| 2022 NPB season | |
| League: | Nippon Professional Baseball |
| Sport: | Baseball |
| Duration: | March 25 - October 30 |
| No Of Games: | 143 |
| No Of Teams: | 12 |
| Season2: | Central League pennant |
| League Champs2: | Tokyo Yakult Swallows |
| Second Place2: | Yokohama DeNA BayStars |
| Mvp2: | Munetaka Murakami (Yakult) |
| Mvp Link2: | Nippon Professional Baseball Most Valuable Player Award |
| Season3: | Pacific League pennant |
| League Champs3: | Orix Buffaloes |
| Second Place3: | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks |
| Mvp3: | Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Orix) |
| Mvp Link3: | Nippon Professional Baseball Most Valuable Player Award |
| Playoffs: | Climax Series |
| Conf1: | CL |
| Conf1 Link: | 2022 Central League Climax Series |
| Conf1 Champ: | Tokyo Yakult Swallows |
| Conf1 Runner-Up: | Hanshin Tigers |
| Conf2: | PL |
| Conf2 Link: | 2022 Pacific League Climax Series |
| Conf2 Champ: | Orix Buffaloes |
| Conf2 Runner-Up: | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks |
| Finals: | Japan Series |
| Finals Link: | 2022 Japan Series |
| Finals Champ: | Orix Buffaloes |
| Finals Runner-Up: | Tokyo Yakult Swallows |
| Finals Mvp: | Yutaro Sugimoto (Orix) |
| Finals Mvp Link: | Japan Series Most Valuable Player Award |
| Seasonslist: | List of Nippon Professional Baseball seasons |
| Seasonslistnames: | NPB |
| Prevseason Link: | 2021 Nippon Professional Baseball season |
| Prevseason Year: | 2021 |
| Nextseason Link: | 2023 Nippon Professional Baseball season |
| Nextseason Year: | 2023 |
The 2022 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 73rd season of professional baseball in Japan since Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) was reorganized in 1950. There are 12 NPB teams, split evenly between the Central League and Pacific League.
On April 10, Chiba Lotte Marines pitcher Rōki Sasaki threw a perfect game, the first in 28 years[1] and the 16th in NPB history. Sasaki tied an existing NPB record by striking out 19 batters, and set a new record by striking out 13 consecutive batters.[2]
Including Sasaki's perfect game, for the first time since 1940, there were five no-hitters this season, with Nao Higashihama of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks throwing one on May 11 against the Saitama Seibu Lions, Shōta Imanaga of the Yokohama DeNA BayStars doing so on June 7 during interleague play against the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (also being the first no hitter in the history of the Sapporo Dome in its final season as the home of the Fighters), and Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Orix Buffaloes throwing one also against the Lions on June 18. One was nearly thrown on July 20, with rookie Ren Mukunoki of the Buffaloes nearly doing so against the Fighters, but he fell 1 strike short, as he gave up a hit to Fighters infielder Ryusei Satoh, in which fans called as a similar incident to former MLB pitcher Dave Stieb, in which he lost a perfect game and a no hitter in the same game with only 1 strike to go.[3] A 5th one would eventually be thrown on August 27 by Cody Ponce of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters against the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, in just his 2nd start, tying 2022 with 1940 with the most no-hitters in a season in Japanese pro baseball history, as well as becoming the first foreign player since Rick Guttormson of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in 2006 to throw a no-hitter, and the first Pacific League foreign player to do so since the now late Narciso Elvira did so with the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes in 2000.[4]
The Tokyo Yakult Swallows took home the Central League pennant for the second year in a row over the Yokohama DeNA BayStars while the Orix Buffaloes took the Pacific League pennant over the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks via the first pennant tiebreaker in NPB history.
| Team | G | W | L | T | GB | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 143 | 80 | 59 | 4 | — | |||
| 2 | Yokohama DeNA BayStars | 143 | 73 | 68 | 2 | 8 | |||
| 3 | Hanshin Tigers | 143 | 68 | 71 | 4 | 12 | |||
| 4 | Yomiuri Giants | 143 | 68 | 72 | 3 | 12½ | |||
| 5 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 143 | 66 | 74 | 3 | 14½ | |||
| 6 | Chunichi Dragons | 143 | 66 | 75 | 2 | 15 | |||
| Team | G | W | L | T | GB | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orix Buffaloes | 143 | 76 | 65 | 2 | — | |||
| 2 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 143 | 76 | 65 | 2 | —[5] | |||
| 3 | Saitama Seibu Lions | 143 | 72 | 68 | 3 | 3½ | |||
| 4 | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 143 | 69 | 71 | 3 | 6½ | |||
| 5 | Chiba Lotte Marines | 143 | 69 | 73 | 1 | 7½ | |||
| 6 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 143 | 59 | 81 | 3 | 16½ | |||
| G | W | L | T | Win% | GB | Home | Away | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 18 | 14 | 4 | 0 | .778 | - | 7–2 | 7–2 | |
| Hanshin Tigers | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | .667 | 2 | 6–3 | 6–3 | |
| Chiba Lotte Marines | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | .556 | 4 | 6–3 | 4–5 | |
| Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 18 | 9 | 9 | 0 | .500 | 5 | 5–4 | 4–5 | |
| Saitama Seibu Lions | 18 | 9 | 9 | 0 | .500 | 5 | 6–3 | 3–6 | |
| Yokohama DeNA BayStars | 18 | 9 | 9 | 0 | .500 | 5 | 5–4 | 4–5 | |
| Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 18 | 9 | 9 | 0 | .500 | 5 | 5–4 | 4–5 | |
| Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 18 | 8 | 10 | 0 | .444 | 6 | 6–3 | 2–7 | |
| Orix Buffaloes | 18 | 8 | 10 | 0 | .444 | 6 | 2–7 | 6–3 | |
| Yomiuri Giants | 18 | 8 | 10 | 0 | .444 | 6 | 5–4 | 3–6 | |
| Chunichi Dragons | 18 | 7 | 11 | 0 | .389 | 7 | 5–4 | 2–7 | |
| Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 18 | 5 | 13 | 0 | .279 | 9 | 3–6 | 2–7 |
See main article: 2022 Pacific League Climax Series and 2022 Central League Climax Series.
The series started with a 1–0 advantage for the first-placed team.
See main article: 2022 Japan Series.