The reason for Yakult’s great performance is the “Art of War for the Weak”, says Ikeyama’s ally.

Manager Ikeyama’s personality has always been in line with his blood type, and as an AB type he is both sensitive and bold. I think his personality comes out in the way he takes charge.

Katsumi Hirosawa, 64, who played No. 4 for the Yakult, Giants, and other teams, said.

The Yakult team, led by manager Takahiro Ikeyama (60), a close ally of Hirozawa, is in great shape. As of 6:00 p.m. on April 10, they were 8-3 with a 5-game winning streak and were leading the Central League with a 5-game winning streak.

As Hirozawa said at the beginning of this article, manager Ikeyama’s “subtle yet bold” (type AB) approach to baseball has been on target.

First, let’s look at the batting lineup. The team’s best hitter, Santana, has been placed in the No. 2 spot, and the pitcher has been placed in the No. 8 spot instead of the No. 9 spot, a position that is based on the calculation that the No. 9 fielder will lead the team’s top scoring lineup. Mr. Hirozawa continues (comments below are his own).

It’s just like in the world of sumo.

It is the strong teams that win every year that can form an orthodox batting lineup with a strong hitter in the fourth position and a pitcher in the ninth position. If the team has the necessary strength, orthodox tactics make sense. However, the current Yakult team is clearly inferior to teams like the Hanshin team, which won the championship last year. Manager Ikeyama must have calmly analyzed the situation of his team, which is not strong by any means, and adopted a strategy that may seem bold at first glance.

It is just like in the world of sumo. There is no way that a lower-ranked wrestler can win if he goes head-to-head against a yokozuna. In order to make the best use of the limited resources available to the team, it is necessary to form an irregular lineup. This is the “weak man’s strategy” that my mentor Katsuya Nomura, who trained me and manager Ikeyama during our working days, was so good at.

It is not only the batting lineup that is irregular. On April 2 against Hiroshima, Kengo Matsumoto, who was scheduled to start the day before the game was cancelled due to rain, took over for Yasunobu Okukawa, who gave up one run in seven innings. Matsumoto pitched two scoreless innings to help Yakult to a come-from-behind victory.

This is the “weak man’s strategy,” he said. I don’t want to overwork the relievers if we are going to continue to play the season. If we use a starter who was scheduled to start the day before as a reliever, we can rest the relievers. Manager Ikeyama must be thinking about pitching from a long-term perspective.

Yakult’s batting lineup and pitching lineup are made up of young players who have not had much success. Manager Ikeyama actively calls on them and seems to be taking them on board well. Their good communication skills are probably one of the reasons why the team is doing so well. However, the season has just begun. I don’t think Yakult’s rapid progress will continue indefinitely. It will be interesting to see what kind of leadership Ikeyama will show when things start to go bad.

The type-AB manager’s “weak man’s strategy” is likely to stir up the Central League this season.