It just seems like the team is struggling to put together both sides of the game. When the pitchers are on, the hitters are not. When the pitchers are off, the hitters are not able to do enough. The defense, despite only six errors in 14 games, has made countless mistakes that do not find…
All I’ve got to say is that the Tigers have now set the Central League record for most consecutive losses to start a season. When you give up seven home runs combined in the first three innings of games, you won’t win too often. Either the pitching needs work or the game-calling does. Or there…
If you are a new fan and are not particularly familiar with the team, let this be your introduction! We are going to break down the entire roster for you very briefly so you can get a feel for who is whom, what they have done, and what they might do in 2022 and beyond….
Spring training has begun! We have great expectations for third-year American righty Joe Gunkel and so should you! We sat down with him (on Zoom) for an interview last week… here is the audio from it, plus a bit of reaction from Sanjay at the end. Enjoy! Here is the first part of the interview,…
Must-win games do not mean the same as can’t-lose games. With this being the Tigers’ final chance to gain ground on the Swallows without leaning on another team, they needed this one. Joe Gunkel pitched 7 ⅔ masterful innings of shutout ball, and received solid backing from set-up man Suguru Iwazaki and closer Robert Suarez…
Based on my Daily Sports Column (Japanese) / トレバーの虎場（デイリースポーツ）の連載コラムから Well, September was a real letdown of a month for the Hanshin Tigers, wasn’t it? Actually, though, they finished with a winning record (10-9-4), though you would never guess it based on the numbers or the mood in Kansai. Those numbers included… only 10 home runs,…
One red-hot #3 hitter and his bat were enough for the win again. Jefry Marte hit a home run for the third straight game, and that was the only run scored in this one, despite chances from both teams. Joe Gunkel pitched outstanding, allowing only two runners into scoring position in 6+ innings of work,…
The Tigers got hold to just 4 hits on this day, but it was not all that important, given that they were handed 8 free passes in the first five innings. Two of their hits produced the runs they needed, and three of the walks scored those runs. The Giants made it close at the…
The Tigers pieced together a first-inning run against a pitcher who has always had success against them (and everyone, honestly). Sugano was sharp the rest of the way, shutting out our bats for the next six innings. Unfortunately, Joe Gunkel got tagged for 7 runs in the second inning, but honestly, it could have been…
I’ll give the team this much. After playing at Koshien in the first part of the week, they headed west to Hiroshima for a pair of games, and then traveled to Yokohama just for this one game. I mostly expected they would be tired and struggle against Shota Imanaga, who is historically good against our…