2019 Nippon Professional Baseball season

This article is about the 2019 Nippon Professional Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 2019 in baseball.
2019 NPB season
LeagueNippon Professional Baseball
SportBaseball
DurationMarch 29 – October 23
Number of games143
Number of teams12
Central League Pennant
League championsYomiuri Giants
  Runners-upYokohama DeNA Baystars
Season MVPHayato Sakamoto (Yomiuri)
Pacific League Pennant
League championsSaitama Seibu Lions
  Runners-upFukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Season MVPTomoya Mori (Seibu)
Climax Series
CL championsYomiuri Giants
  CL runners-upHanshin Tigers
PL championsFukuoka SoftBank Hawks
  PL runners-upSaitama Seibu Lions
Japan Series
ChampionsFukuoka SoftBank Hawks
  Runners-upYomiuri Giants
Finals MVPYurisbel Gracial (SoftBank)
NPB seasons

The 2019 Nippon Professional Baseball season began on March 29.[1] It was the 70th season since Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) was reorganized in 1950. There are 12 teams NPB, split evenly between the Central League and Pacific League. The 2019 NPB season was 143 games long; teams in each league played 125 games against each other and 18 interleague games.[2] The regular season was scheduled to end on September 24 except for any make-up games scheduled after it; the regular season eventually concluded on September 30. The top three teams in each league proceed to the Climax Series, NPB's postseason system.

Regular season standings

Central League regular season standings[3]
Rank Team G W L T Pct. GB Home Road
1 Yomiuri Giants 143 77 64 2 .546 - 39–32–0 38–32–2
2 Yokohama DeNA BayStars 143 71 69 3 .519 4.5 42–25–1 26–38–2
3 Hanshin Tigers 143 69 68 6 .504 6.0 39–32–1 30–36–5
4 Hiroshima Toyo Carp 143 70 70 3 .500 6.5 39–31–1 31–39–2
5 Chunichi Dragons 143 68 73 2 .482 9.0 39–31–2 29–42–0
6 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 143 59 82 2 .418 18.0 28–41–2 31-41–0
Pacific League regular season standings[4]
Rank Team G W L T Pct. GB Home Road
1 Saitama Seibu Lions 143 80 62 1 .563 - 43–29–0 37–33–1
2 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 143 76 62 5 .551 2.0 42–27–3 34–35-2
3 Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 143 71 68 4 .511 7.5 36–33–2 35–35–2
4 Chiba Lotte Marines 143 69 70 4 .504 9.5 37–32–2 32–38–2
5 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 143 65 73 5 .471 12.0 35–34–3 30–39–2
6 Orix Buffaloes 143 61 75 7 .452 14.0 32–34–5 29–41–2

Climax Series

Main articles: 2019 Pacific League Climax Series and 2019 Central League Climax Series
First StageFinal StageJapan Series
Central League
1Yomiuri Giants4
2Yokohama DeNA BayStars13Hanshin Tigers1
3Hanshin Tigers2CL1Yomiuri Giants0
PL2Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks4
Pacific League
1Saitama Seibu Lions1
2Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks22Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks4
3Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles1

First stage

Central League

Hanshin Tigers won the series, 2–1.

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 5 Hanshin Tigers - 8, Yokohama DeNA BayStars – 7 Yokohama Stadium 3:57 31,832[5] 
2 October 6 Hanshin Tigers - 4, Yokohama DeNA BayStars – 6 Yokohama Stadium 3:50 31,818[6] 
3 October 7 Hanshin Tigers - 2, Yokohama DeNA BayStars – 1 Yokohama Stadium 3:57 31,807[7]

Pacific League

Fukuoka Hawks won the series, 2–1.

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 5 Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles – 5, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 3 Fukuoka Yahuoku! Dome 3:15 39,745[8] 
2 October 6 Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles – 4, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 6 Fukuoka Yahuoku! Dome 3:39 40,178[9] 
3 October 7 Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles – 1, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 2 Fukuoka Yahuoku! Dome 3:05 38,265[10]

Final Stage

Central League

Yomiuri Giants won the series, 4–1.

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 9 Hanshin Tigers – 2, Yomiuri Giants – 5 Tokyo Dome 3:13 45,277[11] 
2 October 10 Hanshin Tigers – 0, Yomiuri Giants – 6 Tokyo Dome 2:43 45,168[12] 
3 October 11 Hanshin Tigers – 7, Yomiuri Giants – 6 Tokyo Dome 4:52 45,677[13] 
4 October 13 Hanshin Tigers – 1, Yomiuri Giants – 4 Tokyo Dome 2:58 45,931[14]

Pacific League

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks won the series, 4–1.

