Sunday, March 25, 2007

BASEBALL BULLET-IN

By WAYNE GRACZYK

March 30 is Opening Day for Japan's Central League, and there is a new anticipation as the CL enters its first year with postseason playoffs on the docket.

Kosuke Fukudome, last year's Central League MVP, is poised to lead the Dragons back to the Japan Series in 2007. KYODO PHOTO

Like in the Pacific League, the "A-Class" or top three finishers will meet in a "Climax Series" in October to determine which team will win the right to participate in the 2007 Japan Series.

In another similarity to the Pacific circuit, a number of Central League teams will be missing some key players from last year who have gone to the major leagues via posting or free agency and others who will miss the openers due to injury.

However, it promises to be another exciting campaign, so let's take a look at each of the six CL franchises and see where each is strong or weak.

Chunichi Dragons -- Manager Hiromitsu Ochiai's boys have won the Central League pennant two of the last three years, and he has the guy who many MLB scouts say is the best Japanese player currently playing in Japan: right fielder Kosuke Fukudome, the 2006 MVP and batting champion (.351 with 31 home runs, 104 RBIs).

Behind him in the lineup is the country's leading homer and RBI man from last season, first baseman Tyrone Woods who belted 47 out of the park and drove in 144.

The Dragons also have what is arguably the best defensive and offensive keystone combination in Japan with second baseman Masahiro Araki and shortstop Hirokazu Ibata.

Alex Ochoa is gone from the Nagoya outfield, replaced by Lee Byung Kyu.

Masahiko Morino will play either third base or left field, depending on Ochiai's plans for Norihiro Nakamura, who made the team and could play third. Nakamura is a former Pacific League home run king.

Veteran catcher Motonobu Tanishige handles a superb pitching staff led by ace Kenshin Kawakami (17 wins in 2006), 41-year-old lefty Masahiro Yamamoto, Kenta Asakura and Kenichi Nakata.

Southpaw closer Hitoki Iwase is Japan's leading saver.

Three "rookie" foreigners are on the mound staff: righties Joe Valentine and Santiago Ramirez and lefty Franklyn Gracesqui.

Hanshin Tigers -- Skipper Akinobu Okada lost ace pitcher Kei Igawa via posting to the New York Yankees but will try to get by with Yuya Ando, Shinobu Fukuhara and newcomer Estaban Yan.

First-year-in-Japan right-hander Ryan Vogelsong is also vying for a slot.

Relief-wise, the Tigers are solid with the "JFK" setup of closer trio of Jeff Williams, Kyuji Fujikawa and Tomoyuki Kubota, and Darwin Cubillan is back for middle relief duty.

Okada's lineup features speedy center fielder Norihiro Akahoshi, power hitters Tomoaki Kanemoto (2005 MVP) in left and Osamu Hamanaka in right.

The infield has Andy Sheets (fifth year in Japan) at first, Kentaro Sekimoto or Atsyshi Fujimoto at second and Takashi Toritani at short.

Manning the hot corner is Makoto Imaoka, who missed two-thirds of the 2006 campaign with an injury but had a whopping 147 RBIs when Hanshin won the pennant in 2005.

Catcher Akihiro Yano is solid on offense and defense.

Yakult Swallows -- Player-manager Atsuya Furuta has lost slugging third baseman Akinori Iwamura to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and first sacker Adam Riggs may miss the start of the season with an injury, so there are a couple of holes to fill in the infield.

Hiroyasu Tanaka should be the regular second baseman, and Furuta is trying to convert last year's right fielder, Ryuji Miyade, to third base.

No problems in the outfield with cleanup hitter Alex Ramirez in left, sure .300 hitter Norichika Aoki in center and a newcomer from Canada, Aaron Guiel, in right.

Don't look for Furuta to do much of the catching; Tomohito Yoneno should do most of the behind-the-mask work again, handling a pitching staff looking to find itself.

Rick Guttormson is gone to Fukuoka, but the rotation includes ex-major leaguer Kazuhisa Ishii, Masanori Ishikawa, Shogo Fujii, Dicky Gonzalez and newbie Seth Greisinger moving in after two years in Korea.

