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.
Incidents 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.
Regular season standings + Central League regular season standings Team G W L T Pct. GBTokyo Yakult Swallows 143 76 65 2 .539 –Yomiuri Giants 143 75 67 1 .528 1.5Hanshin Tigers 143 70 71 2 .496 6.0Hiroshima Toyo Carp 143 69 71 3 .493 6.5Chunichi Dragons 143 62 77 4 .446 13.0Yokohama DeNA BayStars 143 62 80 1 .437 14.5
+ Pacific League regular season standings Team G W L T Pct. GBFukuoka SoftBank Hawks 143 90 49 4 .647 –Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 143 79 62 2 .560 12.0Chiba Lotte Marines 143 73 69 1 .511 19.0Saitama Seibu Lions 143 69 69 5 .500 20.5Orix Buffaloes 143 61 80 2 .433 30.0Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 143 57 83 3 .410 33.0
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.
First stage The regular season league champions, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (PL) and the Tokyo Yakult Swallows (CL), received byes to the championship round.
Central League
Pacific League
Final stage The regular season league champions, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (PL) and the Tokyo Yakult Swallows (CL), received a one-game advantage.
Central League
Pacific League
Japan Series
League leaders
Central League
+ Batting leaders Stat Player Team Total Batting average Shingo Kawabata Tokyo Yakult Swallows .336 Home runs Tetsuto Yamada Tokyo Yakult Swallows 38 Runs batted in Kazuhiro Hatakeyama Tokyo Yakult Swallows 105 Runs Tetsuto Yamada Tokyo Yakult Swallows 119 Hits Shingo Kawabata Tokyo Yakult Swallows 195 Stolen bases Tetsuto Yamada Tokyo Yakult Swallows 34
+ Pitching leaders Stat Player Team Total Wins Kenta Maeda Hiroshima Carp 15 Losses Atsushi Nomi Hanshin Tigers 13 Earned run average Kris Johnson Hiroshima Carp 1.85 Strikeouts Shintaro Fujinami Hanshin Tigers 221 Innings pitched Yudai Ono Chunichi Dragons 207.1 Saves Tony Barnette Tokyo Yakult Swallows 41 Oh Seung-hwan Hanshin Tigers
Pacific League
+ Batting leaders Stat Player Team Total Batting average Yuki Yanagita Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks .363 Home runs Takeya Nakamura Saitama Seibu Lions 37 Runs batted in Takeya Nakamura Saitama Seibu Lions 124 Runs Yuki Yanagita Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 110 Hits Shogo Akiyama Saitama Seibu Lions 216 Stolen bases Takuya Nakashima Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 34
+ Pitching leaders Stat Player Team Total Wins Shohei Ohtani Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 15 Losses Ayumu Ishikawa Chiba Lotte Marines 12 Earned run average Shohei Ohtani Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 2.24 Strikeouts Takahiro Norimoto Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 215 Innings pitched Takahiro Norimoto Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 194.2 Saves Dennis Sarfate Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 41
See also 2015 Korea Professional Baseball season 2015 Major League Baseball season
References