At 9-8, The Shinkansen fans are buzzing. Following years of dismal performance on and off the field, the fans may have something to cheer for this year.

As history shows it, fans will come to teams games if there is something to see. They want winning, highlight plays, entertainment. They’ll show up for the first few games to see if a team will supply this or not. So far the Shinkansen have and the fans agree. In a stadium that holds 35000 the Shinkansen are drawing 34820 this year, This is a 6.7% increase from last year.  If Hyakujuu continues to play like this, the payroll for next year may balloon. More fans= more money, duh. If Carlos Camacho declines his player option, even more spending money will be available.  We know it’s early, but the Shinkansen have not lost hope, yet.

So far this year the bullpen has been stellar. Pitching to a tune of a 0.55 ERA, they lead the LRS in ERA and saves. Jo Kichida has been the main cog out of the outfield gates. So far in 8 games, he’s 8-8 in save oppurtunities, has a 10/1 strikeout to walk ratio, and hitters are hitting a stunning .138 off of him.  As stated in our season preview, the teams performance this year would be determined by the strength of the bullpen. So far, so good.

The Rotation on the other hand has been sub-par. Ace Juan Ávila is 1-2 with a 4.57 ERA in his 3 starts. The only bright spot has been Kensaku Gato. He has continued his torrid pace since bursting onto the LRS scene last year. He is currently tied for the LRS lead with his 4 wins, and has a top-5 ERA of 2.05. He has done all of this as a 20-year old and low strikeout rates.  If those rates return to normal, watch out. Other then him and Avila the other three rotation mates have ERA’s above 6.50. In total the Shinkansen starters have a 5.27 ERA, good for second to last in the SSG.

Offensively, the Shinkansen strike out. A LOT. They lead the SSG in K’s and are last in homeruns. Also, they have the second to last batting average. All of these are completely unexpected and should surely change for the better.

All in all, if the Shinkansen return to ‘normal’ they may just be the same as they are right now, average. And average is good, very very good for this team.