2018 Nippon Professional Baseball season

Sports season
2018 NPB season
LeagueNippon Professional Baseball
SportBaseball
DurationMarch 30 – November 3
Number of games143
Number of teams12
Central League Pennant
League championsHiroshima Toyo Carp
  Runners-upTokyo Yakult Swallows
Season MVPYoshihiro Maru (Toyo)
Pacific League Pennant
League championsSaitama Seibu Lions
  Runners-upFukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Season MVPHotaka Yamakawa (Seibu)
Climax Series
CL championsHiroshima Toyo Carp
  CL runners-upYomiuri Giants
PL championsFukuoka SoftBank Hawks
  PL runners-upSaitama Seibu Lions
Japan Series
ChampionsFukuoka SoftBank Hawks
  Runners-upHiroshima Toyo Carp
Finals MVPTakuya Kai (SoftBank)
NPB seasons

The 2018 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 69th season since the NPB was reorganized in 1950.

Regular season standings

Central League regular season standings[1]
Pos Team G W L T Pct. GB Home Road
1 Hiroshima Toyo Carp 143 82 59 2 .582 45-25–2 37-34–0
2 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 143 75 66 2 .532 7.0 41-30–0 34-36–2
3 Yomiuri Giants 143 67 71 5 .482 13.5 33–38–1 34–33–4
4 Yokohama DeNA BayStars 143 67 74 2 .475 14.0 33–38–1 34–36–1
5 Chunichi Dragons 143 63 78 2 .447 19.0 36–33-2 27–45–0
6 Hanshin Tigers 143 62 79 2 .440 20.0 27–42–2 35–37–0
Pacific League regular season standings[2]
Pos Team G W L T Pct. GB Home Road
1 Saitama Seibu Lions 143 88 53 2 .624 45–24–2 43–29–0
2 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 143 82 60 1 .577 6.5 40–30–1 42–30–0
3 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 143 74 66 3 .529 13.5 40–29–2 34–37–1
4 Orix Buffaloes 143 65 73 5 .471 21.5 33–37–2 32–36–3
5 Chiba Lotte Marines 143 59 81 3 .421 28.5 28–43–1 31–38–2
6 Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 143 58 82 3 .414 29.5 22–50–0 36–32–3

Interleague results

Current as of 25 September 2018

Interleague results are placed in order of current regular season standings. The 'I' column indicates the teams' interleague position.

The interleague results are indicative only of the teams playing ability against those teams in the opposing league, and have no bearing on the placings or Climax Series'. The sponsor, Nippon Life, does hand out awards to players and teams based on their finishing in the Interleague standings, however.

Central League regular season standings[1]
Pos Team G W L T Pct. I Home Road
1 Hiroshima Toyo Carp 18 7 11 0 .389 4 5–4–0 2–7–0
2 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 18 12 6 0 .667 1 6–3–0 6–3–0
3 Yomiuri Giants 18 8 10 0 .444 2 4–5–0 4–5–0
4 Chunichi Dragons 18 7 11 0 .389 4 4–5–0 3–6–0
5 Yokohama DeNA BayStars 18 8 10 0 .444 2 6–3–0 2–7–0
6 Hanshin Tigers 18 6 11 1 .353 6 2–6–1 4–5–0
Pacific League regular season standings[2]
Pos Team G W L T Pct. I Home Road
1 Saitama Seibu Lions 18 10 8 0 .556 4 5–4–0 5–4–0
2 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 18 11 7 0 .611 2 6–3–0 5–4–0
3 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 18 10 8 0 .556 4 6–3–0 4–5–0
4 Orix Buffaloes 18 11 6 1 .647 1 7–2–0 4–4–1
5 Chiba Lotte Marines 18 11 7 0 .611 2 6–3–0 5–4–0
6 Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 18 6 12 0 .333 6 3–6–0 3–6–0

Climax Series

First stage

Central League

Tokyo Yakult Swallows (0) vs. Yomiuri Giants (2)

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 13 Yomiuri Giants – 4, Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 1 Meiji Jingu Stadium 3:06 30,735 
2 October 14 Yomiuri Giants – 4, Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 0 Meiji Jingu Stadium 2:40 30,798

Pacific League

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (2) vs. Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (1)

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 13 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 3, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 8 Fukuoka Yahuoku! Dome 3:35 35,301 
2 October 14 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 4, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 2 Fukuoka Yahuoku! Dome 3:32 38,125 
3 October 15 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 2, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 5 Fukuoka Yahuoku! Dome 3:46 34,794

Final stage

Central League

Hiroshima Carp (4) vs. Yomiuri Giants (0)

