# 2021 Nippon Professional Baseball season

The 2021 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 72nd 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.
Following the All-Star Series held on 16–17 July, the regular season went on hiatus in preparation for the 2020 Summer Olympics baseball tournament. The season resumed on 13 August. In the postseason, the Tokyo Yakult Swallows defeated the Orix Buffaloes in the Japan Series.

## Regular season standings

Central League regular season standings :
| Rank | Team | G | W | L | T | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| 1 | Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 143 | 73 | 52 | 18 | .584 | — | 36–29–7 | 37–23–11 |
| 2 | Hanshin Tigers | 143 | 77 | 56 | 10 | .579 | 0 | 36–31–4 | 41–25–6 |
| 3 | Yomiuri Giants | 143 | 61 | 62 | 20 | .496 | 11 | 32–30–10 | 29–32–10 |
| 4 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 143 | 63 | 68 | 12 | .481 | 13 | 30–34–8 | 33–34–4 |
| 5 | Chunichi Dragons | 143 | 55 | 71 | 17 | .437 | 18½ | 33–27–11 | 22–44–6 |
| 6 | Yokohama DeNA BayStars | 143 | 54 | 73 | 16 | .425 | 20 | 27–37–7 | 27–36–9 |
Pacific League regular season standings :
| Rank | Team | G | W | L | T | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| 1 | Orix Buffaloes | 143 | 70 | 55 | 18 | .560 | — | 38–22–12 | 32–33–6 |
| 2 | Chiba Lotte Marines | 143 | 67 | 57 | 19 | .540 | 2½ | 33–32–7 | 34–25–12 |
| 3 | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 143 | 66 | 62 | 15 | .514 | 5½ | 31–33–8 | 35–29–7 |
| 4 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 143 | 60 | 62 | 21 | .492 | 8½ | 31–29–11 | 29–33–10 |
| 5 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 143 | 55 | 68 | 20 | .447 | 14 | 25–36–10 | 30–32–10 |
| 6 | Saitama Seibu Lions | 143 | 55 | 70 | 18 | .440 | 15 | 30–34–7 | 25–36–11 |

### Interleague

Regular season interleague standings :
| Team | G | W | L | T | Win% | GB | Home | Away |
| Orix Buffaloes | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | .706 | — | 7–1–1 | 5–4 |
| Hanshin Tigers | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | .611 | 1½ | 3–6 | 8–1 |
| Yokohama DeNA BayStars | 18 | 9 | 6 | 3 | .600 | 2 | 6–2–1 | 3–4–2 |
| Chunichi Dragons | 18 | 9 | 7 | 2 | .563 | 2½ | 5–2–2 | 4–5 |
| Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | .556 | 2½ | 5–4 | 5–4 |
| Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 18 | 9 | 8 | 1 | .529 | 3 | 3–5–1 | 6–3 |
| Saitama Seibu Lions | 18 | 7 | 7 | 4 | .500 | 3½ | 5–3–1 | 2–4–3 |
| Chiba Lotte Marines | 18 | 8 | 9 | 1 | .471 | 4 | 5–4 | 3–5–1 |
| Yomiuri Giants | 18 | 7 | 8 | 3 | .467 | 4 | 4–3–2 | 3–5–1 |
| Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 18 | 7 | 11 | 0 | .389 | 5½ | 2–7 | 5–4 |
| Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 18 | 5 | 9 | 4 | .357 | 5½ | 3–4–2 | 2–5–2 |
| Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 18 | 3 | 12 | 3 | .200 | 8 | 2–6–1 | 1–6–2 |

## Climax Series

| First Stage | First Stage | First Stage | Final Stage | Final Stage | Final Stage | Japan Series | Japan Series | Japan Series |
| Central League | Central League | Central League | 1 | Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 3 | | | |
| 2 | Hanshin Tigers | 0 | 3 | Yomiuri Giants | 0 | | | |
| 3 | Yomiuri Giants | 2 | | | | CL1 | Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 4 |
| | | | | | | PL1 | Orix Buffaloes | 2 |
| Pacific League | Pacific League | Pacific League | 1 | Orix Buffaloes | 3 | | | |
| 2 | Chiba Lotte Marines | 1 | 2 | Chiba Lotte Marines | 0 | | | |
| 3 | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 0 | | | | | | |

### First stage
#### Central League

Yomiuri Giants won the series, 2–0.
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| 1 | November 6 | Yomiuri Giants − 4, Hanshin Tigers − 0 | Koshien Stadium | 3:11 | 21,478 |
| 2 | November 7 | Yomiuri Giants − 4, Hanshin Tigers − 2 | Koshien Stadium | 3:33 | 21,492 |

#### Pacific League

Chiba Lotte Marines won the series, 1−0−1 as a higher seed.
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| 1 | November 6 | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles − 4, Chiba Lotte Marines − 5 | Zozo Marine Stadium | 3:10 | 14,904 |
| 2 | November 7 | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles − 4, Chiba Lotte Marines − 4 | Zozo Marine Stadium | 3:07 | 14,891 |

### Final Stage

The series started with a 1–0 advantage for the first-placed team.

