2016 in Japanese Baseball

2016 in baseball
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2016 was a topsy-turvy year in Japan as the Hiroshima Carp, usually not a competitor, dominated the Central League, almost the only team to post a winning record (Yomiuri was 71-69-3) in that loop, though they fell in the 2016 Japan Series. Dennis Sarfate of the Softbank Hawks broke his own one-year-old save record in the Pacific League; a year later, he again would top his record.

Standings

Bold indicates league champion; Italics indicate Nippon Series winner; * indicates playoff team

Central League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	OBP	SLG	ERA	Manager(s)
Hiroshima Toyo Carp*	143	89	52	2	.631	--	684	497	.272	.343	.421	3.21	Koichi Ogata
Yomiuri Giants*	143	71	69	3	.507	17.5	519	543	.251	.310	.384	3.45	Yoshinobu Takahashi
Yokohama DeNA BayStars*	143	69	71	3	.493	19.5	572	588	.249	.305	.385	3.76	Alex Ramirez
Hanshin Tigers	143	64	76	3	.457	24.5	506	546	.245	.312	.351	3.38	Tomoaki Kanemoto
Yakult Swallows	143	64	78	1	.451	25.5	594	694	.256	.331	.378	4.73	Mitsuru Manaka
Chunichi Dragons	143	58	82	3	.414	30.5	500	573	.245	.309	.353	3.65	Motonobu Tanishige/Shigekazu Mori

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	OBP	SLG	ERA	Manager(s)
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters*	143	87	53	3	.621	--	619	467	.266	.340	.385	4.33	Hideki Kuriyama
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks*	143	83	54	6	.606	2.5	637	479	.261	.341	.386	4.45	Kimiyasu Kudoh
Chiba Lotte Marines*	143	72	68	3	.514	15	572	579	.255	.326	.361	3.70	Tsutomu Itoh
Saitama Seibu Lions	143	64	76	3	.457	23	619	618	.264	.335	.395	3.85	Norio Tanabe
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	143	62	78	3	.443	25	541	643	.257	.324	.369	4.09	Masataka Nashida
Orix Buffaloes	143	57	83	3	.407	30	499	635	.253	.317	.355	4.18	Junichi Fukura

Leaders

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
Batting Average		Hayato Sakamoto	Yakult Swallows	.344		Katsuya Kakunaka	Chiba Lotte Marines	.339
Runs		Tetsuto Yamada Kosuke Tanaka	Yakult Swallows Hiroshima Carp	102		Shogo Akiyama	Seibu Lions	98
Hits		Ryosuke Kikuchi	Hiroshima Carp	181		Katsuya Kakunaka	Chiba Lotte Marines	178
Doubles		Shuichi Murata	Yomiuri Giants	32		Hideto Asamura	Seibu Lions	40
Triples		Yohei Oshima	Chunichi Dragons	9		Eigoro Mogi Masahiro Nishino	Rakuten Golden Eagles Orix Buffaloes	7
Home Runs		Yoshitomo Tsutsugo	Yokohama BayStars	44		Brandon Laird	Nippon Ham Fighters	39
Runs Batted In		Yoshitomo Tsutsugo	Yokohama BayStars	110		Sho Nakata	Nippon Ham Fighters	110
Stolen Bases		Tetsuto Yamada	Yakult Swallows	30		Yoshio Itoi Yuji Kaneko	Orix Buffaloes Seibu Lions	53
Walks		Tetsuto Yamada	Yakult Swallows	97		Yuki Yanagita	Softbank Hawks	100

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Tomoyuki Sugano	Yomiuri Giants	2.01		Ayumu Ishikawa	Chiba Lotte Marines	2.16
Wins		Yusuke Nomura	Hiroshima Carp	16		Tsuyoshi Wada	Softbank Hawks	15
Losses		Atsushi Nohmi Hirofumi Yamanaka	Hanshin Tigers Yakult Swallows	12		Yuki Nishi	Orix Buffaloes	12
Saves		Hirokazu Sawamura	Yomiuri Giants	37		Dennis Sarfate	Softbank Hawks	43
Innings Pitched		Randy Messenger	Hanshin Tigers	185 1/3		Takahiro Norimoto	Rakuten Golden Eagles	195
Appearances		Ryo Akiyoshi Scott Mathieson	Yakult Swallows Yomiuri Giants	70		Hiroyuki Fukuyama	Rakuten Golden Eagles	69
Hits Allowed		Randy Messenger	Hanshin Tigers	178		Hideaki Wakui	Chiba Lotte Marines	195
Home Runs Allowed		Yasuhiro Ogawa	Yakult Swallows	22		Tsuyoshi Wada	Softbank Hawks	22
Strikeouts		Tomoyuki Sugano	Yomiuri Giants	189		Takahiro Norimoto	Rakuten Golden Eagles	216
Base-on-Balls		Shintaro Fujinami	Hanshin Tigers	70		Brandon Dickson	Orix Buffaloes	71

