Japanese Baseball:Rakuten Golden Eagles Team Preview |
| By Glenn Davies,Tokyo. The Eagles ranked a Pacific League worst or next to worst in all offensive and defensive categories in 2005 and finished the season 38-97-1. 2006 opens with renewed optimism with new manager and former Hanshin/Yakult skipper Katsuya Nomura in charge and a few new position players. Nomura however is known for his serious and traditional approach and may lose patience with such an inexperienced team if things continue as they did last season. The lineup is improved with the addition of Fernandez but the pitching remains suspect and and the Eagles look likely to remain cellar dwellers again in 2006. |
ProbableLineup |
| 2005 Stats |
| | Pos. | Name | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB | | 1. | RF | Koichi Isobe | .264 | 16 | 51 | 2 | | 2. | SS | Yoshinori Okihara | .311 | 1 | 23 | 3 | | 3. | 1B | Yuji Yoshioka | .282 | 10 | 52 | 0 | | 4. | 3B | Jose Fernandez | .293 | 26 | 84 | 5 | | 5. | DH | Takeshi Yamazaki | .266 | 25 | 65 | 0 | | 6. | CF | Koichi Sekikawa | .287 | 6 | 12 | 7 | | 7. | LF | Fumiyoshi Takano | .217 | 7 | 31 | 2 | | 8. | 2B | Rick Short | .400 | 2 | 4 | 0 | | 9. | C | Akihito Fuji | .232 | 0 | 21 | 1 |
Isobe at the top of the order seems more suited to fifth or sixth in the order as he lacks the speed or on base percentage you would expect from a leadoff man. Isobe has decent pull-type power and hit 26 HRs with Kintetsu n 2004. Former Tigers prospect Okihara proved that he could play regularly last season but will likely split time with defensive wizz Tadaharu Sakai, Sakai made a number of highlight reel worthy defensive plays last season and became a fan favorite Yoshika had a down year, when healthy hes good for 25HRs a year. Fernandez represents a huge coup for Rakuten, he adds reliable punch and a good ob% to the middle order. Yamazaki is now 38 and still seems capable of putting them over the fence and even improved his average last season. Rick Short comes over form the National and played well for the Chiba Marines the last time he was here in 2003 (.303 12 58 3). Takano and Fuji don't provide much lower order production. |
| Probable Rotation |
| 2005 Stats |
| | Name | Games | W | L | Sv | ERA | | SP | Hisashi Iwakuma | 27 | 9 | 15 | 0 | 4.49 | | SP | Cedrick Bowers | 18 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 3.83 | | SP | Kanuhisa Arime | 37 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 5.18 | | SP | Hideki Asai | 15 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 6.00 | | SP | Masahiko Kaneda | 25 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 6.01 | | SU | Yasuhiro Ichiba | 23 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 5.56 | | CP | Kazuo Fukumori | 49 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 3.57 | Iwakuma returns as team ace in 2006 and will need to keep the ball down more effectively to lower his ballooning ERA. A return to 2004 form where he won 15 with the then Kintetsu Buffaloes would be ideal. Bowers comes over from two seasons with Yokohama where he pitched effectively for 7 wins a season. Left handed Arime is next, he played starting and relief roles in 2005 and needs a little more seasoning to be effective. Asai got shelled fairly regularly last season as did Kaneda and only made it to the fouth inning in most outings. Highly touted rookie Ichiba was a bust as a starter last year and more time in the bullpen looks likely. Fukumori doesnt have the power arm you would hope for in a closer but performed adequately in '05. |
2005 Standings |
| Central | W | L | T | Pct% | GB | Pacific | W | L | T | Pct% | GB | | Hanshin Tigers | 87 | 54 | 5 | .617 | - | Chiba Lotte Marines | 84 | 49 | 3 | .632 | - | | Chunichi Dragons | 79 | 66 | 1 | .545 | 10.0 | Softbank Hawks | 89 | 45 | 2 | .664 | 4.5 | | Yokohama Bay Stars | 69 | 70 | 7 | .496 | 17.0 | Seibu Lions | 67 | 69 | 0 | .493 | 23.0 | | Yakult Swallows | 71 | 73 | 2 | .493 | 17.5 | Orix Buffaloes | 62 | 70 | 4 | .470 | 26.0 | | Yomiuri Giants | 62 | 80 | 4 | .437 | 25.5 | Nippon Ham Fighters | 62 | 71 | 3 | .466 | 26.5 | | Hiroshima Carp | 58 | 84 | 4 | .408 | 29.5 | Rakuten Eagles | 38 | 97 | 1 | .281 | 51.5 | |
