NPB Climax Series Final Stage Predictions

A tight first round of the first stage of the Central League Climax Series saw the Hanshin Tigers edge out the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in a series of low-scoring games.

After winning the first game 2-0, the Tigers lost the second 1-0 before squeezing themselves over the line 3-2 in the decider to secure passage to face the team with the best record in the NPB regular season, the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.

The Swallows’ 80-4-59 record secured them a bye through the first round, but they will be hoping to overcome a recent record against the Tigers that leaves a bit to be desired – they have won just two of the last seven games against their opponents.

Given the tight nature of the Tigers’ matchup with the BayStars, pitching could also come to the fore in this series, which begins on Wednesday.

The Swallows’ bullpen duo of Scott McGough and Kazuto Taguchi will be key; the pair have ERAs of 2.35 and 1.25 respectively, coupled with 40 saves between them across their 89.2 innings of regular season work.

For the Tigers, their starter Koyo Aoyagi will be integral; he topped the Central League with an ERA of 2.05 in the regular season and a win-loss record of 13-4. 

Aoyagi pitched six scoreless innings in his team’s first win over the BayStars and is likely to start in either game one or two of this series.

The Swallows will be hoping they can overcome their poor head-to-head record in recent times against the Tigers and move one step closer to retaining their Japan Series title with a victory in this series, while Hanshin look likely to lean on their strong pitching in an attempt to slow down Yakult’s big-hitting line-up. 

A late-season surge saw the Orix Buffaloes pip the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks to the Pacific League title and now the pair will meet with a place in the Japan Series on the line after the Hawks comfortably saw off the Saitama Seibu Lions in the first round of the Climax Series.

A 5-3 victory in the first game was followed by an incredible 8-2 win for Fukuoka, securing their place in the next round.

Yuki Yanagita was the star player in those two games for the Hawks, picking up seven RBI’s across the pair. The right fielder ranked sixth in the Pacific regular season with a batting average of .275, along with 79 RBIs and 24 home runs.

However, the Buffaloes will have plenty of confidence coming into this series, given that they pipped their rivals to the post for the division and have a superior head-to-head record in recent games, winning eight of the last 10 games between the pair.

Integral to their chances of success is likely to be starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who racked up an ERA of just 1.68 across the regular season, the best of any qualifying starter in the NPB.

To add to that, Yamamoto had a win-loss record of 15-5 and 205 strikeouts across his 193 innings this season.

This series is set to be a competitive one between two fairly evenly matched teams, although the Hawks will have to overcome their late-season losses to the Buffaloes if they are to be successful. They will be hoping the momentum gained from their comfortable series win over the Lions will spur them on to victory.