Top awards: Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (left) and Tokyo Yakult Swallows slugger Wladimir Balentien receive Pacific League and Central League MVP honors, respectively, on Tuesday. | KYODO
Via Tanaka, Balentien earn MVP honors
We did an analysis on Masahiro Tanaka and Japanese pitchers transferring into MLB. We also covered how few Japanese batters make it in the MLB here. Since Tanaka has been covered here I’ll paste Balentien’s career numbers since he just won MVP honors.
Wladimir Balentien
| Year | WAA | BA/IP | OBP/ERA | PA/G | RBI/W | R/L | Name_Tm | BAT/PITCH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 2.6 | 0.291 | 0.362 | 544 | 84 | 77 | Wladimir_Balentien_Tacoma_Rainiers_SEA_pcl | BAT |
| 2007 | 0.4 | 0.667 | 0.500 | 4 | 4 | 1 | Wladimir_Balentien_SEA | BAT |
| 2008 | 3.6 | 0.266 | 0.354 | 275 | 55 | 49 | Wladimir_Balentien_Tacoma_Rainiers_SEA_pcl | BAT |
| 2008 | -1.6 | 0.202 | 0.250 | 260 | 24 | 23 | Wladimir_Balentien_SEA | BAT |
| 2009 | -1.1 | 0.213 | 0.271 | 170 | 13 | 18 | Wladimir_Balentien_SEA | BAT |
| 2009 | -0.7 | 0.264 | 0.352 | 125 | 11 | 12 | Wladimir_Balentien_CIN | BAT |
| 2010 | 5.0 | 0.282 | 0.337 | 452 | 78 | 71 | Wladimir_Balentien_Louisville_Bats_CIN_int | BAT |
| 2011 | 5.1 | 0.228 | 0.314 | 555 | 76 | 63 | Wladimir_Balentien_Yakult_Swallows_XYZ_jcl | BAT |
| 2012 | 7.7 | 0.272 | 0.386 | 422 | 81 | 58 | Wladimir_Balentien_Yakult_Swallows_XYZ_jcl | BAT |
| 2013 | 11.4 | 0.341 | 0.464 | 461 | 114 | 83 | Wladimir_Balentien_Yakult_Swallows_XYZ_jcl | BAT |
He didn’t do so well in MLB in 2008 and 2009. Perhaps another MLB team will roll the dice on him next season. An 11.4 WAA means he dominated his league in 2013.
Let’s take a look at the top ten players in both Japan Central and Japan Pacific Leagues according to this data model for 2013.
Top Ten Players in JCL and JPL for 2013
| Rank | WAA | BA/IP | OBP/ERA | PA/G | RBI/W | R/L | Name_Tm | BAT/PITCH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12.1 | 212.0 | 1.27 | 28 | 24 | 0 | Masahiro_Tanaka_Tohoku_Rakuten_Golden_Eagles_XYZ_jpl | PITCH |
| 2 | 11.4 | 0.341 | 0.464 | 461 | 114 | 83 | Wladimir_Balentien_Yakult_Swallows_XYZ_jcl | BAT |
| 3 | 9.3 | 0.332 | 0.415 | 506 | 122 | 65 | Tony_Blanco_Yokohama_Bay_Stars_XYZ_jcl | BAT |
| 4 | 7.6 | 182.1 | 1.88 | 23 | 11 | 8 | Chihiro_Kaneko_Orix_Buffaloes_XYZ_jpl | PITCH |
| 5 | 7.3 | 0.301 | 0.429 | 473 | 85 | 77 | Shinnosuke_Abe_Yomiuri_Giants_XYZ_jcl | BAT |
| 6 | 6.3 | 145.2 | 1.92 | 21 | 12 | 5 | Kenta_Maeda_Hiroshima_Carp_XYZ_jcl | PITCH |
| 7 | 5.8 | 0.315 | 0.378 | 510 | 89 | 69 | Hideto_Asamura_Saitama_Seibu_Lions_XYZ_jpl | BAT |
| 8 | 5.5 | 0.243 | 0.391 | 604 | 94 | 81 | Andruw_Jones_Tohoku_Rakuten_Golden_Eagles_XYZ_jpl | BAT |