| 2021 NPB season | |
| League: | Nippon Professional Baseball |
| Sport: | Baseball |
| Duration: | March 26 - November 21 |
| No Of Games: | 143 |
| No Of Teams: | 12 |
| Season2: | Central League Pennant |
| League Champs2: | Tokyo Yakult Swallows |
| Second Place2: | Hanshin Tigers |
| Mvp2: | Munetaka Murakami (Yakult) |
| Mvp Link2: | Nippon Professional Baseball Most Valuable Player Award |
| Season3: | Pacific League Pennant |
| League Champs3: | Orix Buffaloes |
| Second Place3: | Chiba Lotte Marines |
| Mvp3: | Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Orix) |
| Mvp Link3: | Nippon Professional Baseball Most Valuable Player Award |
| Playoffs: | Climax Series |
| Conf1: | CL |
| Conf1 Link: | 2021 Central League Climax Series |
| Conf1 Champ: | Tokyo Yakult Swallows |
| Conf1 Runner-Up: | Yomiuri Giants |
| Conf2: | PL |
| Conf2 Link: | 2021 Pacific League Climax Series |
| Conf2 Champ: | Orix Buffaloes |
| Conf2 Runner-Up: | Chiba Lotte Marines |
| Finals: | Japan Series |
| Finals Link: | 2021 Japan Series |
| Finals Champ: | Tokyo Yakult Swallows |
| Finals Runner-Up: | Orix Buffaloes |
| Finals Mvp: | Yuhei Nakamura (Yakult) |
| Finals Mvp Link: | Japan Series Most Valuable Player Award |
| Seasonslist: | List of Nippon Professional Baseball seasons |
| Seasonslistnames: | NPB |
| Prevseason Link: | 2020 Nippon Professional Baseball season |
| Prevseason Year: | 2020 |
| Nextseason Link: | 2022 Nippon Professional Baseball season |
| Nextseason Year: | 2022 |
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.
| Team | G | W | L | T | GB | Home | Road | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 143 | 73 | 52 | 18 | .584 | — | 36–29–7 | 37–23–11 | |
| 2 | Hanshin Tigers | 143 | 77 | 56 | 10 | .579 | 0 | 36–31–4 | 41–25–6 | |
| 3 | Yomiuri Giants | 143 | 61 | 62 | 20 | .496 | 11 | 32–30–10 | 29–32–10 | |
| 4 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 143 | 63 | 68 | 12 | .481 | 13 | 30–34–8 | 33–34–4 | |
| 5 | Chunichi Dragons | 143 | 55 | 71 | 17 | .437 | 18½ | 33–27–11 | 22–44–6 | |
| 6 | Yokohama DeNA BayStars | 143 | 54 | 73 | 16 | .425 | 20 | 27–37–7 | 27–36–9 | |
| Team | G | W | L | T | GB | Home | Road | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orix Buffaloes | 143 | 70 | 55 | 18 | .560 | — | 38–22–12 | 32–33–6 | |
| 2 | Chiba Lotte Marines | 143 | 67 | 57 | 19 | .540 | 2½ | 33–32–7 | 34–25–12 | |
| 3 | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 143 | 66 | 62 | 15 | .514 | 5½ | 31–33–8 | 35–29–7 | |
| 4 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 143 | 60 | 62 | 21 | .492 | 8½ | 31–29–11 | 29–33–10 | |
| 5 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 143 | 55 | 68 | 20 | .447 | 14 | 25–36–10 | 30–32–10 | |
| 6 | Saitama Seibu Lions | 143 | 55 | 70 | 18 | .440 | 15 | 30–34–7 | 25–36–11 | |
| G | W | L | T | Win% | GB | Home | Away | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orix Buffaloes | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | .706 | - | 7–1–1 | 5–4 | |
| Hanshin Tigers | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | .611 | 1½ | 3–6 | 8–1 | |
| Yokohama DeNA BayStars | 18 | 9 | 6 | 3 | .600 | 2 | 6–2–1 | 3–4–2 | |
| Chunichi Dragons | 18 | 9 | 7 | 2 | .563 | 2½ | 5–2–2 | 4–5 | |
| Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | .556 | 2½ | 5–4 | 5–4 | |
| Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 18 | 9 | 8 | 1 | .529 | 3 | 3–5–1 | 6–3 | |
| Saitama Seibu Lions | 18 | 7 | 7 | 4 | .500 | 3½ | 5–3–1 | 2–4–3 | |
| Chiba Lotte Marines | 18 | 8 | 9 | 1 | .471 | 4 | 5–4 | 3–5–1 | |
| Yomiuri Giants | 18 | 7 | 8 | 3 | .467 | 4 | 4–3–2 | 3–5–1 | |
| Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 18 | 7 | 11 | 0 | .389 | 5½ | 2–7 | 5–4 | |
| Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 18 | 5 | 9 | 4 | .357 | 5½ | 3–4–2 | 2–5–2 | |
| Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 18 | 3 | 12 | 3 | .200 | 8 | 2–6–1 | 1–6–2 |
See main article: 2021 Pacific League Climax Series and 2021 Central League Climax Series.
The series started with a 1–0 advantage for the first-placed team.
See main article: 2021 Japan Series.
| Player | Team | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batting average | .317 | |||
| Home runs | 39 | |||
| Runs batted in | Kazuma Okamoto | Yomiuri Giants | 113 | |
| Hits | 178 | |||
| Stolen bases | Hanshin Tigers | 30 | ||
| On-base percentage | Seiya Suzuki | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | .433 |
| Player | Team | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins | 13 | |||
| Earned run average | 2.20 | |||
| Strikeouts | Yūya Yanagi | Chunichi Dragons | 168 | |
| Saves | Hanshin Tigers | 42 | ||
| Holds | 53 | |||
| Winning percentage | Kōyō Aoyagi | Hanshin Tigers | .684 |
| Player | Team | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batting average | .339 | |||
| Home runs | Orix Buffaloes | 32 | ||
| Runs batted in | 96 | |||
| Hits | 169 | |||
| Stolen bases | 24 | |||
| On-base percentage | Masataka Yoshida | Orix Buffaloes | .429 |
| Player | Team | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins | 18 | |||
| Earned run average | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | Orix Buffaloes | 1.39 | |
| Strikeouts | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | Orix Buffaloes | 206 | |
| Saves | 38 | |||
| Holds | 42 | |||
| Winning percentage | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | Orix Buffaloes | .783 |