July 23, 2013: Kawaguchi, Japan – It has been a mere month since the new Transmitters regime swept into the Kawaguchi offices.  If inside rumors are to be believed, the Collins administration works at a very different level of intensity from the previous group.  The management team works late into the night and starts early in the morning.  It’s suggested that the first order of business the team undertook was to install cots in each executive’s office in order that they had a place to get a few hours rest in the wee hours.

Transmitter fans’ hearts got all pitter-pattery when he team clearly stated that problems on the mound would be addressed.  This was an obvious problem, the existence of which made many team insiders openly criticize the previous administration, suggesting that it appeared the team was on autopilot.  Whatever the cause, the data was clear: Kawaguchi pitchers sported a 5.97 ERA while walking nearly 4.5 hitters and giving up over 1.1 homers a game.

In a dramatic change of tone, GM Ron Collins attended a public conference call this morning, where he made a few statements and reacted to questions coming from fans.  This post attempts to capture the essence of these discussions.

Change Began Immediately

As noted previously, the new leadership team immediately brought Jun Watanabe up to replace the injured Keita Miyata.  Watanabe got pelted around in his first start but has been a solid bullpen stalwart in six outings since.  A week later, Collins signed veteran Hisashi Oike to a short contract.  Oike had been discarded by the American Omaha franchise, and has fit in well.  His record stands at only 1-2, but his 3.38 ERA and four walks in 26 innings has been a beautiful thing to watch from a fan’s point of view.  In addition, Collins traded a future draft pick for gaijin rookie Orlando Valadez, who was uninspiring in his debut but managed to pitch well enough to win.  The guy has six big league-capable pitches and should be a solid player.  The only downside was that the team had to send Lúcio Torres to Taito.  The leadership team also met with stalwart manager Biao Ci to discuss juggling the pen’s usage to ensure Kazuhiko Sasaki and Shunsen Ueda saw improved innings.

“We all really liked Orlando and thing he’s going to be here for awhile,” Collins said.  “Hishasi’s future is up to Hisashi.  We need to see if he’s still got it.  We’re interested in a longer-term relationship, but he’s got to get comfortable with us, too, so we’ll let the season play out and see where we’re at then.”

In addition to who was added, it can be said that improvement comes from removal, also.  This is the case in Kawaguchi.  Nineteen-year-old Okura Matsuura was demoted from the LRS all the way to Yamato.  Matsuura is a star prospect; this is true.  But LRS hitters were lighting him up to the tune of a 9.00 ERA, and the young man was walking a hitter an inning.  At Yamato, he’s got 11 innings in and is registering a 1.64 ERA.  Clearly, the Collins administration has been kind to him, and Transmitter fans can now look forward to seeing Okura’s 95 MPH fastball again in a few years’ time when he’s learned how to get it over the plate.  One hopes the same will hold true for Kazunari Oka, as well.  The startlingly talented left-hander was too unpredictable for LRS-level competition, and was becoming more distraught with each outing.

Signing Yoshihiro Harada to a recent $400K contract suggests the Transmitters are still on the hunt for players who can help them – and fan buzz on the internet is building in response.  “We want to put a good product on the field and we have some money to work with,” Collins said when asked if more players might be signed, “but we want to make sure the team turns a profit this year.  Mr. Kyokai has been very generous with his investment in the team, and we want to make sure he’s happy going into the off-season.”

Regardless of whether the roster changes continue, the changes are obviously working to a reasonable degree.  Collins made a point to note that the staff’s HRA/9 rate has dropped from 1.13 prior to June 22 to .99 since.  The walk rate has dropped from 4.47 BB/9 to 2.69, and the strikeout rate has risen from 5.02 to 5.23.  The mere fact that the leadership team is paying attention to these numbers makes us here at transmitter-talk.com pleased.  All total, the Transmitters’ Fielding Independent Pitching ERA has dropped from 5.1 to 4.26.

Which brings us to what has been, perhaps the bigger changes…

It’s Not All about What Happens on the Mound

The most rabid fans can see the changes on the field go deeper than adding and subtracting pitchers.  The team’s defense had been horrid prior to Collins’s arrival.  “Quite honestly, when we arrived and I saw those pitching numbers, I knew we had problems in the field.  So it was no surprise to see we were a negative defensive team up the middle.  We had Carlos Cavazos, a four-time Gurabukin Award winning corner outfielder, in center, where he was turning out negative zone ratings.  Soetsu Yoshino is a nice little hitting prospect, but he’s a below-average second baseman and, to be honest, we’ve got to find Shojiro Sano something to do that doesn’t include playing shortstop on a routine basis.”

The team has addressed these issues by installing young Keitaro Ishii in centerfield (where he’s already recorded a +1.8 ZR) and signing free agent Makoto Saito to play second base.  We admit we’re not sold on Saito at second, but at least the team is trying.  Mitsuo Kan is now serving as a defensive replacement for Sano.  With Cavazos back at right field and a youthful Tadamasa Seki in left (inserted to replace the slumping and defensively limited Mitsuhide Murayama), the outfield defense appears to be above league-average.  With the injury to Soshu Konishi, Yoshino has moved to 1^st base, his more natural position.

“We felt this was important because the gap between the team’s ERA and its FIP was mind-boggling,” Collins said.

Truer Words Have Never Been Spoken

On June 21, the team’s ERA was 5.97, but its Fielding Independent Pitching ERA (FIP) stood at 5.1, so the defense was costing Kawaguchi nearly a run per game.  Since that point, the team ERA has been 4.63 with a FIP of 4.26, so the defensive changes appear to have gained the club a half-run a game (at an offensive cost of only .3 runs a game – a fair deal).  The pitching staff’s BABIP was .345 prior to the changes and has fallen to .315 over the past month (not that .315 is particularly stellar, as the league BABIP is .297, but the changes have been staggered, and the .315 should continue to fall).  And the team, which was giving up .45 unearned runs per game, has seen that number drop to .37.

One needs to look only as far as veteran SP Haruki Sekiguchi to see the most glaring example of the effects of such porous defense.  His ERA is a whopping 7.04, which has made him a favorite whipping post for fans, but his FIP is only 5.39.  Yikes.  Now, 5.39 is not a great FIP, but seriously… a 7.04 ERA with a 5.39 FIP is a major, major indicator of a pitcher whose defense has completely let him down.

“We like Haruki quite a bit,” Collins said when asked about rumors the team was considering signing him to an extension.  “He’s only 29 years old, and he’s proven to have success in the LRS before.  But we haven’t made any decisions.”

Patience Called For

The changes, while not showing great benefits in the win and loss columns yet, have been clearly seen on the field.  The team’s Pythagorean win rate prior to June 21 was .290 (42 wins); since then, it’s been .364 (52 wins).  This leads us at transmitter-talk.com to suggest Kawaguchi fans should be patient.  Rewards may be just around the corner.