Tora (虎) = Tiger
Kichi (キチ) = short for kichigai (気違い) = lunatic
We are…
Episode 008: Gaijin (Un-)Employment Center
Hard to believe the season is coming to an end here real quick… and yet, given that it’s already past the midway point of October, it’s a wonder (and a joy) to be able to still watch baseball. Too bad there is no playoff system in the screwy Central League, but hey. We still have stuff to cheer about, eh, Zorny? Ohyama’s home run race, Chikamoto’s stolen base race, even Nishi has a shot at the ERA title…
Hard to believe indeed. Still impressive the fact that we were able to still have an almost full season despite the pandemic. As you mentioned, even though not making the playoffs, there’s still plenty to cheer for. Not just the race for personal accomplishments but also the rookies such as Obata, Itayama, Inoue etc, that are being called up and having the time to taste a bit of the ichi-gun experience and maybe settle for good within the roster.
Yeah, maybe. But we are still waiting for some of the Corona Crew (Kinami, Yohkawa, Fukudome, etc.) to come back as well. Anyways, as we promised in the last episode, I want to talk about what the future might hold for our import players. As we (and probably most of our readers) know, Hanshin signed 8 non-Japanese players to contracts for 2020, and the fact is, we have needed all of them. Except perhaps Yen-Ching Lu, who has yet to crack the top roster. But injury and slumps have meant that all the guys have gotten a decent crack at playing in games that mattered. So the question is, whom do we keep? Who gets the boot? With the import rule likely to go back to what it was (max 4 on the top squad), do we still need 8? Do we keep all of these guys? Cut some and recruit others? Before we jump to a conclusion on the overall big picture, let’s talk about each guy here. As we did with the report card at mid-season, I’m gonna let you go first…
Yen-Ching Lu
Yen-Ching Lu has had a few starts but due to injury couldn’t show much more. He’s still a prospect and doing quite okay with an ERA of 2.84 in 14 starts, even though not getting much run support and having just one 1 win. I wouldn’t push the buttons on him now since he’s still a lot to prove. For now, he stays.
Yeah, he’s done fairly well with the playing time he has been given. He had one really bad meltdown last week or so, but 38 IP and a 2.84 ERA is not too bad. I think they should call him up at season’s end just to see how he does… not that it should determine whether or not they keep him, but it should motivate him this offseason to work his way back up for good in 2021 and beyond. He’s still what, 24 years old?
Yeah, about to turn 25.
Then unless he has somewhere else he’d rather be, I like him on our roster. Could be a hidden gem down the road.
Onelki Garcia
Not sure about this one. He might stay for another year but he definitely proved to be a reliable piece on the roster. If not starting, he still can eat some innings coming from the bullpen. His last two outings were egregious which ended up sending him to the farm. Pretty sure he just needed the time to figure things out and to adjust some of his stuff. He sure shows a lot of energy and passion while playing and I wouldn’t mind keeping him but to me he’s still a question mark for next season.
I love the guy and think he is an asset just based on his personality. However, he is not the same guy who dominated the mound with the Dragons in 2018. I wish I was bullish on him, but I am going to take a hard pass. We do not need another import arm in the bullpen if we stick with the guys (below) that are doing just fine down there. We needed a strong lefty starter and he has not shown enough consistency. Way too many walks and not many strikeouts to go with them. I will miss him but I am ready to move on, too.
I agree. We do need someone that is more consistent overall. He either can go super right or super wrong when starting and to be very honest, I don’t want to raise that concern on every game that someone starts.
When he blew that 7-0 lead, and I know some of that is on the bench for keeping him in too long, that was when I was pretty sure he was done. That having been said, he was working out with the top squad today, and *could* get another chance this coming week. LAST CHANCE!
Jon Edwards
After Pierce Johnson left the Tigers, I felt that our bullpen lost so much clutchness but I gotta say that Edwards is filling the spot just fine. I wouldn’t dare to say that he’s the second coming of PJ but he definitely is showing why he deserves to stay. Although spending most part of the season out due to injury, the few games that he played, he was pretty dominant and brought all of heat. He did have a few bad outings here and there but overall, he’s very reliable. He totally stays.
One run against in his last 10.1 innings is pretty strong! Yeah, I was bummed that he missed so much of the season because I had high hopes for him. Actually, I got to meet his family and they are super nice, and that made me cheer for him even more. He doesn’t have the sexy K-rate that PJ had, but he’s getting outs and keeping his pitch count quite low. If he can make it through the rest of this season and give his shoulder some good rest this winter, I would love to see him back again next year!
