Japan Baseball Weekly

SoftBank right-hander Nick Martinez is the guest, we discuss the Orix Buffaloes winning interleague play, look at the top rookies so far, touch on Masahiro Tanaka and Roki Sasaki, hit some notes and then handle some HighHeat.

Reminder, please check out the Pacific League YouTube channel in English, subscribe and watch.

Chunichi Dragons hitting coach Alonzo Powell is the guest, we discuss the Central League making a strong showing in interleague play, look at the top performers of May, touch on Masahiro Tanaka and his latest start and then handle some awesome HighHeat.

Reminder, please check out the Pacific League YouTube channel in English, subscribe and watch.

Lotte star outfielder Leonys Martin is the guest, John rants about fan pawns for the Olympics, we discuss interleague, do our Mini Trax power rankings segment, look at the latest starts by Masahiro Tanaka and Roki Sasaki and handle some HighHeat. Also, please check out the Pacific League YouTube channel in English, subscribe and watch.

Seibu reliever Reed Garrett is the guest, we talk about the standings in the Pacific and Central leagues, preview interleague play, which starts this week, look at the COVID cluster canceling Carp contests, discuss the latest start for Rakuten ace Masahiro Tanaka and close things out by hitting a couple of notes.

Former Chunichi Dragons and Orix Buffaloes slugger Matt Clark is the featured guest, we talk about both of those teams, the Pacific and Central leagues, Rakuten ace Masahiro Tanaka and his losing record, Lotte rookie Roki Sasaki making his top-team debut, we touch on Yomiuri energizer Zelous Wheeler and his 21-game hitting streak and Yoshitomo Tsutsugo making his way to the L.A. Dodgers instead of back to NPB before closing it out by hitting a couple of notes.

Joe Gunkel of the Tigers is the guest, we talk about Hanshin, look at the top performers of the opening stretch of the season, discuss foreign players being separated from their families and players who decided not to join NPB teams because of the pandemic, go through the latest Masahiro Tanaka start, a loss to Nippon Ham, and touch on some key injuries.

Jason Coskrey of the Japan Times is the special guest as we feature our Mini Trax power rankings, Jim and John then discuss the majority of import players getting into action in both leagues, a funky rule, John has another rant about replay after a really poor exhibition of how not to review plays this past week and we end with some HighHeat about the Tigers.

Former Lotte Marines righty Mike Bolsinger is the guest, we discuss the struggling BayStars, look at Masahiro Tanaka in his second start, explain the high-quality start and add a few notes, particularly the whacky 3-6-1-5-2 DP involving DeNA and Chunichi.

New Giants imports Justin Smoak and Eric Thames have a dual presser, we discuss Yomiuri, look at some struggling and surprising teams in both leagues, examine trends in the small-ball approach for a number of clubs and finish up with some HighHeat.

Former Swallows and Marines IF/OF Josh Whitesell is the guest, we discuss news and notes from both leagues during Week 3, talk about the play involving Steven Moya of Orix, No. 2 hitters and wrap things up by handling some HighHeat.