Despite many key players being sidelined, they are currently leading Pacific League

As of the end of the games on May 30th, Orix Buffaloes has built up a six-game lead and is in second place, two games behind the leader. Hiroya Miyagi pitcher, Shumpeita Yamashita pitcher, Yuma Tongu player, Yutaro Sugimoto In addition to the main players, including the pitchers and hitters, the batting was also in good form. Ryu Sugisawa players and Koji Oshiro The player played a key role as a regular last season. Taishi Hirooka The fact that they are achieving such good results despite having key players and other personnel absent from the competition is particularly noteworthy.

This season Haruto Watanabe players and Ryoto Kita The players emerged as key players in outfield, and both experienced long periods of absence due to injuries. Kosei Yoshida pitcher and Ren Mukunoki pitcher are making a full recovery. The current performance, in which they are accumulating wins by covering the gaps left by injured players with the emergence of new talent and the improvement of existing players, has some similarities to when they won the league three consecutive championships from 2021 to 2023.

This time, we'll look at the changes in the performance of Orix Buffaloes 's key players from 2021 to 2023, divided into three sections: starter, relief pitcher, and fielder players. We'll also examine the commonalities between the team then and now.

The starting rotation is supported by a star pitcher plus three left-handers, and new talent is expected to emerge in 2023.

The following is a list of pitcher who played a key role in the starting rotation for Orix Buffaloes from 2021 to 2023.

pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto achieved the remarkable feat of winning four pitcher titles for three consecutive years—most wins, best ERA, most strike out, and highest winning percentage—and was one of the key players in the team's three consecutive league championships. pitcher Miyagi, like pitcher, reached the required innings pitched for three consecutive years and recorded double-digit win, establishing himself as a left-handed ace at a young age.

　Fukuya Yamazaki pitcher has also performed well as starter, recording over 110 innings pitched for three consecutive years and maintaining ERA of 3.56 or lower. Daiki Tajima pitcher also served as the main pitcher in 2021, reaching the required innings pitched, recording 8 wins and ERA of 3.58. In 2022, he achieved a career-high 9 wins and recorded his first ERA in the 2.00s. The presence of three stable left-handed starter, including pitcher, was a significant advantage.

　Taisuke Yamaoka In both 2021 and 2022, pitcher showed a certain level of pitch as starters despite being sidelined, and in 2023, they contributed to the team's third consecutive championship by serving as both starters and reliever. In addition to the six players mentioned above, in 2021, Hirotoshi Masui appeared in 15 games and Daichi Takeyasu appeared in 17 games, both serving as part of the starting rotation, but both saw a decrease in appearances from 2022 onwards.

In the midst of all that, Kohei Azuma pitcher made his first-team debut in 2022, and the following year, 2023, he had an outstanding pitch with 6 wins and no losses and ERA of 2.06. pitcher Yamashita also had a spectacular 2023 season, winning 9 games with ERA of 1.61 and strike out pitch of 9.57, earning him the Rookie of the Year award and joining the team as the first overall draft pick. Ryuhei Sotani pitcher also made appearances in 10 games. With the emergence of new talent, the starting rotation boasted a strong lineup.

Despite reorganizing bullpen for the second year in a row, they maintained their exceptional consistency.

Next, let's look at pitcher who made particularly significant contributions as relief pitchers for Orix Buffaloes from 2021 to 2023.

Off 2021, Higgins pitcher left after struggling as a set-up man with 28 hold and ERA 2.53 in 49 games. In the same year, he played 51 games with 20 hold and ERA 2.72 as a left reliever Ryoga Tomiyama pitcher In 2022, he was forced to retool the relief corps due to a number of injuries.

In such a situation, in 2022 Shota Abe pitcher was ERA 0.61 in 44 games, Hitomi Honda pitcher was active as a set-up man with ERA 3.50 in 42 games. From the middle of the same year Yuki Udagawa pitcher ERA Waguespack pitcher and Syoichiro Yamazaki pitcher, who switched from starters to relievers, also showed a high aptitude. Each pitcher struggled in the postseason as well, contributing greatly to the team's victory in Japan.

The following year, in 2023, Honda pitcher and Waguespack pitcher, who had pitched well in the previous year ERA with two points in addition to the poor performance of Honda and Waguespack Yuta Kuroki pitcher and Daisuke Kondo also ERA deteriorated. However, in addition to Udagawa pitcher and Yamazaki pitcher being relievers throughout the year, Atsuya Kogita pitcher extended their pitching opportunities from 16 games to 38 games, and ERA became a new force for bullpen with a 2.19 pitching record.

While the faces of the surrounding relievers have shifted around a bit, veteran right-handers Yoshihisa Hirano pitcher and Mikitaka Higa have remained stable throughout the three years, serving as the spiritual pillars of bullpen. Nobuyoshi Yamada pitcher In 2022, he was also a bit of a disappointment, but in 2023 he showed outstanding stability with a ERA 1.15 record and supported the team's golden years as a valuable left reliever fielder.

New talent emerges every season, minimizing the impact of key players leaving the team.

Finally, let's look back at the performance of fielder players who were key members of the team during their three consecutive league championships.

In 2021, Sugimoto got his big break with a .301 batting average, 32 Home Run and an OPS of .931 to Home Run win the title of King, Kotaro Kobayashi Players and Yuma Mune Each of the players has also become a regular. Ryoichi Adachi and T-Okada, who have supported the team for many years, played in more than 100 games and made their presence felt in many places, and Moya, an assistant player, showed his long-hitting ability with 13 Home Run in 106 games.

While Benrin and So continued to be the mainstays of the team from the following year onward, Sugimoto's performance declined somewhat from 2022 onward, and Adachi and T-Okada's opportunities to play gradually declined. Moya also retired at the end of 2022, which led to a change in the lineup of the fielder team.

In that year 2022. Keita Nakagawa The player reached his first regulation at bat, primarily as the #3 hitter, with a .283 batting average and .767 OPS. Kenya Wakatsuki The player also showed remarkable progress in hitting, which had been an issue for many years, with a batting average of .281, and became a presence that added depth to the lower batting lineup.

However, in the off-season of 2022, Masanao Yoshida, a mainstay of the team with a track record of winning the top hitter position for two consecutive years, challenged MLB, and Toratake Fushimi, one of the main catcher players, exercised his FA rights and moved on. Shuhei Fukuda, who contributed greatly to consecutive league championships as a leadoff man, also fell into an extreme slump in 2023 with a .191 batting average, and as in the previous year, rebuilding the batting lineup was an urgent task.

In this situation, Tongu made a great leap forward to become the first player to reach the regulation batting average and win the title of the top hitter player with a batting average of .307. He joined the team as an FA Tomoya Mori Home Run Yuya Oda was also active with a .290 batting average and .753 OPS in only a few at-bats. Yuya Oda also showed his dynamism with a .290 batting average and .753 OPS, despite having only a handful of at-bats.

Will it lay the foundation for a golden age?

The team overcame challenges such as changes in the relief pitching staff, slumps among key fielder, and the departure of batting leader Masataka Yoshida, thanks to the emergence of new talent, which led to their remarkable achievement of three consecutive league championships. Several starting pitcher also had breakout seasons in 2023, indicating that the team as a whole was undergoing a very active turnover of players.

As evidenced by the success of players like Ryo Ota, who has grown into a key player since 2024, and Ryoma Nishikawa, who also joined Orix Buffaloes in 2024, Orix Buffaloes are currently entering a new era. Will this team, which is showing the same kind of renewal as when they won three consecutive league championships, build a new golden age? Their future performances are definitely worth watching, not just for fans.

Written by Ryota Mochizuki