WBC 2023 Japan
Japan’s victory in the 2023 World Baseball Classic showcased the number one reason to be excited about Cancer Crabs baseball: Shohei Ohtani. The two-way superstar excelled both at the plate and on the mound, winning the tournament’s MVP award. It’s rare that a player so completely captures the hearts and minds of baseball fans like Ohtani has, and I’m extra excited that he shares an astrological sign with your humble narrator.
But lest you think Cancer’s impact stops with Ohtani, Japan has Crabs up and down the lineup. (Re-reading that sentence, I realize it could have a VERY different meaning, if read from a non-astrology point of view.) In fact, another Cancer bat behind Ohtani in the lineup: new Red Sox left fielder Masataka Yoshida. First baseman Kazuma Okamoto has had five straight 30-home run seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball. There’s also the middle infield tandem of Tetsuto Yamada and Takumu Nakano. And then on the mound, there’s star closer Taisei Ota, who saved 37 games in his first professional season last year.
It’s not a stretch to say that pitching is the main reason why Japan emerged victorious over the United States in this year’s WBC. While many of the best American pitchers were deemed too expensive to insure for an exhibition tournament, no fewer than seven NPB teams sent their staff aces to the WBC. Two of those seven are Leos: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who started Game 4 in the Pool stage, after averaging more than 100 points per game for Orix, and Hiroto Takahashi, who made three WBC relief appearances.
But tops among Leo hurlers in international reputation is Yu Darvish, the recently extended ace of the San Diego Padres. While it was widely assumed that Darvish would start the championship game against the United States, but I guess Japan’s brass thought it would be better to send out a pitcher none of the USA batters had seen before… and it worked! The only Lion in the lineup was number-two hitting right fielder Kensuke Kondoh.
Pitching Game 3, after the two established MLB stars Ohtani and Darvish, was young Scorpio phenom Roki Sasaki, who stymied Mexico in the semifinal matchup. The Stingers also provided backup closer Yuki Matsui, who had the highest points-per-game average among the team’s relievers. Although, I must admit, I’m only guessing at pitchers’ roles, based on games-to-innings ratio, since Baseball Reference doesn’t list “games started” on the stat lines of NPB players.
Looking at the list of countries that participated in the WBC, you might think that assume that someone named Lars Nootbaar would be playing for the Netherlands. But that’s the patriarchy for you: Lars is half Japanese on his mother’s side, which qualified him to be the first player on for the Japanese national team who was not born in Japan. The only other Virgos on Japan’s roster were in the pitching staff. Shota Imanaga got the surprise start in the championship game. Hiroya Miyagi and Hiromi Itoh were starters for the NPB teams, but pitched exclusively out of the bullpen in the WBC.
The most impressive hitter in Japan’s lineup, according to NPB stats, is Aquarius third baseman Munetaka Murakami. The 22-year-old slugger’s 56 home runs translated into a fantasy point total approaching 3,000 - although he didn’t heat up in tournament play until the semifinals, where he recorded a walk-off hit. The only other Aquarian starter was shortstop Sosuke Genda, who played the whole tournament with a broken finger.