[tehsuigi]

The Quiver - June 1, 2039
Your Shizuoka Arrows News Source!

Welcome to Interleague once again, everyone! We know this usually spells doom for our boys in green, but a 17-9 May complete with an 8-game win streak has put them comfortable into the PL lead. 10.5 games up on the Lions.

Before we move on, a hearty congratulations to our old friend Shizue Uchino, who slugged his 400th home run earlier in the month for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. His number 7 is just waiting to be retired by Shizuoka, I bet.

Congratulations also due to RHP Shigejiro Matsumoto, who earned his second Pitcher of the Month award in a row. 4-1 in 5 starts, 61 K's over 38 1/3 IP and a 2.82 ERA.

In terms of impressive performances, what got into Masashi Koide?! With Takao Okamoto and Makoto Fukuhara injured last month in short order, Koide got the chance to work into the roster. He's got a 1.334 OPS over 36 PA so far, already at 0.9 WAR. Wouldn't be surprised if he sticks with the squad as an RF or DH.

It's great to see Katsushi Sato pick up where he left off last month. If he can keep it up, then the Arrows have a truly scary 1 thru 4 in the rotation (with Tomohiro Ono having a rough May and being demoted out of the rotation). There's an interesting rumour going around regarding Joe Rogers maybe being dangled as a trade piece, too, with Keitaro Onishi doing solid in AAA.

Here's hoping the interleague schedule is kind to us!