Read the full story on SportsLook - [NPB NOTEBOOK] Yomiuri Giants Rookie Manager Shinnosuke Abe Revives the Team
You've got to tip your cap to the way Shinnosuke Abe has managed the Central League-leading Yomiuri Giants in his first season at the helm.
The Giants (72-55-7) are bidding to win their first league pennant since 2020 under the leadership of the former catcher. As of this writing on Friday, September 20, the Giants are three games ahead of the Hanshin Tigers in the standings with nine games remaining.
Yomiuri missed the postseason for the last two seasons under former manager Tatsunori Hara, something that was hard to swallow for Japan's most storied franchise. Hara stepped down after the 2023 season.
Under Abe, the Giants have done a lot to improve.
They have the fewest errors of any team in the Central League (52). By comparison, the Yokohama DeNA BayStars have the most with 87.
A Knack for Handling the Pitchers
Abe, 45, has done a masterful job handling his pitchers, which should come as no surprise considering his background as a catcher.
That ability to read pitchers was on display in a game against the Chunichi Dragons on Sunday, September 15.
Abe went out to the mound in the sixth inning and removed starter Tomoyuki Sugano with the Giants leading 3-2 and runners on.
Sugano had thrown 93 pitches at the time. High, but not exceedingly high for Japan.
But Abe had made his decision. Sugano was coming out.
Yomiuri's next pitcher, Yuhei Takanashi, gave up the tying run (charged to Sugano) and Sugano's chances of winning the game were gone.
But Takanashi and three more relievers held Chunichi scoreless the rest of the way and Yomiuri won the game 6-3.
Sugano is having a spectacular season at 14-2 so far. He is 34 years old now so it makes perfect sense to handle him with appropriate expectations.
Bold Leadership for the Yomiuri Giants
Writing for Nikkan Sports, former Yomiuri player turned analyst Koichi Ogata commented on the decision to take Sugano out.
"In his last start, he was taken out after 57 pitches in the fifth inning but the opponent was [the] Hiroshima [Carp], a team competing for the top spot so he must have been under a lot of pressure," Ogata wrote. "Given his age, the deciding factor in this game was his condition."
Taking out an established veteran like Sugano is not the easiest thing to do, but Abe has shown that he is not about to let egos get in the way of making the right move.
Yomiuri pitchers have NPB's second-lowest ERA (2.52) this season. The Giants finished the 2023 season with the second-highest ERA (3.39). It's clear that Abe has helped the staff gain confidence, just as he did when he was an All-Star catcher for the Giants.
Continue reading the full story on SportsLook.
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Author: Jim Armstrong
The author is a longtime journalist who has covered sports in Japan for over 25 years. You can find his articles on SportsLook.
