For next season and for the future
In 2024, it was a crucial year for Manager Tatsunami.
Manager Tatsunami has significantly changed the roster over the past two years. This included trading key players like Toshiki Abe and Youta Kyoda.
I believe that continuing to rely on the core players of a losing team won’t become a winning team, so I agreed with these roster changes.
Also, the team focused on drafting infielders, and it felt like the roster was finally coming together by 2024.
Additionally, they acquired Sho Nakata with an estimated annual salary of 300 million yen to be their cleanup hitter.
The 2024 season began, the Dragons started with Nakata batting cleanup as planned, and the Dragons was in first place in April.
But from that point, the team dropped sharply.
The remaining games of this season are essentially games for next season.
I think there’s hope if they can repeat long winning streaks, but unless he drastically changes his managerial strategy, I think it will be very difficult.
Currently, I believe there’s a higher probability they’ll achieve the dishonorable record of finishing in last place for the third consecutive year.
As I’ve posted before, I believe Manager Tatsunami is not a manager who can win.
Some people might feel this is due to the current limitations of the Dragons’ player roster, but I have my own reasons.
I feel the reason is the manager’s decisions, including his starting lineup selections.
The starting lineup is so fluid that it’s ridiculed as a daily shuffle lineup, going beyond just a daily changing lineup.
This wasn’t just about changing the starting players, but also constantly changing the batting order.
Even the same player might be batting cleanup one day and the seventh hitter the next, or lead-off one day and the eighth hitter the next.
Players had to mentally reset for every game, and it might have been difficult for some players to perform at their best.
He declared “This year we’ll build our offense around Nakata!” but then benched him or demoted him to the minors whenever he went through a slight slump.
This treatment is not only Nakata but also almost every player. Therefore, it feels difficult to build genuine trust between the manager and the players.
And it feels like potential young players are being robbed of the chance to gain experience and even the possibility of growth.
The Dragons are known for having a lineup that can’t score runs.
However, the manager’s strategy doesn’t seem to aim for scoring that one run aggressively. And after losing games, the manager’s comment is always that they couldn’t get the clutch hit when they had the chance.
Why doesn’t Manager Tatsunami aim to get that one run ?
In a style of baseball that emphasizes defense, I feel it’s even more necessary to play baseball focused on scoring that one run.
Especially in crunch time, I think the manager needs to give commands to the players. And that becomes experience for the players too.
Previously, Katsuya Nomura and Atsuya Furuta mentioned that baseball is a sport of probability.
Indeed, baseball expresses performance in many title categories as “rates.”
Wouldn’t using players with high batting averages in the upper part of the lineup increase the probability of scoring runs ?
Of course, for cleanup hitters, batting average with runners in scoring position is also a valid metric.
However, a .100 hitter might become the leadoff batter in a daily shuffled lineup.
Furthermore, when runners were on base, managers sometimes ordered a .300 hitter to sacrifice bunt, then rely on a .100 hitter to score the run.
As a negative effect of the daily shuffle lineup, wouldn’t the team batting average also decrease ?
This is just my personal opinion, but I feel like Manager Tatsunami is particular about using players Kinoshita and Oda.
Especially, it seems he’s entrusting the entire team’s fate to catcher Kinoshita.
Oda has good performance in the minor leagues, so he has the potential to emerge next year or later. This year, I think he should focus more on training to reduce mistakes in the minor leagues.
Anyway, he should also consider how using players in certain ways can impact other players.
Anyway, he should also consider that there is a possibility to impact other players by how he uses players.
Again, the Dragons’ 2024 season became games for next year.
The team must continue challenging for championship victory in the years ahead.
For the Dragons fans who have supported them these past three years, I want Manager Tatsunami to use players who have the potential to become key contributors next season.And I want Manager Tatsunami to show an aggressive strategy of scoring runs, giving players the experience to develop their instinct for winning.
If not, the team will have to start from scratch again next year.
Building a team for the next season may truly pave the way for the performance of both the manager and players for the next season.
Thanks.