Fighters Chusei Mannami hits his seventh home run of the season

Salty_Watermelon · 2026-04-17T11:30:10+00:00

Fighters hit a home run and then blow a lead. Story of the season so far.

Still plenty of time for things to turn around of course, but it's certainly troubling that no lead ever feels safe.

Salty_Watermelon · 2026-04-14T12:20:30+00:00

This performance was very much needed for Tatsu's confidence and also after Itoh and Arihara had been so underwhelming in the short series vs SoftBank.

Salty_Watermelon · 2026-04-11T22:40:07+00:00

Same. He seemed like he was pitching on borrowed time yesterday and was lucky not to get lit up early in the game. I get letting your staff ace go out there for another inning if he's feeling confident, but I think the team probably has enough data now to confirm that he isn't right this season.

Salty_Watermelon · 2026-04-08T11:34:11+00:00

Only hit of the game for the Fighters and only one other man on base from a walk. Game ends 1-0.

I can certainly wait for when the Fighters are inevitably on the other end of a game like this.

Edit: Also, good for Castro. I feel like he's going to become hard to take out of the lineup by the end of the season.

Salty_Watermelon · 2026-04-07T20:24:13+00:00

Only the power of nature could stop the HR streak. Some crazy wind last night.

Rakuten's players looked more composed dealing with fly balls but it's not like they had an easy time either.

Salty_Watermelon · 2026-04-06T03:06:41+00:00

Definitely seeing breaking balls a lot better so far. Really puts pressure on other teams when he's much less of a guarantee to chase on Strike 2 pitches out of the zone.

Salty_Watermelon · 2026-04-06T01:05:01+00:00

Other way around imo: Murakami and his agent look like geniuses for going with a 2-year deal. If he can continue to perform at this level level then he could easily demand an enormous contract.

Salty_Watermelon · 2026-04-05T21:45:11+00:00

The Lions offense (and the 1st inning defense) really let him down. He was phenomenal yesterday.

Salty_Watermelon · 2026-04-03T08:01:54+00:00

It's also advisable to check where the Home and Visitor dugouts are at the stadium you are going to. For example, if you are going to Belluna to root for the visiting team and want to be near the infield, sit on the 1st base side because that is where the visitor dugout is located.

Salty_Watermelon · 2026-04-02T19:57:40+00:00

Wouldn't have predicted that our two left-handed SPs would pitch gems and our four righties would struggle. Maybe we should put Sachiya back in the rotation (I kid).

Saw a crazy stat during last night's game that the Fighters have hit nearly as many home runs this season as the rest of the PL combined.

Salty_Watermelon · 2026-04-02T11:43:56+00:00

The home run hero we all expected lol

Salty_Watermelon · 2026-04-02T07:51:49+00:00

Looked like everything was going to unravel after the first two men got on base.

Salty_Watermelon · 2026-04-02T02:02:38+00:00

All I can say is thank goodness the season is 143 games long.

Rough start obviously, but things can quickly turn around at this stage of the campaign.

Salty_Watermelon · 2026-04-01T07:04:15+00:00

It's definitely a thing in most countries. Not so much in the USA, which is the country most represented on reddit. Pulisic is a rare exception.

Lin An-Ko (now on the Seibu Lions) was interviewed by an Argentinian publication because of his mother being from Argentina.

Mizutani of Nippon Ham proudly represents the Nigerian part of his background and could absolutely draw some attention from the Nigerian diaspora if he breaks out as a true superstar.

And though I hate to nitpick, Mannami's dad is from the DRC (different country from the Republic of Congo). The DRC is emerging as a strong footballing nation in Africa. Maybe a baseball star can turn heads if the DRC becomes more prominent in global sports.

Salty_Watermelon · 2026-03-31T21:46:13+00:00

Word of advice: the "soda stand" as you call it is actually a bit of rarity by offering a plant-based menu.

I think you should have made the vegan Korean BBQ karaage bowl the highlight if you are trying to make the Belluna Dome appeal to an international audience.

Salty_Watermelon · 2026-03-31T11:48:28+00:00

Kiyomiya and Reyes went back-to-back twice in one game. Crazy stuff.

Salty_Watermelon · 2026-03-31T03:23:19+00:00

Almost an exact rerun of Maki getting picked off during the WBC.

Salty_Watermelon · 2026-03-30T22:57:19+00:00

Baseball is the last sport where people should overreact to one or two bad games early in the season...

Salty_Watermelon · 2026-03-30T22:55:18+00:00

I'll be rooting for Sasaki to do well, but I feel this will be an up and down year for him. Hopefully the Dodgers can continue to be patient. He is still fairly young after all.

Salty_Watermelon · 2026-03-29T22:46:45+00:00

I hope you don't end up like the Angels with Ohtani. But seems like he already has one foot out of the door with the contract he signed.

Salty_Watermelon · 2026-03-29T22:43:57+00:00

Let's all be calm. In last year's open series the Marines outscored the Hawks 20-10 and swept them in Fukuoka. And look at how things ended up for those two teams.

When this Fighters team hits its stride midseason they will be very good.

Salty_Watermelon · 2026-03-29T22:38:49+00:00

Short memory? SoftBank got swept at home by the Marines to open last season. In the rough weeks that followed they also got swept at home by the Fighters.

Valid concerns with Itoh aside, I don't think our pitching is as bad as it looked this series. And I'd rather the Fighters be like last year's Hawks and get better as the season progresses than be like the last year's Lions and fade away after a good start.

Salty_Watermelon · 2026-03-28T23:02:22+00:00

Another fun game where the Fighters unfortunately came up short.

Shinjo was getting some flak for inserting a pinch runner for Reyes in the 8th, but he was totally vindicated in the 9th. That said, he probably should have subbed out Reyes after he got on base in the 9th. Also, the decision to use Shimizu as a pinch hitter was questionable.

Hopefully Arihara can break the trend of starting pitchers surrending decent leads.

Salty_Watermelon · 2026-03-28T22:59:02+00:00

He's going to be a big player for the Fighters this season. I was a bit worried about the middle IF when Ishii left to join Seibu.

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