If he can stay healthy and play a full season, guaranteed that our hold ratio can improve a lot which means more chances of keeping us in close games and not blowing at the very end which was the case in many games this year.
For sure. And as much as this next guy filled in well in the bullpen during Edwards’ absence, I think I want to evaluate him as a starter. So Edwards comes back in 2021, we reckon. What about Joe “Don’t Call Me Uncle” Gunkel?
Joe Gunkel
Along with Garcia, he’s also a question mark to me. His performance was really shaky throughout the year but I did appreciate when he was coming out of the bullpen. He needs to do way better if he plans to keep starting games. We already have Suarez and Edwards in the bullpen and to add another gaijin to it doesn’t seem feasible since he was expected to be a strong arm within the start rotation.
Right. We haven’t even gotten to the hitters yet, but if we keep him and use him out of the bullpen he will be the odd man out. Because you gotta think they are going to want to have two gaijin hitters next year and from now on. But I like his attitude and he seems serious about growing. I don’t mind if they keep him and maybe he ends up on the farm for much of the year. With no MLB experience, I hate to say it, but I do not think he has anywhere to go. No one’s knocking on his door so he should be pretty easy to keep around, as long as the team likes his effort and attitude. I think he still has the potential to be a Gene Bacque-type (lots of grounders, not many Ks but an underappreciated lanky guy who can annoy batters with all kinds of filthy movement on his pitches.
The potential is there, no doubt about it. As long as he can stay consistent and eat as many innings as he can, he will always have a shot.
So I feel like he should get invited back but not be guaranteed any top-squad time. He has to earn it… and I hope he starts by dominating tomorrow night!
Robert Suarez
He’s our closer. Period. Overall, he proved to be very reliable. He had a few rough outings/series during the season but he was able to adjust and is only getting better and better. When he’s feeling it, hitters have no chance. He’s not only staying but maybe also going the distance with Hanshin.
Sign this man back to a multi-year contract. What he wants, he should get! He’s given up runs his last two outings and maybe it’s fatigue, maybe it’s other teams figuring something out… but I believe he’s a keeper and could be our closer for the next 4-5 years if he stays healthy.
Couldn’t agree more! Give this guy a multi-year contract and the keys to Nishinomiya LOL. You just can’t go wrong with a combination of Edwards and Suarez in the bullpen.
Man, this is harder than I thought it would be. I would suck as a manager or GM because I just want these guys to succeed with our team so bad! But let’s hang on to Sua-chan and let’s talk about our three hitters from this year.
Jefry Marte
Marte is the last man standing from a phase in which Hanshin has been scrutinized by the way it poorly handled its imports and he, more than anyone, was able to show his worth, cancel the noise around him and managed to stay. Unfortunately, due to back-to-back injuries, barely had any playing time and still needs some more time to fully recover. Regardless, I wish he could stay and be back on the roster. He has proven both defensively and offensively that he deserves to stay.
Yeah, I’m with you on that. I have really enjoyed his personality as well. Did you ever see those Spanish language videos he did? Quite the amiable man. I also like that he took on the pressure of wearing #31, a number that is so cherished by Hanshin fans, and made it his own. He did not bring disgrace to it in any way whatsoever. The biggest issue is, do we keep him knowing what the other two hitters can do for us? I mean, Ohyama has cemented his spot at 3B, which means either Marte will have to bump JB or he will have to improve his outfield work… and then, either he replaces Sands in left or we get creative and use to gaijin OFs with Chikamoto in the middle. Tricky puzzle to put together, to say the least.
Good point. If we’re keeping him then we’ll have ourselves a huge dilemma to deal with since Ohyama is our full-time 3B and on the other side of the diamond, Bour has played tremendous defense and is a huge asset to the offense. As you mentioned, maybe if Itoi goes down we might be able to see an OF with two gaijins. It’s gonna be a tricky puzzle and I would love to see how it unfolds.
It will all come down to whether or not the import rule returns to what it was, whether Hanshin wants to still keep 8 guys, and if they will be content with (or at least understanding of) the prospects of spending a good chunk of the season on the farm. I really wonder what is going to happen with scouting, both in MLB and NPB, this offseason. Finances and smaller sample sizes (or less chance to scout) will definitely come into play. In some ways, we’re best off sticking with the guys we know already.
Justin Bour
The professional fireballer is going nowhere. Lots of ups and downs but this year has been crazy for everyone and for new imports even worse, I should say. The fact that he and Sands (we’ll get to that in a bit) were able to fully adjust to a new environment and still produce in the middle of a pandemic is outstanding. My take is that this year was a year of experimentation. This is only the beginning. We’ll get to see him fully flourish next year.
