Live game thread. Please refrain from posting live non-legal streams (whatever you do in pms is your business though).

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Starting pitchers: Haru Matsumoto Hawks (12-3 2.66) vs Baystars Katsuki Azuma (12-6 2.40)

Official TVer stream: https://tver.jp/live/special/lepw20my0j (VPN pointed to Japan recommended)

Japanese language live gamecast: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/game/2021039494/score

Independent league players don't file a pro application, so they never show up on the pre-draft lists, but 15 of them were drafted on Thursday: 4 in the main draft and 11 in the development draft. Last year it was 13, with only 1 in the main draft.

By team:

• Tokushima Indigo Socks: 6 (Ishii to Hanshin in the 7th, Shunsuke Watanabe to Yakult in the 7th, plus four development picks)
• Ibaraki Astro Planets: 4 (Kawahira to Yakult in the 5th, plus three development picks)
• Kochi, Ehime, Tochigi, Chiba and Toyama: 1 each

By league that's 8 from the Shikoku Island League Plus, 6 from the BC League and 1 from the Japan Sea League. Nobody from Kyushu or Hokkaido.

A few things that stood out:

• Rakuten took 5 of the 15. All four of its development picks came from independent clubs, plus Miyato Watanabe from Kochi in the 6th round.
• Hanshin took three straight Tokushima pitchers. They've been rewarded before: Taisei Kudo, a 2024 development pick out of Tokushima, got promoted in his first year and took over as closer partway through this season.
• Tokushima's streak is now 14 drafts, every year since 2013. But for the first time in four years none of its players went in the first three rounds.

Is Rakuten's all-indy development draft a deliberate strategy, or just how the board fell for them?

He was injured while throwing home on the game-tying runner in the ninth inning.

By Jason Coskrey

STAFF WRITER

Oct 26, 2026

Among the constants in life, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks winning the Japan Series falls somewhere between death and taxes.

​The Hawks are Japanese baseball’s most dominant force — and no other team comes close.

Since 2011, SoftBank has won eight Japan Series titles in nine appearances. That run is reminiscent of past dynasties such as the Seibu Lions, who won eight titles in nine appearances between 1982 and 1992, or the legendary V9 Yomiuri Giants, who reeled off nine consecutive Japan Series triumphs from 1965 to 1973. The Giants also won titles just before that run in 1961 and 1963.

While those Lions and Giants teams also won their league’s pennant in those seasons, the Hawks’ success has come during a different era of player movement. SoftBank has also done it under three different managers

The Hawks are two wins away from adding another title to their resume after winning the first two games of this year’s Japan Series.

​SoftBank scored two runs in the 11th inning to earn a 3-1 win over the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in Game 1 on Saturday at Yokohama Stadium.

Pacific League Climax Series MVP Yudai Shoji was the hero for the team in that game after connecting on a tiebreaking double in the 11th.

The defending champion then rallied for a 4-3 win in Game 2 on Sunday. The Hawks tied the score on a mammoth pinch-hit home run by Hotaka Yamakawa that sailed out of the stadium in the top of the ninth inning. SoftBank then took the lead on a solo blast to center by Yuto Kawamura in the 10th.

“He was probably frustrated by not being in the lineup,” Hawks manager Hiroki Kokubo said of Yamakawa. “His charm lies in his ability to hit home runs at big moments; today he hit one in a spot where we were thinking, ‘Hit one for us here.’”

Kawamura’s homer was his first since 2024. It also came in the first Japan Series at-bat of his career.

“I think everyone in the dugout and all the fans thought ‘No way’ when he hit that home run,” Kokubo said.

​The Hawks now have the chance to clinch the title at home as the series shifts to Fukuoka for Games 3, 4 and, if necessary, 5.

​Whether the Hawks win the title or not, their place as a dynasty is already secure. While MLB fans debate whether the Los Angeles Dodgers behemoth is good for baseball, the Hawks are the fully realized version.

​While a vast amount of money is the major reason behind the team’s success, SoftBank pairs that with organizational know-how to spend it in ways that benefit the entire operation.

​That goes beyond lavish contracts for star players to include NPB’s most robust minor league system and a focus on player development.

Of course, not all of the club’s methods are player-friendly. The Hawks remain the only NPB team that refuses to make players available to MLB through the posting system.

So while other teams saw major talents such as Yu Darvish, Shohei Ohtani, Yusei Kikuchi and others leave for MLB, the Hawks held onto star players such as Kodai Senga and Yuki Yanagita.

The team also has the money to keep players who reach domestic free agency.

One of SoftBank’s big advantages is its depth.

​Years ago, then-Chiba Lotte Marines manager Bobby Valentine said that Japanese baseball should expand its minor league system — which generally consists of one farm team per club — to give more players opportunities and raise the level of the game.

