Giants’ Major Signing Cabbage Joins as Second Odora but Blind Spot Remains a Concern

“The hole left by Sugano is too big.”

Despite finishing the regular season with a league-high 77 wins, 59 losses, and 7 draws to claim the league title, the Giants faced a bitter defeat in the Climax Series Final Stage, losing to third-place DeNA BayStars. However, their determination for back-to-back league titles and reclaiming the championship seems unwavering.

Starting with the acquisition of Chunichi’s closer Raidel Martínez (28), they swiftly followed with free-agent signings of Takeya Kai (32), Masahiro Tanaka (36), who was released by Rakuten, and the new foreign player Trey Cabbage (27), formerly of the Pirates. The Giants are making big moves reminiscent of their past power moves in the market.

Despite the large-scale signings, there remains an undeniable concern with their pitching and batting.

“The hole left by Tomoyuki Sugano (35) is truly immense,” says a sports paper reporter covering the Giants.

Sugano, who was hampered by right elbow discomfort and only won 4 games two years ago, made a stellar comeback last season with 15 wins, earning the most wins and highest winning percentage, and even won the Central League MVP. Afterward, Sugano exercised his overseas free-agent rights and decided to move to the Baltimore Orioles.

‘Indeed, acquiring R. Martínez significantly strengthens the bullpen. With the ability to rely on rookie closer Taisei Ota (25) and assign the 8th inning to him, and with other solid relief pitchers like A. Valdonado (31) and Yuhei Takanashi (32), they can manage the starting pitchers to complete 5 or 6 innings.

However, it’s not easy to fill the 15 wins that Sugano provided. Manager Abe has mentioned that if three young pitchers each manage to win 5 games, it would add up to 15, but it’s risky to rely on young players to step up before the season even begins,’ says a Giants OB.”