| 2015 NPB season | |
| League: | Nippon Professional Baseball |
| Sport: | Baseball |
| Duration: | March 27 - October 29 |
| Season2: | Central League Pennant |
| League Champs2: | Tokyo Yakult Swallows |
| Second Place2: | Yomiuri Giants |
| Mvp2: | Tetsuto Yamada (Yakult) |
| Mvp Link2: | Nippon Professional Baseball Most Valuable Player Award |
| Season3: | Pacific League Pennant |
| League Champs3: | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks |
| Second Place3: | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters |
| Mvp3: | Yuki Yanagita (SoftBank) |
| Mvp Link3: | Nippon Professional Baseball Most Valuable Player Award |
| Playoffs: | Climax Series |
| Conf1: | CL |
| Conf1 Link: | 2015 Central League Climax Series |
| Conf1 Champ: | Tokyo Yakult Swallows |
| Conf1 Runner-Up: | Yomiuri Giants |
| Conf2: | PL |
| Conf2 Link: | 2015 Pacific League Climax Series |
| Conf2 Champ: | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks |
| Conf2 Runner-Up: | Chiba Lotte Marines |
| Finals: | Japan Series |
| Finals Link: | 2015 Japan Series |
| Finals Champ: | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks |
| Finals Runner-Up: | Tokyo Yakult Swallows |
| Finals Mvp: | Dae-ho Lee (SoftBank) |
| Finals Mvp Link: | Japan Series Most Valuable Player Award |
| Seasonslist: | List of Nippon Professional Baseball seasons |
| Seasonslistnames: | NPB |
| Prevseason Link: | 2014 Nippon Professional Baseball season |
| Prevseason Year: | 2014 |
| Nextseason Link: | 2016 Nippon Professional Baseball season |
| Nextseason Year: | 2016 |
The 2015 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 66th season since the NPB was reorganized in 1950. In the Central League, the Yakult Swallows claimed the pennant and defeated the Yomiuri Giants in the final stage of the Climax Series. In the Pacific League, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks won the penant and defeated the Chiba Lotte Marines in the final stage of the Climax Series.
A gambling scandal involving members of the Yomiuri Giants was reported in October. Pitchers Satoshi Fukuda, Shoki Kasahara, and Ryuya Matsumoto were found to have bet on both NPB games and Major League Baseball games, as well as high school baseball.[1] [2]
| G | W | L | T | GB | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 143 | 76 | 65 | 2 | .539 | – | |
| Yomiuri Giants | 143 | 75 | 67 | 1 | .528 | 1.5 | |
| Hanshin Tigers | 143 | 70 | 71 | 2 | .496 | 6.0 | |
| Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 143 | 69 | 71 | 3 | .493 | 6.5 | |
| Chunichi Dragons | 143 | 62 | 77 | 4 | .446 | 13.0 | |
| Yokohama DeNA BayStars | 143 | 62 | 80 | 1 | .437 | 14.5 |
| G | W | L | T | GB | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 143 | 90 | 49 | 4 | .647 | – | |
| Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 143 | 79 | 62 | 2 | .560 | 12.0 | |
| Chiba Lotte Marines | 143 | 73 | 69 | 1 | .511 | 19.0 | |
| Saitama Seibu Lions | 143 | 69 | 69 | 5 | .500 | 20.5 | |
| Orix Buffaloes | 143 | 61 | 80 | 2 | .433 | 30.0 | |
| Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 143 | 57 | 83 | 3 | .410 | 33.0 |
See main article: 2015 Central League Climax Series and 2015 Pacific League Climax Series. Note: In each league's stepladder playoff system (Climax Series), all games in that series are held at the higher seed's home stadium. The team with the higher regular-season standing also advanced if the round ended in a tie.
The regular season league champions, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (PL) and the Tokyo Yakult Swallows (CL), received byes to the championship round.
The regular season league champions, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (PL) and the Tokyo Yakult Swallows (CL), received a one-game advantage.
See main article: 2015 Japan Series.
| Player | Team | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batting average | .336 | |||
| Home runs | Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 38 | ||
| Runs batted in | Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 105 | ||
| Runs | Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 119 | ||
| Hits | Shingo Kawabata | Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 195 | |
| Stolen bases | Tetsuto Yamada | Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 34 |
| Player | Team | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wins | 15 | ||
| Losses | 13 | ||
| Earned run average | Hiroshima Carp | 1.85 | |
| Strikeouts | Hanshin Tigers | 221 | |
| Innings pitched | 207.1 | ||
| Saves | 41 | ||
| Hanshin Tigers |
| Player | Team | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batting average | .363 | |||
| Home runs | 37 | |||
| Runs batted in | Takeya Nakamura | Saitama Seibu Lions | 124 | |
| Runs | Yuki Yanagita | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 110 | |
| Hits | Saitama Seibu Lions | 216 | ||
| Stolen bases | 34 |
| Player | Team | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins | 15 | |||
| Losses | 12 | |||
| Earned run average | Shohei Ohtani | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 2.24 | |
| Strikeouts | 215 | |||
| Innings pitched | Takahiro Norimoto | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 194.2 | |
| Saves | 41 |