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 17 Yomiuri Giants – 1, Hiroshima Carp – 6 Mazda Stadium 3:07 31,311 
2 October 18 Yomiuri Giants – 1, Hiroshima Carp – 4 Mazda Stadium 2:36 31,356 
3 October 19 Yomiuri Giants – 1, Hiroshima Carp – 5 Mazda Stadium 3:02 31,371

Pacific League

Saitama Seibu Lions (2) vs. Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (4)

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 17 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 10, Saitama Seibu Lions – 4 MetLife Dome 3:25 31,961 
2 October 18 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 5, Saitama Seibu Lions – 13 MetLife Dome 3:30 31,106 
3 October 19 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 15, Saitama Seibu Lions – 4 MetLife Dome 3:30 31,238 
4 October 20 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 8, Saitama Seibu Lions – 2 MetLife Dome 3:31 32,170 
5 October 21 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 6, Saitama Seibu Lions – 5 MetLife Dome 3:26 31,532

Japan Series

SoftBank Hawks won the series, 4–1–1.

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 27 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 2 @ Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 2 (12) Mazda Stadium 4:38 30,727 
2 October 28 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 1 @ Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 5 Mazda Stadium 2:55 30,724 
3 October 30 Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 8 @ Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 9 Fukuoka Yahuoku! Dome 3:57 35,746 
4 October 31 Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 1 @ Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 4 Fukuoka Yahuoku! Dome 3:21 35,796 
5 November 1 Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 4 @ Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 5 (10) Fukuoka Yahuoku! Dome 4:25 35,917 
6 November 3 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 2 @ Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 0 Mazda Stadium 3:14 30,723

League leaders

Central League

Batting leaders[3]
Stat Player Team Total
Batting average Dayan Viciedo Chunichi Dragons .348
Home runs Neftali Soto Yokohama DeNA BayStars 41
Runs batted in Wladimir Balentien Tokyo Yakult Swallows 131
Runs Tetsuto Yamada Tokyo Yakult Swallows 130
Hits Dayan Viciedo Chunichi Dragons 178
Stolen bases Tetsuto Yamada Tokyo Yakult Swallows 33
On Base Percentage Yoshihiro Maru Hiroshima Toyo Carp .468
Slugging Percentage Neftali Soto Yokohama DeNA BayStars .644
Pitching leaders[4]
Stat Player Team Total
Wins Daichi Osera
Tomoyuki Sugano
Hiroshima Toyo Carp
Yomiuri Giants
15
Earned run average Tomoyuki Sugano Yomiuri Giants 2.14
Strikeouts Tomoyuki Sugano Yomiuri Giants 200
Innings pitched Tomoyuki Sugano Yomiuri Giants 202
Saves Yasuaki Yamasaki Yokohama DeNA BayStars 37
Holds Kazuki Kondo Tokyo Yakult Swallows 35
Winning percentage Katsuki Azuma
Kris Johnson
Yokohama DeNA BayStars
Hiroshima Toyo Carp
.688

Pacific League

Batting leaders[5]
Stat Player Team Total
Batting average Yuki Yanagita Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks .352
Home runs Hotaka Yamakawa Saitama Seibu Lions 47
Runs batted in Hideto Asamura Saitama Seibu Lions 127
Runs Hotaka Yamakawa Saitama Seibu Lions 115
Hits Shogo Akiyama Saitama Seibu Lions 195
Stolen bases Haruki Nishikawa Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 44
On Base Percentage Yuki Yanagita Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks .431
Slugging Percentage Yuki Yanagita Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks .661
Pitching leaders[6]
Stat Player Team Total
Wins Shinsaburo Tawata Saitama Seibu Lions 16
Earned run average Takayuki Kishi Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 2.72
Strikeouts Takahiro Norimoto Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 187
Innings pitched Takahiro Norimoto Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 180.1
Saves Yuito Mori Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 37
Holds Naoki Miyanishi Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 37
Winning percentage Yusei Kikuchi Saitama Seibu Lions .778

See also

References

  1. ^ a b 一般社団法人日本野球機構. "2018 Central League Standings". Npb.jp. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  2. ^ a b 一般社団法人日本野球機構. "2018 Pacific League Standings". Npb.jp. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  3. ^ 一般社団法人日本野球機構. "2018 Central League Qualifiers for Batting Championship | NPB.jp 日本野球機構". Npb.jp. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
  4. ^ 一般社団法人日本野球機構. "2018 Central League Qualifiers for Earned-Run Average Title & Top Relief Pitchers | NPB.jp 日本野球機構". Npb.jp. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
  5. ^ 一般社団法人日本野球機構. "2018 Pacific League Qualifiers for Batting Championship | NPB.jp 日本野球機構". Npb.jp. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
  6. ^ 一般社団法人日本野球機構. "2018 Pacific League Qualifiers for Earned-Run Average Title & Top Relief Pitchers | NPB.jp 日本野球機構". Npb.jp. Retrieved 2022-07-13.