<figure id="attachment_410393" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 5616px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-410393"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="a70d47a7"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/01/14dc8e3b30499024dd4df6e011a2a804.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-410393" class="wp-caption-text">Manager Abe smiles at Kai&#8217;s induction press conference.</figcaption></figure>
<h2>&#8220;The hole left by Sugano is too big.&#8221;</h2>
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&#8217;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.
&#8216;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,&#8217; says a Giants OB.&#8221;
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="Is Cabbage going to be okay?"></div>
<h2>&#8220;I hope it doesn&#8217;t turn out like Odora.&#8221;</h2>
Regarding the only acquired starting pitcher, Masahiro Tanaka, he only made one appearance last season and ended with zero wins, so high expectations are not realistic.
&#8220;The issue is the fifth hitter who will follow Kazuma Okamoto (28)&#8221; (same source).
Manager Abe himself has pointed out strengthening offensive power as a key challenge for the next season, as the Giants were defeated by the DeNA BayStars in the final stage of last season&#8217;s Climax Series, mainly due to their poor offense, scoring only nine runs in all six games.
&#8220;The power of Hayato Sakamoto (36) is starting to decline, and last season&#8217;s Giants clearly had a pitching-heavy, weak-hitting team. The number of home runs and slugging power have drastically decreased since the year before last. The player expected to save the Giants&#8217; lineup was FA-declared Yusuke Oyama (30) from Hanshin, but he unfortunately decided to stay. The acquisition was not successful&#8221; (reported by a journalist).
The player acquired through FA, Kai, had 43 RBIs last season, but that was due to the powerful lineup of SoftBank. The new foreign player, Cabbage, is a left-handed hitter with speed and power who achieved a triple crown in Triple-A, but whether he can adjust to Japanese baseball and perform as expected remains to be seen when the season starts.
&#8220;I&#8217;m worried that he might turn out like Odor, who left before last season started. It&#8217;s a bitter memory, so I&#8217;m feeling uneasy even before camp starts&#8221; (club official).
Unless the major gaps in both pitching and batting are addressed through large-scale reinforcements, it is difficult to say there are no blind spots in the Giants&#8217; consecutive league title run.
The late former owner, Tsuneo Watanabe, who passed away at 98 on December 19, may be giving a strong push from beyond the grave, saying &#8220;Do something!&#8221;

 Kyodo News

 Abe's Giants won the league championship with a 77-59-7 record, but were eliminated by the league's third-place DeNA Bay Stars in the Climax Series final stage.

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

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