Furuta's main closer, lefty Hirososhi Ishii, is not at 100 percent after missing most of last season with arm trouble, and we'll see if veterans Shingo Takatsu or Ryota Igarashi can step in.

Yomiuri Giants -- If pilot Tatsunori Hara cannot fly the Kyojin out of the second division and into the playoffs, his job may be on the line, and the key should be in whether or not his pitching staff can do the job.

Offensively, the Giants appear in good shape with Korean slugger Lee Seung Yeop (41 homers last year) at first base and 2006 Pacific League MVP Michihiro Ogasawara, coming over as a free agent from the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, at third.

"Freshman" second baseman Luis Gonzalez steady shortstop Tomohiro Nioka team up as the DP combo.

Hara's outfield has newcomers Yoshitomo Tani (obtained in a trade from the Orix Buffaloes) and Damon Hollins with veteran Yoshinobu Takahashi, and there is depth with Takahiro Suzuki, Kenji Yano, Yoshiyuki Kamei and Takayuki Shimizu ready to come off the bench.

Catcher Shinnosuke Abe is an All-Star.

The mound corps is still questionable, though.

Will the closer be Kiyoshi Toyoda, Kentaro Nishimura or Hisanori Takahashi?

Are starters Koji Uehara and Jeremy Powell going to be ready for Opening Day?

Most reliable as the season begins are southpaw Tetsuya Utsumi, newly acquired (from the Yokohama BayStars) Ken Kadokura and Chiang Chien-ming from Taiwan.

Yuya Kubo and Masanori Hayashi are reliable middle relievers.

Hiroshima Carp -- American manager Marty Brown looks to improve the Carp and get Hiroshima into playoff contention without any foreign position players, but he was able to keep ace free agent right-hander Hiroki Kuroda, a 13-game winner who led the CL with a 1.85 ERA in 2006.

Also on Brown's staff of starters are Americans Sean Douglass and (knuckleballer) Jared Fernandez, as well as Kan Otake and 39-year-old Shinji Sasaoka.

Katsuhiro Nagakawa has regained the confidence needed to do the job as the Carp closer.

Offensively, the "Red Helmets" can score.

First baseman Kenta Kurihara is back after an injury that kept him out much of last year. He and third sacker Takahiro Arai (a league-leading 43 homers in 2005) will provide the power supply and flank Akihiro Higashide at second and Eishin Soyogi at shortstop.

Vets Tomonori Maeda in left field and ex-batting champ Shigenobu Shima in right are key players, but who is going to play center?

Maybe rookie Naoki "The Flea" Nakahigashi who also has been working out as a catcher, a position where Brown needs to get more offense.

Yokohama BayStars -- Akihiko Oya returns as the BayStars manager after 10 years with a huge job to get Yokohama out of the cellar. It won't be easy.

His best players are third baseman Shunichi Murata, who cracked 34 homers and drove in 114 runs last season, and first baseman-outfielder Yuuki Yoshimura, who slammed 26 homers, and had 66 RBIs after joining the varsity in May of 2006.

Right up there, too, is right-fielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo, a former CL batting champion.

Shortstop Takuro Ishii is still the leadoff man at 36, and second baseman Toshihisa Nishi came over in a trade with the Giants.

Others in the outfield with Kinjo are Masaaki Koike and Seiichi Uchikawa, and catcher Ryoji Aikawa is fine defensively but needs better offensive output.

On the hill, right-hander Daisuke Miura is still the ace, but there were no double-figure winners on the BayStars staff last season.

Others in the rotation should be newcomers Kimiyasu Kudo, the 44-year-old lefty acquired from the Giants, and righty Hayato Terahara, picked up in a trade with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks for slugging center fielder Hitoshi Tamura.

There are no foreign position players on the Yokohama roster, but the ace closer is third-year speed-baller Marc Kroon, and there are two new non-Japanese pitchers: Scott Chiasson and Joselo Diaz.

Sorry for Port City fans, but it looks like another long season in Yokohama.

Predicted order of finish: 1) Chunichi, 2) Hanshin, 3) Yomiuri, 4) Hiroshima, 5) Yakult, 6) Yokohama.

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