楽(Raku)Report

2025 Season First 2 Weeks

@ Orix Buffaloes, Series Loss 2-1

Game 1 - 3/28

Hayakawa pitched well in the 2025 season opener, but Rakuten's offense was shut down by Orix's Miyagi all game and after mounting a late comeback, the Eagles ultimately lost on a walkoff base-hit in the 9th. Bummer. Of note, Eagles first round draft pick Muneyama did record his first NPB hit and RBI.

Game 2 - 3/29

Rakuten took an early lead backed by a solid outing from Tatsuki Koja. The Rakuten bullpen looked really shaky in this game. Thankfully 3 runs in the 9th, highlighted by a 2-run triple by マスター (Master) Toshiki Abe, were enough to secure the win despite a rally by Orix in the bottom of the 9th. (Re)New Manager Hajime Miki recorded his first victory since the 2020 season.

Game 3 - 3/30

The series rubber match was a 6-1 drubbing after a disastrous start by Wataru Karashima who surrendered 7 hits in just 1 and 2/3 innings. Yikes! The Buffaloes, rocking what I refer to as their prison uniforms, recorded 5 runs in the first 5 innings and the Rakuten only came up with 1 run despite having 11 hits in the game. Hopefully they can get the bats working with runners on base or this will be a long season. Tough series, although Game 1 could have gone either way.

vs. Seibu Lions, Series Win 1-0

Game 1 - 4/1

Rainout. 🌧️

Game 2 - 4/2

Rainout. 🌧️

Game 3 - 4/3

The weather relented just enough on Thursday and allowed the Eagles fans to witness their team's Home Opener! The Eagles did not disappoint the home crowd and pulled off a 4-1 victory behind a great effort by starting pitcher Takayuki Kishi.  The 40-year old Kishi gave up just 3 hits in 7 innings of work against his former team, although it's been so long it feels like it was a past life when he pitched for the Lions. I liked the way the offense looked in this one, they delivered hits in critical spots and took advantage of fielding miscues. We'll count this as a series win for the Eagles!

@ Chiba Lotte, Series Win 2-1

Game 1 - 4/4

Rakuten's ace Hayakawa returned to the mound in another masterful performance where he gave up just 2 hits in 7 innings pitched! 3 runs, including a home run from Master Abe, were all it took for the Eagles to win this one, with Norimoto closing it out in the 9th despite loading the bases. Great start to the series for the Eagles!

Game 2 - 4/5

The Eagles bullpen was the brilliant in the 1-0 loss to Marines, with 6 pitchers combining to record 9 strikeouts while only giving up 4 hits and 1 unearned run. Unfortunately, the Marines' Ojima was on fire and held the Eagles scoreless through 8. The Eagles had opportunties on offense, but weren't able to deliver with runners on base.

Game 3 - 4/6

Rakuten starting pitcher Tatsuki Koja was the story today with a 103-pitch complete game shutout victory! Hopefully he can keep this going all season and stabilize the Eagles rotation. The Eagles bats were alive in this game as well, the offense seems to be trending in the right direction. 

Notes

(4/7) Reliever Nik Turley has been removed from the first team roster. Source: Nippon TV News

(3/19) Reliever Chia-Hao Sung is out at least 6 months to start the season for knee surgery. Source: TSNA 

Box Score Source: NPB.jp (English)