I can jive with that. OK, I’m starting to sound like a broken record here, but how many of these guys are just completely down-to-earth, fun and entertaining guys to watch? Bour has had his share of basepath foibles and definitely a lot of LONG stretches of no production, but he has also been the victim of some TERRIBLE umping. Then you look at him on the hero’s podium and he’s busting out Japanese better than any Hanshin import in my recollection, plus the fireball, plus the fact that he signed a few baseballs for my sons… I definitely have some “personal investment” in his staying, but yeah, I want him back in 2021 for sure.
You said it all. Since day one, he’s been a fan favorite and now more than ever after his last podium performance where he put himself in a position of not sparing his Japanese knowledge which, as you said, I’ve never seen any gaijin do. He’s been the subject of really bad umping and long slumps but he still managed to stay composed and get those balls of his way. He stays.
I mean, it is so interesting that Rosario only hit 8 homers and fans were like, “We like him and think he should get another year.” Then Marte hit what, 12 last year, and people were like, “For sure keep him!” Now Bour has 17 homers (with 19 games to go) and there should be little doubt about his value to the team. That presence in the lineup is huge. He won’t compete for the HR title this year, but he might next year, and if this team gets any deeper, pitchers will be forced to throw him more strikes. And then, look out! Bring JB back, I say!
Jerry Sands
I guarantee that there’s not even a single fan in Kansai that doesn’t love Jerry Sands. But there’s a reason besides his batting that gives him the title of most lovable person in Kansai. His clutchness! This was something that we really missed regarding a gaijin presence in the lineup since Murton or even Gomez, I reckon. I can’t even count how many times he saved our lives in critical situations that we needed someone to show up. I could keep talking for hours on why we should keep him but if there’s one position gaijin that we all know that will stay, this guy is Jerry “Happy Hands” Sands.
Take it all the way back to his first game (the team’s 8th) with just one win under our belts at this point. Top of the ninth, time running out with the BayStars closer Yamasaki on the mound. In comes Jerry Sands and he smashes a home run into the empty left stands. We all think back to Yangervis Solarte’s debut in Tokyo last year and think, “OK, let’s not get too excited here, folks.” But the clutch never stops for like 3 months after that. He has been ice cold in the last month or so, and I think it is in part because his family went back to the US and his life rhythm has probably been thrown off. But make no mistake about it: he is the real deal, and we need him back next year!
I remember tweeting about that game as one of those that people would never forget. It was such a relief to be able to finally win a game after such a bad stretch. Indeed after that, especially coming from a phase of mishandling imports, we all raised that concern alert in our heads that we should all manage our expectations because he could get sacked in the blink of an eye for no reason whatsoever. Thankfully, he adjusted just fine throughout the season, already became a legend and I’m pretty sure he will do way more damage next year. And btw, this was said during the season but it’s always good to remind everyone that we deeply discourage fans from acquiring Gaijins jerseys but in Sands’ case you have the green light :)
Unless you’re like me and you just put all their numbers on one jersey and treasure it forever. Yeah, super happy to have the happy hands back in the lineup in 2021, so make it happen, Hanshin!
Well bro, if there’s one thing I’ve learned from this chat, it’s that I am spineless. I do not want to cut any of these guys! Your job now is to put the guys in order of importance, as far as contract renewals. GO!
Oh boy. I feel the same. Didn’t want any of the guys to be on the other end of the knife but unfortunately, that’s how things are. Here’s my list of priorities:
Suarez / Sands (tied for 1st), Bour, Edwards, Marte, Yen Ching-Lu, Gunkel, Garcia
We’re pretty close, then. I’ve got Suarez, Sands, Bour, Edwards, Gunkel, Marte, Lu, Garcia. Just Gunkel is in a different spot for both of us, The rest is the same.
The middle part is tricky but I think it’s pretty clear who are the highest and lowest priorities.
Yep. Well man, we are going to keep our eyes on how this all shakes down this offseason. Should be interesting to say the least. We will be back again for a final evaluation of the 2020 season next time, as long as Zorny has got a few extra minutes to join me for another TTT. Whaddya say, mate?
It’s a done deal man! I love doing this so I’m always in. I gotta say this was one of the toughest TTT episodes for me and I’m pretty sure for you T-Ray as well.
Definitely. OK folks, enjoy these final few games… they may not mean much as far as the postseason goes, but these 8 gaijin will do all they can to make sure they are back under contract with the funnest team to follow in Japan!
TL;DR — We are both too enamored with the gaijin to send any of them packing.