  Few people expected the Yakult
Swallows to go all the way in 1997. But after Takehiko Kobayakawa pounded
three home runs off of Giants ace Masaki Saito on
opening day, Yakult never looked back, leading
the Central League until they clinched the
pennant.
In 1998, there are again questions
about Yakult's chances. Manager Katsuya Nomura,
usually pessimistic, is downplaying his team's
chances of returning to the Japan Series. The
Swallows lost Terry Bross, who had a bad year in
1997, and ace starter Masato Yoshii, now playing
with the New York Mets. Pitching appears to be
the Swallows weak spot.
But Yakult still features a pretty
strong pitching staff, even without Yoshii and
Bross. Kazuya Tabata was one of the league's best
hurlers in 1997, and rehabilitating lefty
Kazuhisa Ishii had a great year. In addition to
no-hitting the BayStars on September 2, Ishii
earned 120 strikeouts (fifth in the league,
despite missing the first two months of the
season), and a 1.91 ERA.
Several other Swallows hurlers have
shown ability in the past but have struggled in
the last few years. Still, to bolster the team's
starting rotation, Nomura is planning on shifting
closer Tomohito Ito (19 saves, 1.51 ERA, 53
strikeouts in 47 2/3 innings in 1997) to the
starting rotation. Also, the Swallows have picked
up two hard-throwing foreign players, Mark Acre
and Travis Driskill, as well as former Seibu ace
Hisanobu Watanabe.
It may be popular to dismiss Yakult's
chances of taking the 1998 CL pennant, but the
team will still be strong because their pitching
staff remains one of the strongest in the league.
MVP catcher Atsuya Furuta appears
healthy, and will likely lead the pitchers behind
the plate. Every year that the backstop has been
injured the Swallows have fallen out of
contention. When healthy, he's led Yakult to the
Japan Series five of the last seven years. He's
also dangerous with a stick.
The Swallows offense appears solid.
Home run king Dwayne Hosey returns to defend his
title, though he'll get some strong competition
from new teammate and first baseman Lyle Mouton.
Several other players--Tetsuya Iida, Katsuyuki
Dobashi, Mitsuru Manaka--all appear to inflict
damage on opponents.
The biggest problems now are that
right fielder Atsunori Inaba, recovering from arm
surgery, may not be ready to play on opening day.
Also, gold glove shortstop Shinya Miyamoto will
miss the opening month of the season because of a
suspension for tax evasion.
There are a lot of questions about
the Swallows this year, but they have the
potential to go all the way.
Swallows 1997
Review
Swallows 1998
Outlook (more)
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