_*_*_ THE DANCE CARD _*_*_
A Blog of the Toyama Wind Dancers
Dancer Streak Faces Biggest Obstacle
Enter Evas
August 18, 2024: Riding a ten game winning streak, the Toyama Wind Dancers blow into Nogoya with a record of 71-50, trailing the division leading Shin Seiki Evas by a game and a half. It’s been a rocky season so far, filled with devastating injuries to much of the roster—a fact that continued a few weeks back when rookie sensation Donald Allen tore a labrum and appears to be out for the rest of the year. The centerfielder was leading the team in hitting at the time of the injury, and had been providing stellar defense.
He joins All-Star second baseman Jose Escobido and Ace pitcher Akira Watanabe on the long term disabled list. Star first baseman Pablo Prado and right fielder Ivan Rosa have also spent significant time on the trainer’s table this year, leading one to wonder how the Wind Dancers are managing to stay afloat, better yet actually compete with the Evas once again.
The answer is many fold.
Let’s start with the veteran core of the team, the tie to the club’s past in second baseman Shiro Adaci and centerfielder Sadatake Sato.
At 31, Adachi is having his second solid, if not spectacular, year in a row. Yes, he’s hitting only .236, but that’s been augmented with what is already almost a career high ten homers, and defense at the critical middle of the infield that is borderline All-Leather. The kid still has his chops with the glove. “He’s our glue,” said pitcher Shinbu Takeuchi, another longtime Japanese star. “It’s great to see him come back and contribute after the rugged year he had right after the merge. Everyone is cheering for him.”
His outfield counterpart, Sato, is 32 years old, and like Adachi, had some troubles adapting to the bigger PEBA game. He’s also faced injury over those years. But he rebounded last season well enough for the team to execute its option. Lucky for them, and lucky for the team’s fans. Though his power seems down a bit, Sato has been nearly as brilliant this year as last, and with Allen on the DL, he’s carrying the load in centerfield once again. He’s a quiet leader in the clubhouse.
Then we look at a few other guys.
Third baseman Ivan Juarez is growing into a solid ballplayer, hitting .309/.419/.390, and dropping a 4.3 WAR season on the league (so far), all without hitting a single homer.
Left fielder Okakura Ishikawa, at 27 years old, is quietly posting a career season at .289/.334/.426, with 11 homers, 68 RBI, and 17 steals, all good for 2.9 WAR as we speak. Defensively, he’s still flashing a top quality glove. These are the kinds of numbers that have been bandied about around his name since he joined the team as a brash 22-year-old phenom in the famous contraction draft five seasons ago.
The team was probably hoping for a little more out of first baseman Pablo Prado than his .260/.334/.451, 13 homer performance, but given his injury and the expanded fences at the Castle this year, those numbers aren’t bad—and represent a huge step up from the right side of the plate this season. With the team 12th in the league in offensive homers, it’s nice to have someone in the 4-slot who can occasionally pop one.
Which brings us to 24-year-old right fielder Ivan Rosa, who lost another couple weeks to a broken foot, but who returned to post a brilliant .331/.375/.525 line, complete with 13 homers and 19 doubles. His 20 steals represents his third straight such season, and his All-Leather quality defense rounds out his value.
Then, of course, there’s the closer. Raul Cruz, 30 years old, and signed a season ago to a huge contract that raised the eyebrows of many. He posted a PEBA record 55 saves last season, and at a 1.70 ERA and 35 saves so far this year, may actually be having a better season in 2024. His 2.18 FIP is nearly his career best. His 208 ERA+ is his second best, right after his eyeball blistering 403 posted with Tempe as a 26 year old. “It’s nice to have a guy like that to give the ball to,” said Clayton Lewis, one of the team’s starters. “You know you can really put everything you’ve got into the moment.”
Speaking of Lewis and the rotation …
Well, let’s just say that it’s a rare group that could suffer the loss of Akira Watanabe, arguably one of the best three or four pitchers in the SL, and keep ticking. But that’s what happened.
Lewis, at 8-8 continues to be the “hard luck” guy. He’s thrown a 2.81 ERA in 23 games—which is second best on the team, behind veteran Tadamasa Hashimoto’s 2.35 ERA. “Six Pack” is 12-4 on the y ear, and is sporting a career best 2.84 FIP. He’s given up only 4 homers in his 150 innings pitched. At 14-7, 3.09, left-handed Bill Courtney is coming into his peak at just the right time as far as Dancer fans are concerned. He split time in the bullpen last season, but has been all rotation this year. After trialing David Sutherland in the spot vacated by Watanbe’s injury, the club finally bit the bullet and called up rookie lefty Ken Thompson. The ex-first round selection has been just what the doctor ordered, going 7-2 and posting a 3.29 ERA.
And then there’s Shinobu Takeuchi, who, at 29 has the aura of a 9-year vet, and who is sitting at 9-5 this season, with a 3.30 ERA—numbers he hasn’t seen since the days of the real LRS. And, oh, yeah, throw in than no-hitter he tossed at Reno back in June. In his mid-20s, Takeuchi was the established ace of the club, but now he’s a back-ender. The team has a $12.5M option as the last year of the deal he signed back in the days before the merger. He’s a guy who carried the load in the club’s heady run to win the last real Neo-Tokyo Cup. “Not a lot of people are talking about Shinobu,” said Thompson. “But he’s the real deal. He knows what he’s doing, and he knows what to say to get his point across.” Add that to the fact that he still gets it up there to 98 MPH on a good day, and you’ve got a valuable guy.
So, you can see that it’ hard to pick one guy. At the end of the day, this collection of Dancers is a full team--a team leads the SL in batting average and OBP while being totally dusted in homers. It’s a team that doesn’t walk a lot. TI’s a team that plays defense, and controls homers. It can steal a base.
How far will it go?
Well, you tell me. But we’ve got a feeling that this week, with four games at Shin Seiki and three more at Aurora, will show us a lot about that question.