Hanshin Tigers off to horrendous start in NPB
No matter how badly one’s favorite major league team may be doing, they can take solace in the fact that they are not the Hanshin Tigers.
Just a year after finishing in a virtual tie for first in the Japanese Central League, times have been difficult for the Tigers. They have set a record for futility at the start of a season, earning just one win in their first 17 games. That beats the mark which had been held by the 1979 Seibu Lions, who needed 17 games to earn their second victory.
Hanshin Tigers off to horrendous start
It is difficult to win games when a team not only cannot hit, but cannot pitch either. The Tigers have a mediocre .220/.270/.314 batting line with just 29 extra base hits. Only four players, regardless of how many plate appearances they have on the year, have an OPS over .700. Teruaki Sato is the only player on the team with more than two homers thus far, and he has hit three.
Then there is the pitching side. The Tigers have a 4.45 ERA and a 1.371 WHiP, hardly numbers that are going help a team struggling on the offensive side to win games. Yuki Nishi is a prime example; he has a 0.40 ERA and a 1.015 WHiP in his 22.2 innings, but has just one victory. That win came when he fired a complete game shutout.
One has to imagine that things will get better for the Tigers. Akihiro Yano has been a solid manager since taking over prior to the 2019 season and will find a way to add to the win column. As bad as the Tigers may be to start the season, this will not continue all year.
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The Hanshin Tigers have won only one game in their first 17 games. No matter how bad one’s major league team may be, it could be far worse.