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 Road1Tokyo Yakult Swallows143735218.584—36–29–737–23–112Hanshin Tigers143775610.579036–31–441–25–63Yomiuri Giants143616220.4961132–30–1029–32–104Hiroshima Toyo Carp143636812.4811330–34–833–34–45Chunichi Dragons143557117.43718½33–27–1122–44–66Yokohama DeNA BayStars143547316.4252027–37–727–36–9
+ Pacific League regular season standings Rank Team G W L T Pct. GB Home Road1Orix Buffaloes143705518.560—38–22–1232–33–62Chiba Lotte Marines143675719.5402½33–32–734–25–123Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles143666215.5145½31–33–835–29–74Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks143606221.4928½31–29–1129–33–105Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters143556820.4471425–36–1030–32–106Saitama Seibu Lions143557018.4401530–34–725–36–11
Interleague + Regular season interleague standings Team G W L T Win% GB Home AwayOrix Buffaloes181251.706—7–1–15–4Hanshin Tigers181170.6111½3–68–1Yokohama DeNA BayStars18963.60026–2–13–4–2Chunichi Dragons18972.5632½5–2–24–5Tokyo Yakult Swallows181080.5562½5–45–4Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles18981.52933–5–16–3Saitama Seibu Lions18774.5003½5–3–12–4–3Chiba Lotte Marines18891.47145–43–5–1Yomiuri Giants18783.46744–3–23–5–1Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters187110.3895½2–75–4Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks18594.3575½3–4–22–5–2Hiroshima Toyo Carp183123.20082–6–11–6–2
Climax Series
First stage
Central League
Pacific League
Final stage The series started with a 1–0 advantage for the first-placed team.
Central League
Pacific League
Japan Series
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
See also 2021 in baseball 2021 Major League Baseball season 2021 KBO League season 2021 Chinese Professional Baseball League season Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports
References