NPB 2025 season to open on Friday, 28 March
The 2025 Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) season will open on Friday, 28 March, with all the teams taking the field between 18:00 and 18:30 (local time) in the Central and the Pacific Leagues. The 143-game regular season will end on 2 October and include only one break for the All-Star Game celebrations (23 July at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka and 24 July at the Yokohama Stadium).
The postseason (Climax Series) will involve the top three finishers of each league. The first-place team will claim the pennant and advance directly to the best-of-seven league final. The second and third-place finishers will compete in a best-of-three series to earn the right to compete for a spot in the Japan Series.
The best-of-seven series between the Central League and Pacific League Climax Series winners will open on Saturday, 25 October. Game Four is scheduled for Wednesday, 29 October, while the eventual Game Seven would happen on Sunday, 2 November.
The Full Schedule
The Chiba Lotte Marines look like the Pacific League favourites despite losing Roki Sasaki to Major League Baseball (MLB). They signed Shuta Ishikawa, a veteran right-handed starter who helped Fukuoka win the Japan Series four times. The Marines strengthened their bullpen with Colombian veteran Tayron Guerrero, who played for them in 2022, and right-hander Austin Voth, who had an eight-game MLB stint in 2024. Left-handed starter Bryan Sammons has been very effective at the Triple-A level in the US, but struggled in the Big Leagues.
The 2024 Japan Series runner-up Fukuoka Softbank Hawks lost Ishikawa, catcher Takuya Kai, a WBSC Premier12 2019, Tokyo 2020 Olympics and World Baseball Classic 2023 winner, and 20 home run hitter Adam Walker, but signed right-hander Naoyuki Uwasawa, returning to the NPB after spending most of the 2024 season at Triple-A with MLB's Boston Red Sox. Cuban left-hander Livan Moinelo, a WBSC Premier12 star, will be the pitching staff's ace.
After a record 91 losses in 2024, the Seibu Lions strengthened their bullpen with former MLB right-handers Emmanuel Ramirez (Dominican Republic) and Trey Wingerter. They also signed power-hitting first baseman Leandro Cedeño from the Orix Buffaloes and Tyler Nevin, an outfielder and first baseman who went double digits in home runs at Triple-A, but struggled at the MLB level.
The Nippon Ham Fighters signed Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) star right-hander Ruei Yang Gu Lin. He had a 10-2 record in 21 starts last year for the UniPresident Lions, posting a 1.66 ERA and striking out 150 in 125 innings. Lin adds to an already strong pitching staff, making them a contender.
After finishing a disappointing fifth in 2024, the Orix Buffaloes signed veteran right-hander Aren Kuri and added Colombian slugger Jordan Diaz, a WBSC U-23 World Cup veteran, and outfielder Edward Olivares (Venezuela). Mamoru Kishida will take over as manager.
Pacific League TV will stream all games. The service is available through a paywall in the Americas but not in the EU and the UK. One game will stream weekly on the Pacific League YouTube channel. FTF Sports will stream the Pacific League games in the US and Canada.
The Yomiuri Giants are the Central League favourites. They dominated the 2024 regular season but couldn't make it to the Japan Series. The Giants lost Tomoyuki Sugano, a 35-year-old veteran right-hander who represented Japan in the WBSC Premier12 2015, who signed a US$13m contract with MLB's Baltimore Orioles, but signed free agent Raidel Martinez, who dominated with 43 saves as the Chunichi Dragons' 2024 closer before representing Cuba at the WBSC Premier12. Catcher Takuya Kai is another substantial addition from the free agent market. Former NPB and MLB All-Star Masahiro Tanaka, 36, pitched only one game for the Rakuten Eagles in 2024 after undergoing elbow cleaning at the end of the 2023 season.
The defending Japan Series champions Yokohama DeNA Baystars will count again on massive power. Shugo Maki, Japan's starting first base at the WBSC Premier12 2024, hit 23 home runs in 2024; 2023 batting champion Toshiro Miyazaki had 14, and former MLB slugger Tyler Austin hit 25.
The Hanshin Tigers with new skipper Kuji Fujikawa also look like contenders. Young star Shota Morishita made the WBSC Premier12 2019 All-World Team. Closer Javy Guerra represented Panama at the World Baseball Classic 2023.