2022 NPB season
LeagueNippon Professional Baseball
SportBaseball
DurationMarch 25 – October 30
Number of games143
Number of teams12
Central League pennant
League championsTokyo Yakult Swallows
  Runners-upYokohama DeNA BayStars
Season MVPMunetaka Murakami (Yakult)
Pacific League pennant
League championsOrix Buffaloes
  Runners-upFukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Season MVPYoshinobu Yamamoto (Orix)
Climax Series
CL championsTokyo Yakult Swallows
  CL runners-upHanshin Tigers
PL championsOrix Buffaloes
  PL runners-upFukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Japan Series
ChampionsOrix Buffaloes
  Runners-upTokyo Yakult Swallows
Finals MVPYutaro Sugimoto (Orix)

The 2022 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 73rd season of professional baseball in Japan since Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) was reorganized in 1950. There are 12 NPB teams, split evenly between the Central League and Pacific League.

On April 10, Chiba Lotte Marines pitcher Rōki Sasaki threw a perfect game, the first in 28 years[1] and the 16th in NPB history. Sasaki tied an existing NPB record by striking out 19 batters, and set a new record by striking out 13 consecutive batters.[2]

Including Sasaki's perfect game, for the first time since 1940, there were five no-hitters this season, with Nao Higashihama of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks throwing one on May 11 against the Saitama Seibu Lions, Shōta Imanaga of the Yokohama DeNA BayStars doing so on June 7 during interleague play against the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (also being the first no hitter in the history of the Sapporo Dome in its final season as the home of the Fighters), and Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Orix Buffaloes throwing one also against the Lions on June 18. One was nearly thrown on July 20, with rookie Ren Mukunoki of the Buffaloes nearly doing so against the Fighters, but he fell 1 strike short, as he gave up a hit to Fighters infielder Ryusei Satoh, in which fans called as a similar incident to former MLB pitcher Dave Stieb, in which he lost a perfect game and a no hitter in the same game with only 1 strike to go.[3] A 5th one would eventually be thrown on August 27 by Cody Ponce of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters against the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, in just his 2nd start, tying 2022 with 1940 with the most no-hitters in a season in Japanese pro baseball history, as well as becoming the first foreign player since Rick Guttormson of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in 2006 to throw a no-hitter, and the first Pacific League foreign player to do so since the now late Narciso Elvira did so with the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes in 2000.[4]

The Tokyo Yakult Swallows took home the Central League pennant for the second year in a row over the Yokohama DeNA BayStars while the Orix Buffaloes took the Pacific League pennant over the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks via the first pennant tiebreaker in NPB history.

Regular season standings

Central League regular season standings[5]
Rank Team G W L T Pct. GB
1 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 14380594.576—
2 Yokohama DeNA BayStars 14373682.5188
3 Hanshin Tigers 14368714.48912
4 Yomiuri Giants 14368723.48612½
5 Hiroshima Toyo Carp 14366743.47114½
6 Chunichi Dragons 14366752.46815
Pacific League regular season standings[6]
Rank Team G W L T Pct. GB
1 Orix Buffaloes 14376652.539—
2 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 14376652.539—[7]
3 Saitama Seibu Lions 14372683.5143½
4 Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 14369713.4936½
5 Chiba Lotte Marines 14369731.4867½
6 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 14359813.42116½

Interleague

Regular season interleague standings[8]
Team G W L T Win% GB Home Away
Tokyo Yakult Swallows181440.778—7–27–2
Hanshin Tigers181260.66726–36–3
Chiba Lotte Marines181080.55646–34–5
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks18990.50055–44–5
Saitama Seibu Lions18990.50056–33–6
Yokohama DeNA BayStars18990.50055–44–5
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles18990.50055–44–5
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters188100.44466–32–7
Orix Buffaloes188100.44462–76–3
Yomiuri Giants188100.44465–43–6
Chunichi Dragons187110.38975–42–7
Hiroshima Toyo Carp185130.27993–62–7

Climax Series

First stage

Central League

Hanshin Tigers won the series, 2–1.

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1October 8Yokohama DeNA BayStars − 0, Hanshin Tigers − 2Yokohama Stadium3:3433,033[9] 
2October 9Yokohama DeNA BayStars − 1, Hanshin Tigers − 0Yokohama Stadium2:4833,037[10] 
3October 10Yokohama DeNA BayStars − 2, Hanshin Tigers − 3Yokohama Stadium3:1932,977[11]

Pacific League

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks won the series, 2–0.

