We cannot just end this by saying "Seibu was strong." The "team issues" reflected in Manager Shinjo's anger - 5/17 Fighters Review
Nippon-Ham lost to Seibu 3-6. In the 7th inning, Seibu turned the game around by scoring 4 runs at once on two-run homers by Junichiro Kishi and Nevin. Winans also kept the game competitive, holding the bases-loaded, no-out situation in the bottom of the 2nd inning scoreless and pitching 6 innings with 2 runs allowed, while adding insurance runs in the late innings.
Looking only at the results, it was a game where a surging Seibu team did not miss their opportunities.
However, can we really end this loss by saying "Seibu was strong"?
The Fighters also had a path to victory. Motoki Kitayama pitched 5 innings, allowing only 1 run, and in the 3rd inning, they took a 2-run lead on an RBI double by Daigo Kamikawabata and an RBI hit by Reyes. The opposing starter, Winans, was not an easy pitcher to face, but at least from the early to middle innings, the Fighters had created an opening to take control of the game.
Even so, they couldn't close out the win. The biggest turning point was, of course, the 4 runs allowed in the top of the 7th inning. After getting two outs, Kenta Uehara allowed a double to Canario and then a go-ahead two-run homer to pinch-hitter Kishi. After a hit by Watanabe, he also gave up a two-run homer to Nevin. Uehara himself reflected that he couldn't throw to the spots he had set up. This inning undoubtedly changed the course of the game significantly.
However, the anger Manager Shinjo showed after the game did not seem to be directed solely at the fact that they were "hit." After the game, the manager left comments to the effect that there were too many mistakes and avoided the press scrum.
Perhaps the essence of this game lies here.
The request regarding Kitayama's first-base coverage was also a moment where the pros and cons of the call were widely discussed on social media.
However, that is not the only thing the team should look at. Kitayama himself reflected after being pulled that he couldn't move to the next stage unless he tightened up those kinds of areas. In other words, even before the call, it was a play that they could have potentially prevented themselves.
[Q&A] Motoki Kitayama regrets the "mistake" in the 5th inning: "The biggest point of reflection today" | Doshin Sports | DOSHIN SPORTS
Kamikawabata's base-running out in the bottom of the 7th is the same. It was the moment right after they had fallen behind 2-5 and got one run back on an RBI hit by Mannami. The lead runner, Kamikawabata, aimed for third base but was out. Base-running coach Hichori Morimoto had made a gesture to stop him, but it was too late, and considering that the next batter was Reyes, he explained that the conclusion was that it was a situation where he should have stopped. Kamikawabata himself also looked back and said it was a judgment error.
Nippon-Ham's Kamikawabata: From his first RBI double after being promoted to the first team this season to a disastrous base-running out: "I think it was a judgment error" / Baseball / Daily Sports online
It is easy to isolate this play as an individual mistake by Kamikawabata. However, that is not it.
Because Kamikawabata aiming for third base was the answer of the Fighters team at that moment.
Isn't the problem that the priorities of the runner, the third-base coach, the bench, and the game situation did not align at the moment of the play?What was important in that situation was likely not the aggressiveness to take third base, but to continue the attack and get the ball to Reyes. In fact, Coach Morimoto's judgment was to stop.If so, this should be seen not as an individual's recklessness, but as a play where the team's judgment did not align at the very last moment.
This composition also overlaps with the issues Manager Shinjo mentioned during spring camp. In "SHINJO's Creed" on February 11, Manager Shinjo left harsh words regarding awareness of relay plays and throws home, to the effect that the coach's words were not reaching the players. What was being questioned at that time was not just the players' skills. It was about what the coach was conveying and how much the players were able to translate that intent into their play.
"SHINJO's Creed": The coaches are sloppy. Because the coaches' words lack power, they aren't reaching the players | Doshin Sports | DOSHIN SPORTS
Thinking about it that way, today's comment that "there are too many mistakes" sounds not just like anger, but like a question to the entire team.
Seibu was strong. They turned the game around with extra-base hits in the 7th and managed to get insurance runs in the late innings. That must be acknowledged. However, the Fighters were not completely overpowered by sheer force.
They had the ingredients to win. Even so, they lacked the details to close out the win.
A step too late.
A moment of hesitation.
The judgment to stop doesn't get through.
In a situation where the attack should be continued, risk assessments do not align.
These may not be errors that remain in the records. But for a team trying to win close games, these are the mistakes that determine the outcome.
Today's loss is not a game that can end with "Seibu was strong."
Precisely because the opponent was strong, it was a game that highlighted the lack of judgment, preparation, and sharing on the Fighters' side.
Manager Shinjo's anger may not have been directed at a single base-running out or a single instance of base coverage. It may be that the issues questioned since spring—"is it being conveyed?" "is it being shared?" "does the judgment to win come out subconsciously?"—surfaced once again at a critical moment in an official game.
They dropped a game they might have been able to win.
That is why we cannot just end this by being frustrated.
What was questioned in this loss was not individual mistakes, but the criteria for judgment to win as a team.