Predictions: How am I doing?
Before the season, I predicted the standings for both the Pacific and Central Leagues. Let’s see how I’m doing through six weeks of the season.
Pacific League (as of May 16)
- Nippon Ham Fighters (prediction: 2nd)
- Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (prediction: 4th)
- Seibu Lions (prediction: 1st)
- SoftBank Hawks (prediction: 6th)
- Chiba Lotte Marines (prediction: 3rd)
- Orix Buffaloes (prediction: 5th)
Nippon Ham has hit more than I expected and has a +66 run differential… Rakuten’s pitching has kept them in games, but veterans just aren’t hitting… Seibu leads the league in home runs by a good margin and should be competitive all year… SoftBank leads the league in ERA and could be a dark horse… Chiba Lotte’s starting pitching needs to improve if they’re going to meet my prediction… Orix’s foreign sluggers, aside from Greg LaRocca, have been injured or ineffective, and their pitching has imploded.
Central League (as of May 16)
- Yomiuri Giants (prediction: 2nd)
- Yakult Swallows (prediction: 4th)
- Chunichi Dragons (prediction: 5th)
- Hanshin Tigers (prediction: 1st)
- Hiroshima Carp (prediction: 3rd)
- Yokohama BayStars (prediction: 6th)
Yomiuri has gotten good pitching across the board and leads the leage in runs; they’re currently on pace to win 100 games… Yakult has been a surprise at 20-13, especially given Norichika Aoki’s slow start (.226)… Chunichi slotted Tony Blanco in for Tyrone Woods but has otherwise regressed… Hanshin hasn’t gotten anything out of Kevin Mench or Takahiro Arai, but still has a +18 run differential… Hiroshima leads the Central in ERA (2.98) but simply isn’t hitting… Yokohama again is last in team pitching but is closer to the pack this season.
Of course, we’re only six weeks into the season so anything can happen, but we pretty much know what all the teams have at this point.