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1October 8Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks − 5, Saitama Seibu Lions − 3Fukuoka PayPay Dome3:0132,134[12] 
2October 9Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks − 8, Saitama Seibu Lions − 2Fukuoka PayPay Dome3:0739,354[13]

Final Stage

The series started with a 1–0 advantage for the first-placed team.

Central League

Tokyo Yakult Swallows won the series, 4−0.

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1October 12Tokyo Yakult Swallows − 7, Hanshin Tigers − 1Meiji Jingu Stadium3:0326,499[14] 
2October 13Tokyo Yakult Swallows − 5, Hanshin Tigers − 3Meiji Jingu Stadium3:4926,071[15] 
3October 14Tokyo Yakult Swallows − 6, Hanshin Tigers − 3Meiji Jingu Stadium3:3929,343[16]

Pacific League

Orix Buffaloes won the series, 4−1.

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1October 12Orix Buffaloes − 5, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks − 0Kyocera Dome Osaka3:0824,509[17] 
2October 13Orix Buffaloes − 4, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks − 3Kyocera Dome Osaka3:2718,572[18] 
3October 14Orix Buffaloes − 0, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks − 3Kyocera Dome Osaka3:0527,526[19] 
4October 15Orix Buffaloes − 3, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks − 2Kyocera Dome Osaka3:1233,717[20]

Japan Series

Orix Buffaloes won the series, 4–2–1.

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1October 22Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 5, Orix Buffaloes – 3Meiji Jingu Stadium3:4829,402[21] 
2October 23Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 3, Orix Buffaloes – 3 (12)Meiji Jingu Stadium5:0329,410[22] 
3October 25Orix Buffaloes – 1, Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 7Kyocera Dome Osaka3:2833,098[23] 
4October 26Orix Buffaloes – 1, Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 0Kyocera Dome Osaka3:2833,210[24] 
5October 27Orix Buffaloes − 6, Tokyo Yakult Swallows − 4Kyocera Dome Osaka3:4033,135[25] 
6October 29Tokyo Yakult Swallows - 0, Orix Buffaloes - 3Meiji Jingu Stadium3:1129,379[26] 
7October 30Tokyo Yakult Swallows- 4, Orix Buffaloes - 5Meiji Jingu Stadium3:1229,381[27]

See also

References

  1. ↑ In the 5th game of the 2007 Japan Series, Daisuke Yamai and Hitoki Iwase combined to throw a perfect game for the Chunichi Dragons against the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters; in NPB, no-hitters or perfect games achieved by multiple pitchers in one game are considered unofficial. However, it is recognized by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (the international governing body of baseball) as a perfect game.
  2. ↑ "Lotte pitcher Roki Sasaki throws Japan's 16th perfect game". Kyodo News+. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Buffaloes rookie Ren Mukunoki falls one strike short of no-hitter". The Japan Times. July 21, 2022. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
  4. ↑ "Baseball: Fighters' Ponce throws season's 5th no-hitter". Kyodo News. August 27, 2022. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  5. ↑ "2022 Central League Standings". Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  6. ↑ "2022 Pacific League Standings". Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  7. ↑ Orix won the season series against the Hawks 15-10-0, which gave Orix the pennant over SoftBank.
  8. ↑ "2022年度 交流戦" [2022 Interleague Play] (in Japanese). Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Saturday, October 8, 2022". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Sunday, October 9, 2022". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  11. ↑ "Monday, October 10, 2022". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Saturday, October 8, 2022". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  13. ↑ "Sunday, October 9, 2022". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  14. ↑ "Wednesday, October 12, 2022". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Thursday, October 13, 2022". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  16. ↑ "Friday, October 14, 2022". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  17. ↑ "Wednesday, October 12, 2022". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  18. ↑ "Thursday, October 13, 2022". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  19. ↑ "Friday, October 14, 2022". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  20. ↑ "Saturday, October 15, 2022". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  21. ↑ "Saturday, October 22, 2022". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
  22. ↑ "Sunday, October 23, 2022". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
  23. ↑ "Tuesday, October 25, 2022". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  24. ↑ "Wednesday, October 26, 2022". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
  25. ↑ "Orix Buffaloes vs Tokyo Yakult Swallows Round 5".
  26. ↑ "Tokyo Yakult Swallows vs Orix Buffaloes Round 6".
  27. ↑ "Tokyo Yakult Swallows vs Orix Buffaloes Round 7".


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