Monday, September 1, 2014

This season, the Fushigi Yugi Celestial Warriors bullpen has been mostly a disaster and is the main reason the team is three games under .500 right now. This pen hasn’t been able to hold leads or even keep them in close games. Management has gone through the free agents, looking for pitchers who could fill the pen spots, but keep getting more failures than successes. We will review the pen so far this year for the C-Warriors.

Eichiro Yamasaki – Eichiro is a veteran who signed a minor league contract in July. He was just called up a few days ago and looked good in his first appearance but didn’t look so hot in his next two. Eichiro shined in AAA, so the team wants to audition him to see if he is worth a shot next spring. Grade: Incomplete

Masaharu Hachirobei – Masaharu was resigned this off-season only because of his popularity with the fans. The team sees him as nothing more than a mop-up pitcher, and so far he has proven them right. He was hurt early in the year and placed on the 60-day DL. Since returning, he has an ERA of 13.00 in 18 appearances. With the fan base slowly improving, it looks like Masaharu might have to be brought back again just to avoid a backslide. Grade F

Takanobu Miyashita – Takanobu began the year as a starter but was so awful that the team thought he should work out his problems in the pen. When he showed no improvement there, he was assigned to the Nichibutsu Crestas. Takanobu seemed to be showing some improvement before experiencing elbow soreness. He is expected to miss the rest of the year. The team will see what Takanobu does over winter and decide if they should bring him back for a tryout next year. Grade F

Masato Noguchi – Masato signed a minor league deal and impressed, so with the pen struggling, he was called up in June. That month, he stepped it up and C-Warriors thought they had found a new, cheap reliever. Things kept going well until mid-July; then the wheels fell off. When his August ERA hit 16.76, the team had enough of him and currently have designated him for assignment. Grade D (for the month of June)

Katsuhiko Ikarashi – Katsuhiko started out slowly in May with a 7.71 ERA and fell victim to having options. He was sent down to AAA and has done an adequate job for the Crestas. Katsuhiko will be called up when rosters expand to show what he has. Next spring is huge for Katsuhiko and the team hopes he realizes it. Grade F

Masu Muto – Once the prize starter of the organization, Masu now has fallen to the bottom of the totem pole. Masu started out great in May and the team starting thinking he had made the transformation to reliever. Then, after a couple bad games, the team wanted to try him as a starter. Masu was optioned to AAA and did very well in seven games, so he was brought back up. He has had a bad August – in his last three games (two as a SP), he has allowed 13 ER in 9 innings – so Masu has been moved back to the pen. Grade C-

Kiyoemon Sato – Kiyoemon was signed in April in hopes that he could help fit in at middle relief. He did just that, cruising through May. But he tweaked his shoulder to start June and hasn’t been the same since. His ERA ballooned, and when the team asked Kiyoemon to go to AAA to work it out, he refused. This led to his quick release. A few people within the organization think Kiyoemon was released too soon. Grade D

Sadakuno Kichikawa – Sadakuno was sent to AAA to start the year because he had an option and the team had a numbers crunch. He was doing okay when the team recalled him at the end of May, but in five games with the C-Warriors, he pitched 1.2 innings and gave up 6 ER. He was sent back down to AAA while the team tried other options, and he excelled. The team called Sadakuno up in late July and he has been one of the top relievers since. This is more or less an audition for a spot next year. If Sadakuno keeps it up he will be assured one. Grade B-

Takayuki Ogawa – The C-Warriors waited until after the draft to sign Takayuki so they didn’t have to give up any compensation. Their expectations were high. Takayuki signed on the last day of June. Since then, he has been an average reliever. He gives up more than a hit an inning and his WHIP is 1.61, but he also has shown the ability to strike guys out when needed. Takayuki is 35 and his future with the team is up in the air. Grade B-

Noriyori Mori – Noriyori has had a year that he wishes he could have over. His command has started to leave him and he has been much more hittable than in the past. The team has relied on Noriyori as their setup man, even with him struggling a bit this year. He had surgery three days ago to remove bone chips and is out until spring. The team hopes he can make a full recovery, as they will be counting on him. Grade C

Toshinobu Kato – A few years ago, the upper brass envisioned Toshinobu a front-end starter, but his control never took. While he has great stuff and even better movement on the ball, he usually has no clue where it is going. This year, Toshinobu has worked hard to reduce his 1/1 K/BB ratio, and while his current 1.4/1 ratio isn’t anywhere near what he wants it to be, it’s an improvement. With his tendency to have a bad game now and then, the team has been afraid to put him in high-pressure situations. Yet he has been highly effective. The team is hoping (but not holding their breath) that Toshinobu can improve his control just a bit this off-season. If that happens, the team might make him their main middle reliever. Grade B-

Akio Sai – Is there a better closer out there than Akio? If so I’d like to see him. Akio is everything anyone could want in a teammate, and his knowledge for the game is incredible. While most 23-year-olds like to go out and party, Akio stays home and watches tape of other teams. It is said he hasn’t missed a pitch of any game all season. Next year will be the same, and the year after and after and after. Akio is going to be the closer for the C-Warriors for a long time. Grade A+