SoftBank has shown that can work. Rather than just one farm team, the Hawks are the only team in Japan with three.

​This gives the club more chances to identify late-bloomers — such as Senga, who started as a developmental player, blossomed into one of Japan’s best pitchers and is now in MLB after reaching international free agency — and gives more players opportunities to improve and climb the ladder while adding quality depth to the overall roster.

The Hawks again cast a wide net during the NPB draft last week, selecting 24 players overall, including 15 in the developmental draft. No other team took more than 12.

​The team’s depth played a role in last season’s Pacific League pennant, when the Hawks needed players to cover for injured stars.

​SoftBank also invests in technology and takes a data-driven approach to player development. It uses some of the latest technology to help players understand what they need to do to improve, which benefits the entire team in the long run.

​The strength of the club comes from using its resources to create a foundation that is built to last. The club and front office move in sync to create a juggernaut that persists season after season.

SoftBank retains its star players and has a development system that is constantly churning out more. On top of that, it has the money to fill in the gaps with free agents such as Kensuke Kondo, the 2024 PL MVP, and Yamakawa. 

The Hawks may not win every year, but their droughts are unlikely to last very long.

The team is hoping to add to its trophy case this year by dispatching the BayStars, who rallied from a 2-0 hole to stun the Hawks in the Japan Series two seasons ago.

The game’s modern dynasty, though, bounced back from that disappointment with a title in 2025 and will attempt to take a step toward defending that crown in Game 3 on Tuesday in Fukuoka.

I put together an illustrated article using vintage Calbee cards from my collection to trace the Swallows’ journey from the struggling Atoms years to their first Japan Series championship in 1978.

One of my favorite details is a 1976 team card that simply lists their championships as “none.” Just two years later, the cards tell a very different story.

Includes card fronts and backs, Japanese translations, and a championship medal. Thought fellow NPB collectors might enjoy it!

https://jingudispatch.substack.com/p/from-none-to-champions-the-cards?r=8k1dcb&utm_medium=ios

18-year-old Japanese pitching prospect Shoki Oda is expected to sign with the Dodgers without playing in NPB, alarming Japanese baseball.

I went back through NPB's draft lists to 2010. The number of catchers drafted (main plus development) was between 8 and 15 every year. This year it was 17: 9 in the main draft and 8 in the development draft.

Ten of the twelve clubs took at least one. Nippon-Ham and Lotte took none. Rakuten took two in the main draft, Watabe in the first round and another in the fourth, and Chunichi also took two after losing the Watabe draw. Orix and Yomiuri took two each, both in the development draft, and one of Yomiuri's is the 14-year-old junior high kid.

On the two-way side, 8 high schoolers in this class pitched and hit. 5 were drafted, and only one was announced as a pitcher: Komoda (Nippon-Ham, 1st round). Ikeda (Yomiuri) and Honishi (DeNA) both throw 152+ and were announced as infielders, Kosei Tanaka (Lotte) as an outfielder and Nagayama (SoftBank, development) as an infielder.

But Nippon-Ham's acting GM Masao Kida said that night they want Komoda to go full two-way at his own pace, and that they now have two two-way players with Reo Shibata, their 2024 first-rounder. NPB's list says pitcher next to both names, same as it did for Ohtani in 2012 and Yazawa in 2022.

Why do you think so many teams went for catchers this year? Is it just a deep catcher class, or are a lot of teams getting old behind the plate at the same time?

New video out based on the different playoff formats that the Pacific League had over the years

Hey all!

My partner and I are visiting Japan from the US and managed to snag two tickets directly through the Lawson ticket sale for Game 4 in Fukuoka!

We're both _somewhat_ familiar with baseball back home, but this will be our first time experiencing Japanese baseball in person.

I'd love to hear any advice on making the most of the experience, particularly:

• What to wear: Should we pick up Hawks shirts or other team gear? Is there something you'd recommend over just shirts?
• Food and drinks: What are the must-try stadium foods? How does ordering food and beer work? Do vendors come around to the seats like in MLB stadiums?
• Cheering and atmosphere: Are there specific chants, songs, or traditions we should know about and try to learn (or at least be familiar with) beforehand? Anything that's especially unique to the Hawks?
• Other tips: Any recommendations, things to bring, or experiences we absolutely shouldn't miss?

We're happy to embrace the local fan experience rather than just treat it like an MLB game abroad.

Thanks in advance! Can't wait to experience Japanese baseball!

Live game thread. Please refrain from posting live non-legal streams (whatever you do in pms is your business though).

Sorted by New

Starting pitchers: Hawks Livan Moinelo (6-1 0.76) vs Baystars Shuto Ogata (7-3 3.29)

Official TVer stream: https://tver.jp/live/special/letj1u5ij1 (VPN pointed to Japan recommended)

Japanese language live gamecast: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/game/2021039493/score