Offseason Changes: Softbank Hawks

» 23 February 2011 » In npb »

Coming: Seiichi Uchikawa, Alex Cabrera, Toru Hosokawa, Anthony Lerew, Soichi Fujita, Juan Deleon

Going: Kazumi Saito, Roberto Petagine, Arihito Muramatsu, JD Durbin, Beom-Ho Lee, Makoto Sato, Micheal Olmstead

Staying: Hitoshi Tamura, Brian Falkenborg, DJ Houlton, Jose Ortiz

Summary: Two years removed from a sixth-place finish, in 2010 the Softbank Hawks rode Seibu’s late-September swoon to the Pacific League crown. For an encore, they’ve added more star power than any other NPB team this offseason.

The big additions are of the offensive variety: contact-hitting outfielder Seiichi Uchikawa, slugging first baseman Alex Cabrera, and glove-first catcher Toru Hosokawa. 2010 Pacific League MPV candidate Hitoshi Tamura was also retained on a one-year deal. Uchi and Cabu should improve a lineup, that despite having some talented hitters, was only the 4th most productive in the PL last seasoan. Cabu should fill at-bats that were mostly taken up by the departed Roberto Petagine and a rapidly-aging Nobuhiko Matsunaka, while Uchi’s presence will cause guys like Satoru Morimoto and Hiroshi Shibahara will find themselves on the bench more often. Durability is a bit of a question mark, as both Cabrera and Uchikawa have injury histories, and Cabrera, Matsunaka, and Hiroki Kokubo are all on the wrong side of 35. If any of them falters, though, the steady bat of Jose Ortiz is still on the roster.

On the mound, Softbank’s pitching staff was the second best at preventing runs in 2010. The Hawks’ pitching success was led by it’s bullpen. Softbank threw a league-high 16 shutouts last year, but the team’s starters only managed six complete games — seven fewer than the next lowest total, by Seibu. To that end, the re-signing of middle-relief ace Brian Falkenborg was critical. Softbank has two ace-caliber lefties at the top of its rotation in Toshiya Sugiuchi and Tsuyoshi Wada, but after that the quality drops a bit. Kenj Ohtonari has a good arm and looked like a third lefty ace back in 2008, but hasn’t been as productive over the last two seasons. Yet another lefty, 30 year-old Shinsuke Ogura, battled through 102 innings last year, but did so with a 5.29 ERA. DJ Houlton is back, but he followed up an extremely hit-lucky 2009 with a rough 2010. We’ll see which way things go in 2011. If new addition Anthony Lerew can pitch with as much flair as he grows facial hair, the Hawks will have something. Former ace Kazumi Saito has finally succumbed to injuries and retired, while the the once-excellent Nagisa Arakaki is still battling his way back. And this would be a great year for Sho Iwasaki or Shota Ohba to take a step forward, given that longtime ace Wada is headed for free agency after the season. There are a lot of question marks among the rotation candidates, but the glass is definitely half-full, thanks to the Hawk’s front-rotation stability and excellent bullpen.

Overall, this team has talent up and down its roster, and despite the competitiveness of the Pacific League, it’s hard to see them finishing outside the top three this season.

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  1. Patrick
    Kyle
    24/02/2011 at 8:58 am Permalink

    Anyone remember what Falkenborg’s contract was?

  2. Patrick
    passerby
    24/02/2011 at 9:09 am Permalink

    2 years 400mil. yen until 2012.

  3. Patrick
    Kyle
    24/02/2011 at 12:15 pm Permalink

    Thanks, working on new NPB rosters for a baseball game I’m obsessed with.

  4. Patrick
    passerby
    25/02/2011 at 8:33 am Permalink

    Patrick,

    Feb. 26, 2011 is exactly 100 years away from the birthday of Taro Okamoto and Google features 太陽の塔.

    I know you like the old Kintetsu logo.
    http://www.asahi.com/culture/news_culture/TKY201001210396.html

  5. Patrick
    Patrick
    25/02/2011 at 6:51 pm Permalink

    I do like the old Kintetsu logo. I also didn’t know the meaning of that tower — to me it was always the unusual tower at Banpaku Kouen in Osaka. Thanks for the info.

  6. Patrick
    Yamil
    27/02/2011 at 12:18 am Permalink

    Anyone knows if Petagine announced his retirement of baseball? Thank you.

  7. Patrick
    Patrick
    27/02/2011 at 6:55 pm Permalink

    I don’t think he has. He said after the season that he wanted to come back to Softbank, but the Hawks obviously went in a different direction. Just my speculation, but I guess he would play if he had an offer from Japan or Korea.