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 9 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 8, Saitama Seibu Lions – 4 MetLife Dome 3:38 29,679[15] 
2 October 10 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 8, Saitama Seibu Lions – 6 MetLife Dome 4:26 30,599[16] 
3 October 11 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 7, Saitama Seibu Lions – 0 MetLife Dome 3:34 29,828[17] 
4 October 13 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 9, Saitama Seibu Lions – 3 MetLife Dome 4:00 29,146[18]

Japan Series

Main article: 2019 Japan Series

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks won the series, 4–0.

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 19 Yomiuri Giants – 2, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 7 Fukuoka Yahuoku! Dome 3:15 37,198[19] 
2 October 20 Yomiuri Giants – 3, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 6 Fukuoka Yahuoku! Dome 3:12 37,052[20] 
3 October 22 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 6, Yomiuri Giants – 2 Tokyo Dome 3:38 44,411[21] 
4 October 23 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 4, Yomiuri Giants – 3 Tokyo Dome 3:22 44,708[22]

League leaders

Central League

Pacific League

Awards

Regular season

NPB Awards
Central League Pacific League
Award Player Team Player Team
Rookie of the Year Munetaka Murakami Tokyo Yakult Swallows Rei Takahashi Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Most Valuable Player Hayato Sakamoto Yomiuri Giants Tomoya Mori Saitama Seibu Lions
Eiji Sawamura Award Not awarded Not awarded
Best Relief Pitcher Joely Rodríguez Chunichi Dragons Naoki Miyanishi Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Matsutaro Shoriki Award Kimiyasu Kudo Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Best Nine Award
Position Player Team Player Team
Pitcher Shun Yamaguchi Yomiuri Giants Kodai Senga Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Catcher Tsubasa Aizawa Hiroshima Toyo Carp Tomoya Mori Saitama Seibu Lions
1st Base Dayán Viciedo Chunichi Dragons Hotaka Yamakawa Saitama Seibu Lions
2nd Base Tetsuto Yamada Tokyo Yakult Swallows Hideto Asamura Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
3rd Base Shuhei Takahashi Chunichi Dragons Takeya Nakamura Saitama Seibu Lions
Shortstop Hayato Sakamoto Yomiuri Giants Sosuke Genda Saitama Seibu Lions
Outfield Yoshihiro Maru Yomiuri Giants Shogo Akiyama Saitama Seibu Lions
Seiya Suzuki Hiroshima Toyo Carp Masataka Yoshida Orix Buffaloes
Neftalí Soto Yokohama DeNA BayStars Takashi Ogino Chiba Lotte Marines
Designated hitter Not applicable Alfredo Despaigne Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Mitsui Golden Glove Award
Central League Pacific League
Position Player Team Player Team
Pitcher Yuki Nishi Hanshin Tigers Kodai Senga Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Catcher Ryutaro Umeno Hanshin Tigers Takuya Kai Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
1st Base José López Yokohama DeNA BayStars Seiichi Uchikawa Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
2nd Base Ryosuke Kikuchi Hiroshima Toyo Carp Hideto Asamura Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
3rd Base Shuhei Takahashi Chunichi Dragons Nobuhiro Matsuda Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Shortstop Hayato Sakamoto Yomiuri Giants Sosuke Genda Saitama Seibu Lions

Monthly MVPs

See also

References

  1. ^ "[6/7/2018] 2019 NPB season to begin on March 29". YakyuDB. Archived from the original on April 8, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  2. ^ "2019 NPB Pacific League Schedule". YakyuDB. Archived from the original on April 8, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  3. ^ 一般社団法人日本野球機構. "2019 Central League Standings". Npb.jp. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
  4. ^ 一般社団法人日本野球機構. "2019 Pacific League Standings". Npb.jp. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
  5. ^ "Saturday, October 5, 2019". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  6. ^ "Sunday, October 6, 2019". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  7. ^ "Monday, October 7, 2019". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  8. ^ "Saturday, October 5, 2019". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  9. ^ "Sunday, October 6, 2019". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  10. ^ "Monday, October 7, 2019". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  11. ^ "Wednesday, October 9, 2019". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  12. ^ "Thursday, October 10, 2019". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  13. ^ "Friday, October 11, 2019". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 13, 2019.
  14. ^ "Sunday, October 13, 2019". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  15. ^ "Wednesday, October 9, 2019". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  16. ^ "Thursday, October 10, 2019". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  17. ^ "Friday, October 11, 2019". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  18. ^ "Sunday, October 13, 2019". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  19. ^ "Saturday, October 19, 2019". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  20. ^ "Sunday, October 20, 2019". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  21. ^ "Tuesday, October 22, 2019". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  22. ^ "Wednesday, October 23, 2019". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
  23. ^ "2019 Central League Qualifiers for Batting Championship". npb.jp.
  24. ^ "2019 Central League Qualifiers for Earned-Run Average Title & Top Relief Pitchers". npb.jp.
  25. ^ "2019 Pacific League Qualifiers for Batting Championship". npb.jp.
  26. ^ "2019 Pacific League Qualifiers for Earned-Run Average Title & Top Relief Pitchers". npb.jp.