Awards

The winner of the 2016 Sawamura Award was Kris Johnson of the Hiroshima Carp. He had a 15-7 win-loss record, 141 strikeouts, and a 2.15 ERA in 180 1/3 innings, finishing second in the Central League in wins and ERA.

Award	League	Player	Team	Position	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	W - L	SV	IP	HA	HRA	BB	SO	ERA
Most Valuable Player	CL	Takahiro Arai	Hiroshima Carp	1B	454	66	136	19	101	0	.300	.372	.485	Did not pitch
	PL	Shohei Otani	Nippon Ham Fighters	P/DH	323	65	104	22	67	7	.322	.416	.588	10 - 4	0	140	89	4	45	174	1.86
Rookie of the Year	CL	Shun Takayama	Hanshin Tigers	OF	494	48	136	8	65	5	.275	.316	.391	Did not pitch
	PL	Hirotoshi Takanashi	Nippon Ham Fighters	P	2	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	10 - 2	0	109 2/3	79	6	36	86	2.38

Best Nine

The following players were part of the 2016 Best Nine teams.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Yusuke Nomura	Hiroshima Carp		P		Shohei Otani	Nippon Ham Fighters
Yoshiyuki Ishihara	Hiroshima Carp		C		Tatsuhiro Tamura	Chiba Lotte Marines
Takahiro Arai	Hiroshima Carp		1B		Sho Nakata	Nippon Ham Fighters
Tetsuto Yamada	Yakult Swallows		2B		Hideto Asamura	Seibu Lions
Shuichi Murata	Yomiuri Giants		3B		Brandon Laird	Nippon Ham Fighters
Hayato Sakamoto	Yomiuri Giants		SS		Daichi Suzuki	Chiba Lotte Marines
Yoshitomo Tsutsugo	Yokohama BayStars		OF		Katsuya Kakunaka	Chiba Lotte Marines
Seiya Suzuki	Hiroshima Carp				Yoshio Itoi	Orix Buffaloes
Yoshihiro Maru	Hiroshima Carp				Haruki Nishikawa	Nippon Ham Fighters
			DH		Shohei Otani	Nippon Ham Fighters

Gold Gloves

The following players were the recipients of the Gold Glove Award in 2016.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Tomoyuki Sugano	Yomiuri Giants		P		Hideaki Wakui	Chiba Lotte Marines
Yoshiyuki Ishihara	Hiroshima Carp		C		Shota Ono	Nippon Ham Fighters
Jose Lopez	Yomiuri Giants		1B		Sho Nakata	Nippon Ham Fighters
Ryosuke Kikuchi	Hiroshima Carp		2B		Kazuya Fujita	Rakuten Golden Eagles
Shuichi Murata	Yomiuri Giants		3B		Nobuhiro Matsuda	Softbank Hawks
Hayato Sakamoto	Yomiuri Giants		SS		Kenta Imamiya	Softbank Hawks
Yohei Oshima	Chunichi Dragons		OF		Dai-Kang Yoh	Nippon Ham Fighters
Seiya Suzuki	Hiroshima Carp				Shogo Akiyama	Seibu Lions
Yoshihiro Maru	Hiroshima Carp				Yoshio Itoi	Orix Buffaloes

International Baseball

Japan won the Gold Medal in the 2016 Women's Baseball World Cup.

Hall of Fame

The following people were elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame:

• Masaaki Saito, by the Sportswriters Committee
• Kimiyasu Kudoh, by the Sportswriters Committee
• Kihachi Enomoto, by the Expert Committee
• Takizo Matsumoto, by the Special Committee
• Masatake Yamanaka, by the Special Committee