay	Yakult Swallows	53		Tatsuya Imai	Saitama Seibu Lions	70

All-Star Game

The NPB All-Star Game featured two games and it was a split between the Pacific League and the Central League. The first game was played at Es Con Field Hokkaido and was won by the CL, 11 - 6. The second game was played at Meiji-Jingu Stadium and was won by the PL, 16 - 10.

High School Baseball

The 106th National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 3,441 schools competing for 49 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game, Kyoto Kokusai High School (Kyoto) defeated Kanto Daiichi High School (Tokyo East) by a score of 2 - 1.

The 96th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 32 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game, Takasaki University of Health and Welfare High School (Gunma) defeated Hotoku Gakuen High School (Hyogo) by a score of 3 - 2.

University Baseball

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series

The 2024 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 27 schools competing in the tournament at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. In the championship game Aoyama Gakuin University defeated Waseda University by a score of 2 - 1.

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League

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

Tohto University Base Ball League

Season	League	First	Second	Third	Fourth	Fifth	Sixth
Spring	1	Aoyama Gakuin	Chuo	Asia	Nihon	Kokugakuin	Komazawa
	2	Tokyo Agriculture	Senshu	Toyo	Kokushikan	Takushoku	Rissho
	3	Juntendo	Taisho	Teikyo Heisei	Gakushuin	Sophia	Seikei
	4	Hitotsubashi	Shibaura	Tokyo City	Tokyo Tech

Kansai 6 University Baseball League

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

International Baseball

Japanese Players in Other Countries

Italics indicate a Major League appearance

• Tomohiro Anraku: Diablos Rojos del Mexico, Mexican League
• Bryan Balzer: ACL Dodgers, ACL (LAD-R)
• Yu Darvish: San Diego Padres
• Shintaro Fujinami: Syracuse Mets, International (NYM-AAA); St. Lucie Mets, Florida State (NYM-A); Binghamton Rumble Ponies, Eastern (NYM-AA); FCL Mets, FCL (NYM-R)
• Shota Imanaga: Chicago Cubs
• Shotaro Kasahara: TSG Hawks, Chinese Professional Baseball League
• Yusei Kikuchi: Toronto Blue Jays, Houston Astros
• Yasutomo Kubo: Hamburg Stealers, Bundesliga-1
• Kenta Maeda: Detroit Tigers
• Yuki Matsui: San Diego Padres
• Toru Murata: Hroši Brno, Extraliga
• Rikuu Nishida: Kannapolis Cannon Ballers, Carolina (CHW-A); Winston-Salem Dash, South Atlantic (CHW-A+); Birmingham Barons, Southern (CHW-AA)
• Lars Nootbaar: St. Louis Cardinals
• Shohei Ohtani: Los Angeles Dodgers
• Kento Onodera: TSG Hawks, Chinese Professional Baseball League
• Tomo Otosaka: Leones de Yucatan, Mexican League
• Yuhi Sako: New Jersey Jackals, Frontier League; High Point Rockers, Atlantic League
• Kodai Senga: New York Mets
• Keisho Shirakawa: SSG Landers, Korea Baseball Organization, Doosan Bears, Korea Baseball Organization
• Seiya Suzuki: Chicago Cubs
• Hiroshi Takahashi: DSL Miami, DSL (MIA-R)
• Natsuki Tamba: Hroši Brno, Extraliga
• Shohei Tomioka: Midland RockHounds, Texas (OAK-AA)
• Koya Uemura: Hroši Brno, Extraliga
• Naoyuki Uwasawa: Boston Red Sox; Worcester Red Sox, International (BOS-AAA)
• Yoshinobu Yamamoto: Los Angeles Dodgers
• Kazumasa Yoshida: TSG Hawks, Chinese Professional Baseball League
• Masataka Yoshida: Boston Red Sox

Hall of Fame

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