Sports Info Solutions announced its annual Fielding Bible Award winners for Nippon Professional Baseball this week, recognizing the league’s top defenders at every position. I had the privilege of serving on the panel for the third consecutive year, joining Jason Coskrey of The Japan Times and Yuta Sekiguchi, also known as Bouno05 (creator of one of Japan’s leading sabermetric pages), under the guidance of Mark Simon, editorial lead at Sports Info Solutions.
Votes were cast based on a combination of the eye test and advanced defensive metrics like Defensive Runs Saved and Total Zone Runs. Here are this year’s selections:
Pitcher: Masato Morishita (Hiroshima Carp)
Catcher: Seishiro Sakamoto (Hanshin Tigers)
First Base: Tyler Nevin (Saitama Seibu Lions)
Second Base: Naoki Yoshikawa (Yomiuri Giants)
Third Base: Teruaki Sato (Hanshin Tigers)
Shortstop: Atsuki Tomosugi (Chiba Lotte Marines)
Left Field: Misho Nishikawa (Chiba Lotte Marines)
Center Field: Ukyo Shuto (Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks)
Right Field: Chusei Mannami (Hokkaido Nipponham Fighters)
Multi-Position: Natsuo Takizawa (Saitama Seibu Lions)
Defensive Player of the Year: Natsuo Takizawa (Saitama Seibu Lions)
Defensive Team of the Year: Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
You can read the official announcement [here], check out a podcast featuring first base award winner Tyler Nevin [here], and read my short blog post detailing my voting process [here]. Congratulations to all the winners!