#### Central League

Tokyo Yakult Swallows won the series, 3−0−1 as a higher seed.
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| 1 | November 10 | Tokyo Yakult Swallows − 4, Yomiuri Giants − 0 | Meiji Jingu Stadium | 2:38 | 17,792 |
| 2 | November 11 | Tokyo Yakult Swallows − 5, Yomiuri Giants − 0 | Meiji Jingu Stadium | 3:19 | 17,230 |
| 3 | November 12 | Tokyo Yakult Swallows − 2, Yomiuri Giants − 2 | Meiji Jingu Stadium | 3:08 | 19,022 |

#### Pacific League

Orix Buffaloes won the series, 3−0−1 as a higher seed.
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| 1 | November 10 | Orix Buffaloes − 1, Chiba Lotte Marines − 0 | Kyocera Dome Osaka | 2:23 | 17,915 |
| 2 | November 11 | Orix Buffaloes − 2, Chiba Lotte Marines − 0 | Kyocera Dome Osaka | 2:42 | 17,913 |
| 3 | November 12 | Orix Buffaloes − 3, Chiba Lotte Marines − 3 | Kyocera Dome Osaka | 3:33 | 18,006 |

## Japan Series

Tokyo Yakult Swallows won the series, 4–2.
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| 1 | November 20 | Orix Buffaloes – 4, Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 3 | Kyocera Dome Osaka | 3:46 | 19,297 |
| 2 | November 21 | Orix Buffaloes – 0, Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 2 | Kyocera Dome Osaka | 2:56 | 17,075 |
| 3 | November 23 | Tokyo Yakult Swallows − 5, Orix Buffaloes − 4 | Tokyo Dome | 3:45 | 24,565 |
| 4 | November 24 | Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 2, Orix Buffaloes – 1 | Tokyo Dome | 2:50 | 20,617 |
| 5 | November 25 | Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 5, Orix Buffaloes – 6 | Tokyo Dome | 3:16 | 20,580 |
| 6 | November 27 | Orix Buffaloes – 1, Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 2 (12) | Hotto Motto Field | 5:00 | 15,239 |

## League leaders
### Central League

Batting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| Batting average | Seiya Suzuki | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | .317 |
| Home runs | Munetaka Murakami Kazuma Okamoto | Tokyo Yakult Swallows Yomiuri Giants | 39 |
| Runs batted in | Kazuma Okamoto | Yomiuri Giants | 113 |
| Hits | Kōji Chikamoto | Hanshin Tigers | 178 |
| Stolen bases | Takumu Nakano | Hanshin Tigers | 30 |
| On-base percentage | Seiya Suzuki | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | .433 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| Wins | Kōyō Aoyagi Aren Kuri | Hanshin Tigers Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 13 |
| Earned run average | Yūya Yanagi | Chunichi Dragons | 2.20 |
| Strikeouts | Yūya Yanagi | Chunichi Dragons | 168 |
| Saves | Robert Suárez | Hanshin Tigers | 42 |
| Holds | Noboru Shimizu | Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 53 |
| Winning percentage | Kōyō Aoyagi | Hanshin Tigers | .684 |

### Pacific League

Batting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| Batting average | Masataka Yoshida | Orix Buffaloes | .339 |
| Home runs | Yutaro Sugimoto | Orix Buffaloes | 32 |
| Runs batted in | Hiroaki Shimauchi | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 96 |
| Hits | Takashi Ogino | Chiba Lotte Marines | 169 |
| Stolen bases | Sōsuke Genda Takashi Ogino Koshiro Wada Haruki Nishikawa | Saitama Seibu Lions Chiba Lotte Marines Chiba Lotte Marines Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 24 |
| On-base percentage | Masataka Yoshida | Orix Buffaloes | .429 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| Wins | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | Orix Buffaloes | 18 |
| Earned run average | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | Orix Buffaloes | 1.39 |
| Strikeouts | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | Orix Buffaloes | 206 |
| Saves | Naoya Masuda | Chiba Lotte Marines | 38 |
| Holds | Mizuki Hori | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 42 |
| Winning percentage | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | Orix Buffaloes | .783 |