The 2020 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 71st season of professional baseball in Japan since Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) was reorganized in 1950. There were 12 NPB teams, split evenly between the Central League and Pacific League.
Season schedule The 2020 season was originally scheduled to begin on 20 March, with a break from 21 July to 13 August, for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. On 26 February 2020, the league announced that its remaining spring training games would be held without fans in attendance, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. Alt URL With health related precautions in place, the media was allowed into some ballparks. Following another league meeting on 9 March, commissioner Atsushi Saito stated that the 2020 season would be postponed until April. Saito also said that the league aimed to retain a full regular season schedule of 143 games. This announcement marked the first time since 2011 that a Nippon Professional Baseball season was delayed.
On 18 April, the league announced that it would remain delayed indefinitely through the entirety of May, with the 18-game interleague schedule removed to accommodate a 125-game schedule. The delay of the 2020 Olympics meant that the three-week Olympic break would no longer be needed. Therefore, it was removed from the schedule. Before the league began play, the 2020 season was shortened to 120 games, and scheduled to end on 7 November. As a result of the condensed schedule, it was also announced that the first stage of the Pacific League Climax Series would not be played, with the top two teams from the regular season competing in a best-of-5 final stage which the regular season winner enters with a one-game advantage. The Central League would do away with its Climax Series entirely, with its regular season winner advancing directly to the 2020 Japan Series.
With the lifting of states of emergency over major Japanese cities, NPB announced that it would begin its regular season on 19 June behind closed doors. "Warm-up" games began 26 May. All twelve NPB teams played on as scheduled on 19 June. On 10 July NPB began allowing a limited number of fans to attend games, with plans to further ease restrictions in the near future. On 19 September, attendance was expanded to a maximum of 20,000 fans per game, or 50% of stadium capacity.
Regular season standings + Central League regular season standings Pos Team G W L T Pct. GB1Yomiuri Giants12067458.598-2Hanshin Tigers12060537.5317.53Chunichi Dragons12060555.5228.54Yokohama DeNA BayStars12056586.491125Hiroshima Toyo Carp120525612.481136Tokyo Yakult Swallows120416910.37325
+ Pacific League regular season standings Pos Team G W L T Pct. GB1Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks12073425.635-2Chiba Lotte Marines12060573.513143Saitama Seibu Lions12058584.50015.54Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles12055578.49116.55Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters12053625.461206Orix Buffaloes12045687.39827
Climax Series
Pacific League
Japan Series
League leaders Central League
+ Batting leaders Stat Player Team Total Batting average Keita Sano Yokohama DeNA BayStars .328 Home runs Kazuma Okamoto Yomiuri Giants 31 Runs batted in Kazuma Okamoto Yomiuri Giants 97 Runs Kazuma Okamoto Yomiuri Giants 97 Hits Yohei Oshima Chunichi Dragons 146 Stolen bases Kōji Chikamoto Hanshin Tigers 31 On-base percentage Munetaka Murakami Tokyo Yakult Swallows .427 Slugging percentage Munetaka Murakami Tokyo Yakult Swallows .585
+ Pitching leaders Stat Player Team Total Wins Tomoyuki Sugano Yomiuri Giants 14 Earned run average Yudai Ono Chunichi Dragons 1.82 Strikeouts Yudai Ono Chunichi Dragons 148 Innings pitched Yudai Ono Chunichi Dragons 148.2 Saves Robert Suárez Hanshin Tigers 25 Holds Daisuke Sobue Chunichi Dragons 30 Winning percentage Tomoyuki Sugano Yomiuri Giants .875
Pacific League
+ Batting leaders Stat Player Team Total Batting average Masataka Yoshida Orix Buffaloes .350 Home runs Hideto Asamura Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 32 Runs batted in Sho Nakata Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 108 Runs Yuki Yanagita Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 90 Hits Yuki Yanagita Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 146 Stolen bases Ukyo Shuto Saitama Seibu Lions 50 On-base percentage Kensuke Kondo Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters .465 Slugging percentage Yuki Yanagita Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks .623
+ Pitching leaders Stat Player Team Total Wins Shuta Ishikawa Kodai Senga Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 11 Earned run average Kodai Senga Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 2.16 Strikeouts Kodai Senga Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 149 Innings pitched Ayumu Ishikawa Chiba Lotte Marines 133.1 Saves Tatsushi Masuda Saitama Seibu Lions 33 Holds Livan Moinelo Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 40 Winning percentage Hideaki Wakui Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles .733
Awards Regular season + NPB Awards Central League Pacific League Award Player Team Player Team Rookie of the Year Masato Morishita Hiroshima Toyo Carp Kaima Taira Saitama Seibu Lions Most Valuable Player Tomoyuki Sugano Yomiuri Giants Yuki Yanagita Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Eiji Sawamura Award Yūdai Ōno Chunichi Dragons Best Relief Pitcher Noboru ShimizuDaisuke SobueHiroto Fuku Tokyo Yakult SwallowsChunichi DragonsChunichi Dragons Liván Moinelo Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Matsutaro Shoriki Award Kimiyasu Kudo Fukuoka SoftBank HawksBest Nine Award Position Player Team Player Team Pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano Yomiuri Giants Kodai Senga Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Catcher Takumi Ohshiro Yomiuri Giants Takuya Kai Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 1st Base Munetaka Murakami Tokyo Yakult Swallows Sho Nakata Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 2nd Base Ryosuke Kikuchi Hiroshima Toyo Carp Hideto Asamura Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 3rd Base Kazuma Okamoto Yomiuri Giants Daichi Suzuki Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles Shortstop Hayato Sakamoto Yomiuri Giants Sosuke Genda Saitama Seibu LionsOutfield Yoshihiro Maru Yomiuri Giants Masataka Yoshida Orix BuffaloesSeiya Suzuki Hiroshima Toyo Carp Kensuke Kondo Hokkaido Nippon-Ham FightersKeita Sano Yokohama DeNA BayStars Yuki Yanagita Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Designated hitter Not applicable Takumi Kuriyama Saitama Seibu Lions
+ Mitsui Golden Glove Award Central League Pacific League Position Player Team Player Team Pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano Yomiuri Giants Kodai Senga Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Catcher Ryutaro Umeno Hanshin Tigers Takuya Kai Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 1st Base Dayán Viciedo Chunichi Dragons Akira NakamuraSho Nakata Fukuoka SoftBank HawksHokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 2nd Base Ryosuke Kikuchi Hiroshima Toyo Carp Shuta Tonosaki Saitama Seibu Lions 3rd Base Shuhei Takahashi Chunichi Dragons Daichi Suzuki Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles Shortstop Hayato Sakamoto Yomiuri Giants Sosuke Genda Saitama Seibu LionsOutfield Seiya Suzuki Hiroshima Toyo Carp Yuki Yanagita Fukuoka SoftBank HawksYōhei Ōshima Chunichi Dragons Taishi Ohta Hokkaido Nippon-Ham FightersNorichika Aoki Tokyo Yakult Swallows Haruki Nishikawa Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
See also 2020 in baseball 2020 Major League Baseball season 2020 KBO League season 2020 Chinese Professional Baseball League season Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on baseball
Notes 1.The 2020 Central League Climax Series was cancelled. As a result, the regular season champion Yomiuri Giants advanced directly to the Japan Series.
References